Vancouver’s Best Parks and Gardens
What colour do you get when you combine Vancouver’s stated goal of becoming the world’s most sustainable city by 2020 with a mild and damp coastal climate? Green, of course.
Even first-time visitors to Vancouver have heard of Stanley Park, Canada’s crown jewel of urban oases: one thousand acres of lush evergreen forest smack in the heart of the city.
But it’s just one of dozens of nature havens spread throughout this West Coast city.
Thanks to some excellent city planning, even in the downtown core you don’t have to walk very far to find a quiet green space with benches, picnic tables and increasingly, playgrounds.
Especially in the spring and summer, plan to build at least one park visit into your Vancouver itinerary.
Here are my picks of the major parks and gardens in and around Metro Vancouver–all easily accessible by public transit:
- Stanley Park, especially the Rhodo Garden (spring) and Rose Garden (summer)
- VanDusen Botanical Garden: home to the city’s best Christmas extravaganza, the Festival of Lights.
- Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden: especially in spring when the cherry blossoms bloom, this is a favourite refuge for visitors to bustling Chinatown.
- Queen Elizabeth Park: Vancouver’s second-most-visited park and home of the much-photographed Bloedel Floral Conservatory.
- Nitobe Memorial Garden: a traditional Japanese garden at the University of British Columbia.
- Lynn Canyon Park: An authentic Canadian wilderness experience complete with towering trees and hiking trails in the mountainside community of North Vancouver.
- Lighthouse Park: A vast, wild refuge in West Vancouver where Burrard Inlet meets Howe Sound, North America’s southern-most fjord.
- Garry Point Park: Take a bike aboard the Canada Line to nearby Richmond and ride the (flat!) dyke trail to enjoy the pretty views of the Fraser River and Gulf Islands from this park in quaint Steveston, a former fishing village.
Related links:
>>Vancouver for free (or nearly)
Photo: Tourism Vancouver