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Activities

 •  See Vancouver & Beyond Smartvisit™ Card - Vancouver's all-inclusive attractions pass offers free entry to a variety of leading attractions in Vancouver & the surrounding regions for a single all-inclusive price. Discover Vancouver Aquarium, Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver Harbour Cruises, Vancouver Lookout!, sightseeing tours, gardens, outdoor adventures, galleries, museums and so much more. Visitors can start to save money after visiting as few as two Vancouver attractions per day!
 •  Seawall. Whether you like to ride a bicycle, rollerblade or just walk there are miles and miles of seawall. Starting with Canada Place downtown, to Stanley Park, around Stanley Park, along False Creek, to Science World, then to Granville Island, Vanier Park and Kits Beach in Kitsilano.
 •  Beaches. Much of the coastline here is rocky; the beaches do not rank amongst the most spectacular in the world. The most famous beach is the clothing optional Wreck Beach in the UBC Area and Kits Beach in Kitsilano. There are also beaches on the North Shore.
 •  Skiing and Snowboarding the Vancouver area is world-famous for its ski hills, and Whistler Mountain is ranked amongst best ski resorts in the world. There are also three local ski hills; Cypress Mountain , Grouse Mountain, and Mount Seymour on the North Shore.
 • Vancouver Art Gallery in the City Centre. The gallery is pay by donation on Tuesdays. The recommended donation is $5, but the amount that people actually donate varies widely.
 • Vancouver Trolley Company is a nice way to explore Vancouver. As any Vancouverite will tell you, parking in Vancouver can be a nightmare, so exploring the city on a narrated tour bus ride is a worthy alternative. This is a "hop-on, hop-off" type of tour with stops in numerous places around town and the drivers narrate the history and peculiarities of the city along the way. You are limited to one time around the loop. The City attraction tour is $28 for adults, $14 for children.
 • Vancouver Talks Audio Tour is a neat way to hear about the city while seeing it. The audio tour covers four downtown neighbourhoods and incorporates documentary interviews and historical quotations. It can be rented from Tourism Vancouver  (200 Burrard) or bought (CD/map format) from most local book retailers. It costs about $15 to rent or buy the product and can keep you busy for a few hours or a few days depending on how much of the city you want to cover. To hear audio clips go to: *

Festivals

 • Lantern Festival. In July at Trout Lake Park - bring your homemade lantern.
 • Chinese New Year. Because there is such a strong Chinese population in the city, the Lunar New Year period is often one of the most exciting and colourful in the city. There is usually a parade in Chinatown and many of the public schools usually have a day off on Chinese New Year. You can also catch celebrations at Tinseltown mall (1 minute from Stadium Skytrain station), and in Richmond at the International Buddhist Temple. There, visitors can experience Chinese New Year festivities with traditional snacks and foods, auspicious flower arrangements, Chinese calligraphy, exciting raffles, and much, much more.
 • Festival of Lights. Fireworks festival consists of a fireworks competition that includes 4 nights of fireworks in late July, early August. Hundreds of thousands of people attend this event every year. Warning: you should commute to this event on public transportation. This is best viewed from either English Bay or the Kits Beach area in Kitsilano.
 • Jazz Festival. This usually occurs at the end of June and is growing in both size and reputation.
 • Dragon Boat Festival. This usually occurs in the month of June on False Creek.
 • Vancouver Film Festival happens every year in late September and early October. Good selection of films, but often hard to get tickets and don't expect any of the big celebrities to make a showing.
 • Parade of Lost Souls takes place around Halloween in the Commercial Drive area. It is free to go, and features live music, fire dancers, lots of costumed revelers. Underadvertised, but one of the biggest yearly festivals in Vancouver.
 • Gay Pride Parade and Festival happens on the Sunday before the first Monday in August. The parade happens on Denman Street, turning onto Beach Avenue with the festival happening at Sunset Beach. This is the largest celebration of its kind in Western Canada, attracting festival-goers from all over western North America.
 • 4:20. On April 20th People congregate at the Vancouver Art Gallery to smoke marijuana and celebrate this unofficial holiday.