Attractions near Vancouver Port
Attractions near Vancouver Port, BC are many, and some are unusual as well as very interesting. Since the Port of Vancouver is the home port for cruise ships carrying more than one million passengers every year as they pass from Vancouver to Alaska, this presents a place to enjoy sights when on land.
The VANCOUVER MARITIME MUSEUM preserves the area's rich maritime history, culture, and art. The exhibits are of shipwrecks, warships, lighthouses, pirates, the fur trade, shipbuilding, deep-ocean exploration, and more. You can walk the corridors of the St. Roch Arctic schooner, which sailed the Northwest Passage in the 1940's and is now housed on shore.
The 1,000-acre STANLEY PARK has a variety of features. One of North America's largest parks in an urban center, there are beautiful gardens, lakes, wooded trails, and Canada's largest aquarium, the VANCOUVER AQUARIUM. with its dolphin and whale shows, shark dives, tropical Amazon, Canadian Arctic, and other marine adventures. You can view the beaches, harbor, city, and North Shore Mountains on a seawall walkway.
MAPLEWOOD FARM is a small farm and petting theme park featuring being able to get up close to Pygmy goats, Angora goats, and bunnies. This is a perfect outing if you are taking the children there on vacation.
LOOKOUT TOWER is only two blocks from the cruise ship terminal. It is a 33-floor high 360-degree view observation deck on the top of Harbour Centre.
The MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLIGY has over 15,000 objects from all over the world including totem poles, canoes, and one of the finest displays in the world of Northwest Coast First Nations artifacts and art. You are also able to stroll through two Haida houses on the grounds.
GRANVILLE ISLAND combines artists' studios with theaters, street performers, galleries, restaurants, nightclubs, and a Public Market with gourmet foods, bakery delights, fresh seafood, etc.
Because Vancouver is the fastest-growing metropolis in Canada and has the most diverse cross section of mixed heritages, you will find world-class restaurants with all types of international cuisine plus exclusive boutiques. Remnants of its past history are especially found in GASTOWN, which was founded in 1867 as a saloon town. There are galleries, collectibles, antiques, and the famous GASTOWN STEAM CLOCK, which still sounds the Westminster, chimes every 15 minutes.
Outdoor activities include wind surfing, golf, walking, cycling, kayak paddling, and more. Transportation is a combination of harbor ferries, buses, and the Sky Train.