Vancouver BC is consistently voted as one of the best cities in the world to live. We are not city people but we do love an opportunity to visit this beautiful city. There is so much to do and see, including for kids. There are many well known museums, including the Anthropology Museum at UBC, and other tourist sites. I will share with you some perhaps lesser known places that have special kid appeal.
Whether you fly in, drive in or take the ferry like us (or we can take a floatplane!) - Vancouver is a treat for the eyes, with the ocean to the west, snowcapped mountains to the north and major rivers draining here.
George Vancouver came here with the British Royal Navy in 1792. The location between Burrard Inlet and the Fraser River delta was inhabited by Chinook Indians, the original inhabitants of the land. Vancouver is a family name that originated in Holland and means someone is ‘Van Coevorden’ - ‘from the town of Coevorden.
Vancouver now boasts a very varied and diverse population. Consequently it has a plethora of ethnic eateries: fabulous sushi places (like Moon Sushi at 4385 Dunbar Street.
A few years ago, when Nico was about 9, we took the city bus from West Broadway to Granville Island. Buying a bus pass and finding locations on a city map was a great activity for a kid who is growing up on Salt Spring Island.
You can spend the day on Granville Island. This unique place in the city is mix of operational industries, artsy boutiques and attractive eateries. You can visit a potter, buy silk and sip a coffee on the water front. For kids, it’s fun to take a water taxi to or from the island.
Nico and I sat outside with Nutella croissants and watched a busker play music. Nico chased pigeons and we shopped inside the gigantic market halls for his favourite moon grapes and freshly baked bread.
The Kids’ Market is a separate, large building with a glass elevator (an attraction in itself) and lots of toy shops. The top floor is arcades with many games to play and cheap prizes to be won. Right outside the Kids’ Market is a large water playground so bring a towel if you visit in the summer.
Besides shopping, there is a huge amount of activities on Granville. There is the Emily Carr Institute as well as several theatres so check for shows and displays before you go.
We took a water bus from Granville Island to the MacMillan Space Centre with fascinating, often hands-on displays about space and a state of the art planetarium theatre. Nico loved watching a show about the Milky Way and touching a nearly 4 billion year old moon rock! Later that night we went back to look at the heavens through the telescope but alas, it was out of service…
Taking the bus and using the water bus is a great way to reach places in the city without having to spend a fortune on parking. We did this again the next day when we visited Science World - the iconic glittery dome on False Creek. Science World was originally built for Expo 86 and repurposed as a science exploration centre. Nico loved playing with ping pong balls in a network of wind tubes. One of his favourite displays with a T-Rex skeleton as well as a sabertooth tiger. There was a ski simulator and fabulous optical illusions centres. We danced in front of strobe light cameras that made your shadows freeze on the wall. You can easily spend an entire day in Science World.
Another favourite place for us was Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium. Stanley Park has endless walking tracks, a sea wall for bicycling or strolling and numerous playgrounds as well as gorgeous totem poles.
The Aquarium has fantastic sea life displays as well as 3 or 4D presentations. Nico watched the penguin show and got a penguin tattoo on his hand. We watched dolphins and adorable sea otters. His favourite perhaps was being able to touch small stingrays, and everything from sharks to sea turtles..
Kitsilano is a lovely neighborhood on the way to UBC. While UBC has an amazing network of walking trails in the forest, sometimes along the water, Kitsilano has great little shops and restaurants. Our all-time favourite here is Kidsbooks! This gigantic children’s bookstore is one of the very best in Canada, or for that matter anywhere. All the best, classic and newest books are on the shelves and the staff is very knowledgable. They also have games and educational materials. We like to have lunch just down the street at the Sunshine Diner with its milkshakes, a life-size Elvis and ’60’s decor…
And finally we visited a fantastic venue at night: the Kitsilano Showboat. This stage on the beach offers a free cultural program each night during the summer (Covid allowing…). Shows range from rock to blues, from aboriginal drumming to children’s choirs and everything in between. A great way to soak up family entertainment in a relaxed setting.
We also visited UBC’s Beauty Biodiversity Museum with its life size Blue Whale skeleton but Nico’s favourite was a more obscure museum across the path: the Museum of Earth, where he touched a meteor, presented a weather forecast and spun a giant globe. With free admission this was a fun place to explore.
A year later I took Nico’s brother Aidan to the big city. Kids’ interests differ and Aidan wanted to pursue his passion by visiting different skateparks. Perhaps his favourite is the UBC skatepark on Thunderbird way. We also spent time at Quilchena Skateboard Park in Vancouver West and in Kensington Park. We cooled off at night in the water playground at UBC by the Save-On-Foods store.
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