Vancouver in 5 days

Start with coffee and the Gastown and Chinatown walk, the oldest streets in the city and the best introduction to how Vancouver grew. Then head west through Coal Harbour to Stanley Park and the seawall, on foot or on a rented bike; the full loop takes a couple of hours by bike and most of a day on foot, so choose a section if you are walking. Break in the middle of the park for the Vancouver Aquarium. Finish where the seawall meets the West End at English Bay, which faces west for the sunset: the start of the English Bay and Kitsilano route you will pick up again on day 3.

Take the SeaBus across Burrard Inlet to Lonsdale Quay and spend the day in the forested hills above the harbour. Pick one canyon: Capilano Suspension Bridge Park for the famous bridge, treetop walkways and cliff walk, or Lynn Canyon Park for a free suspension bridge and swimming holes in the rainforest. Strong hikers can then climb the Grouse Grind, the city’s notorious staircase of a trail, and ride the Skyride down. In the late afternoon, go east to Deep Cove for the short, busy climb to Quarry Rock and the view over Indian Arm. That is a lot for one day: most people choose two of the four.

Take a False Creek mini-ferry to Granville Island for the public market, the artisan studios and lunch on the water. Walk west along the English Bay and Kitsilano waterfront to Kits Beach and its view back across the bay to downtown and the mountains. In the afternoon, head out to the University of British Columbia for the Museum of Anthropology, with its great hall of Northwest Coast poles and Bill Reid’s carvings, and walk down to the beaches below the campus if there is light left.

Drive Highway 99 north along Howe Sound, one of the most spectacular roads in Canada. The easy version of the day is the Sea to Sky Gondola at Squamish, with suspension bridges and viewing decks high above the fjord, plus Shannon Falls next door. Hikers have two bigger options, both needing a BC Parks day-use pass in summer: Joffre Lakes, three glacier-fed lakes beyond Pemberton, a long drive but a short, steep hike; or Garibaldi Lake, a full day on foot to a vast turquoise lake. Pick one; do not try to combine them.

Catch an early ferry from Tsawwassen for the Victoria day trip: the crossing through Active Pass, Butchart Gardens on the way into town, then an afternoon on foot around the Inner Harbour, from the Parliament Buildings and the Empress to the Royal BC Museum and Chinatown. Consider flying back by floatplane to the downtown Vancouver waterfront, which saves hours and makes a fitting last view of the trip.