Fly a Kite at Vanier Park

The cliche that earned it. Eight free volleyball nets, a driftwood log, and English Bay going full pink.

A flat mirror-still lake loop that grows 700,000 lights every November and calls itself Lights at Lafarge.

Grab Denman Street takeout, claim a driftwood log, and watch the sun drop behind the North Shore mountains. Free, always.

Stanley Park's west-facing sandy cove, where everyone on the seawall cycles past while you watch the real show.

A dead-level wetland trail at the foot of Burke Mountain with herons, eagles, kingfishers and Golden Ears framed across the Pitt River.

Former basalt quarry turned sunken flower garden, with a stone bridge that has starred in approximately every Vancouver wedding photo.

Ten minutes through never-logged Douglas firs to warm granite bluffs above the Point Atkinson lighthouse and Howe Sound.

English Bay's quieter cousin at the mouth of False Creek, where the ferries, the mountains, and the freighters all line up.

The one Vancouver sunset where the sand goes on forever, the crowds go home, and the sky takes its sweet time.

Canada's longest pier stretches 470 metres over Semiahmoo Bay, Mount Baker glowing across the water like it's showing off.

An iconic zig-zag staircase down through forest to a quiet pebble beach with big Boundary Bay sunsets and balancing-rock cairns.

The highest point in Stanley Park, straight down the Lions Gate Bridge, and an ice-cream stand to stand at while you stare.

Five minutes from the parking lot, Kanaka Creek has carved a sandstone canyon with a waterfall that locals swim under all summer.

A pocket botanical garden south of downtown Langley with a little tropical greenhouse, a gazebo, and benches made for lingering.