The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
is a great place to start and finish near by at Cathedral Place.
It should take 2 to 3 hours, not including museum, shopping, and eating stops.
Vancouver's West End is often called the densest residential district east of
Manhattan. How true that is is anyone's guess but what is unique is how green Vancouver's
downtown streets are. Every high-rise is surrounded by trees and shrubs and flowers. Remember to look up as you
wander downtown Vancouver
The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver At 900 W.
Georgia Street. It's worth stepping inside
for a moment to experience the Gatsbyesque ambience of the lobby.
Leaving by the Burrard Street exit, turn left. When you reach the corner, turn
right, cross Burrard Street, and
you're on Robson Street.
The shops on this corner get more foot traffic than any other in Canada with high-end clothiers and new
restaurants and gift shops with signs in Japanese. Whether you're into shopping
or not, Robson Street is still a great place to walk and people-watch.
Head down Robson Street and, turn left on Denman the perfect place
to
Take a BreakIf Robson Street is the place Vancouverites go for hyperactive
shopping sprees, Denman is where they go to sit back, sip a latte, and watch
their fellow citizens stroll past.
When you're ready to continue the walking tour, go two blocks farther
downhill and you're at
English Bay
This is the place to be when the sun is setting, or on one of those
crystal-clear days when the mountains of Vancouver Island can be seen looming in
the distance -- or any day at all, really, so long as the sun is shining. Every
January 1, shivering Vancouverites in fancy costumes surround the bathhouse here
at the very foot of Denman Street (entrance at beach level) to take part in the
annual Polar Bear Swim.
When you're finished looking around the park, head up Davie Street on your left
at no. 1531 you'll see The Gabriola
This was the finest mansion in the West End when it was built in 1900 for sugar
magnate B. T. Rogers. Since 1975, it has been turned into a restaurant of one sort or another. The
wrought-iron tables in the garden are particularly fine spots to sit out on
summer days.
Continue on up Davie Street until you come to Granville Street head left,
this street come to life at night has it has been designated the
Granville Mall Entertainment
District . You will see many places to eat shop and browse with an ever
changing display of people walking the strip of Clubs, pubs and night spots.
Continue along Granville and turn left on Robson where you will find the Robson Square
to one side and the Law Courts on the other, check them both out, then head
North down Hornby street to the
Vancouver Art Gallery
To continue, go round the gallery by the left-hand side and proceed down Hornby
Street. Cross Georgia Street and
have a glance inside the Hong Kong Bank building (885 W. Georgia St.) at the
massive pendulum designed by artist Alan Storey: The lobby doubles as an art
gallery and frequently features interesting exhibits.
Cross to the west side of Hornby, and carry on about halfway down the block,
then turn to your left and walk up the short flight of stairs to a small outdoor
courtyard. On the north side at 639 Hornby St. is the Cathedral Place
Often overlooked by Vancouverites -- and just a few steps away from busy Georgia
Street -- sits the peaceful and quiet Cathedral Place. As for the Cathedral place courtyard itself, it has the formality and
calm of a formal French garden, the perfect spot to sit for a bit and enjoy a
bit of peace. |
