Gastown to Chinatown: Vancouver's Oldest Streets

Start around ten, when Gastown’s cafés are open and Chinatown’s bakeries and grocers are at their busiest. Spring is the garden’s best season, when the plantings are chosen to mark the ‘awakening’ of the year.

Arrive at Waterfront Station and leave from Stadium–Chinatown, both on the Expo Line, so you never walk a block twice. From Stadium–Chinatown the SkyTrain takes you straight back downtown or out to Burnaby.

The walled classical garden charges admission and runs guided tours that explain the symbolism of the rocks, water and windows. The public park next door, built at the same time around the same pond, is free, so you can see part of the effect even on a budget.

Gastown is packed with restaurants and cafés in its old brick buildings, from quick sandwiches to serious dinners. In Chinatown, look for the long-established bakeries and barbecue shops on Pender and Keefer Streets for buns and roast meats to go.

The Sam Kee Building at Pender and Carrall is recognised by Guinness World Records as the narrowest commercial building in the world, just 1.5 metres wide at ground level. It is easy to walk past; view it from the north side of Pender to understand the shape.

The route skirts the Downtown Eastside, where homelessness and drug use are visible. It is walkable in daylight; keep valuables out of sight, don’t photograph people in distress, and stick to the busier streets after dark.

Children like the steam clock’s show and the koi and turtles in the Chinese garden’s pond. The whole route is short and flat, and easy with a stroller apart from a few cobbled stretches in Gastown.

Downtown hotels around Waterfront Station and Canada Place put you at the start of the walk and close to the SeaBus and SkyTrain. Gastown has a handful of boutique hotels in heritage buildings, lively in the evening; read recent reviews about noise and the surrounding blocks before booking.