Vancouver · Things to do

400 hectares of coastal rainforest a short walk from downtown, ringed by a flat waterfront path you can walk or cycle, with beaches, the First Nations totem poles at Brockton Point and the Vancouver Aquarium inside. The park is open 6am–10pm and the seawall itself costs nothing.

An indoor market of produce, seafood, bakers and artisan stalls under the Granville Bridge, open daily 9am–6pm with the Net Loft from 10am. Closed 25–26 December and 1 January, and Mondays through January for maintenance. The small False Creek ferries are the nicest way in.

Arthur Erickson's concrete-and-glass hall on the cliff at UBC, holding close to 50,000 objects and the strongest Northwest Coast First Nations collection anywhere. Open 10am–5pm, Thursdays to 9pm with half-price entry after 5pm; adults $26, and closed Mondays from mid-October to mid-May.

The North Shore peak at 6400 Nancy Greene Way, reached by the Blue Grouse Gondola and Red Skyride, or on foot up the Grouse Grind if you are fit. Day tickets are cheaper booked online; an adult annual pass starts at $219, which pays back on a longer stay.

A District of North Vancouver park in Lynn Valley with a suspension bridge 50 metres above the creek and trails feeding into the Baden-Powell route — the no-ticket alternative to Capilano. The Ecology Centre by the entrance opens 10am–4pm weekdays and noon–4pm at weekends.