I love seeing the sights around Vancouver. I had a lot of fun putting together my previous post about Tourism in Vancouver, so I thought I’d do another. As the seasons change, so too do the activities around this beautiful city.
So where to begin! How about Gastown: there’s walking tours, and if you can catch a break in the weather, it seems like the perfect time to be doing them!
You can go on ‘official tours’ like this one with a gothic feel, and this one, or, if you’d prefer something self guided (AKA free!), have a look at this- it’s architecture centric, but has a blurb about each stop, and takes you through the whole of Gastown in about two hours.
Here’s another guide (free) which will take you on a more standard walk around Gastown (to all the touristy places).
Once you’ve seen gastown, why not take a trip over to the North Shore? The seabus is a lovely little ride across Burrard Inlet, and you’ll be let out at Lonsdale Quay (pronounced LONs-dale KEY) which has a bustling (though somewhat overpriced) market.
I can never resist the call of the fudge there though, one of the few temptations I allow myself to succumb to while there).
Now, moving on from Lonsdale Quay, you have many options.
You can go up Lonsdale itself and see what shops it has to offer. You can catch a bus over to Deep Cove (about a 45 minute ride with one transfer) and see another side of Vancouver.
Or you can catch the 236 Grouse MNT bus up to the Capilano Suspension Bridge!
Another option from Lonsdale Quay is to catch that same 236 bus and stay on it until you reach the base of good ol’ Grouse Mountain, where I lived until I was 9 years old. It’s beautiful there, and you can catch the famous gondola up the mountain for a view you will never forget!
(I bet Mulder never forgot it…)
There are many beautiful sights to see in North Vancouver. If you have use of a car, a drive up to the top of Mount Seymour can yield spectacular views of downtown Vancouver, the Georgia Straight, and the whole of the Fraser Valley.
For some specific events to check out closer to downtown Vancouver, let’s see what we’ve got.
If you’re into the music of Tom Petty, than you’ll want to put September 18th on your calendar!
There’s poetry slams, improve, and open mic nights every week (on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday respectively) over at Cafe Deux Soleils. These get pretty busy!
And the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is opening their season at the end of September, with this fabulous concert, featuring an epic piece of music I guarantee you will recognize.
“Rising-star pianist Inon Barnatan, recently appointed as the New York Philharmonic’s first Artist-in-Association, performs the colossal Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in his VSO debut. The season-opening concert also featuresRichard Strauss’s famous Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra), an epic tone poem presented as a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth.”
Thus Spake Zarathustra is code for “the theme from 2001 A Space Odyssey” by the way!
The OMNIMAX theatre at Science World is always an option. The world’s largest domed screen? 5 stories of amazing, entertaining, and educational films? A Projectionist who dancing when she thinks no one is watching her thread up? This month, check out “Rocky Mountain Express” (about building Canada’s Railroad), “Journey to the South Pacific” (about life and love in the islands of Papua), and “Rescue” (a film about rescuing people and rebuilding after the major earth quake in Haiti).
I haven’t seen Journey to the South Pacific yet, but I have the other two. It depends on what you like; Rescue kind of gave me a propaganda-y vibe, but had some pretty neat things in it none-the-less. Rocky Mountain Express was a little methodical, but had beautiful footage and was very informative.
Oh and I almost forgot, there’s this up-and-coming musician playing here on September 13th. Elton something? John Elton? 🙂
So there you have some things to do in September around Vancouver. I hope you enjoy!
H.G. Bells 