Friday Nights at the Shipyards Market

Fourteen three-metre bronze men frozen in full hysterical laughter, open 24/7, and required by inscription to bring you joy.

Two free kilometres of Coal Harbour glamour: the Olympic Cauldron, a LEGO-look orca, floatplanes, and zero spent.

Ride the SeaBus across Burrard Inlet, browse 80-plus stalls at Lonsdale Quay Market, and watch downtown light up from North Vancouver.

'Beer Island' is a one-acre tidal wildlife refuge off the False Creek seawall that you reach via stepping stones and costs nothing.

One of the world's only steam clocks, cobblestones, gas lamps, and Vancouver's full origin story for the cost of absolutely nothing.

West Vancouver's front lawn on Burrard Inlet: 24 hectares of beach pointing straight at Lions Gate Bridge, free, and inexplicably better at golden hour.

The ticketed garden's free sibling: koi, lily ponds, a pagoda, and a full afternoon in Chinatown for $0.

300-plus murals mapped free on the VMF app around Main Street. A treasure hunt with very large prizes.

60 stalls, a lake, a coffee truck, and an official 'no plan' plan every Saturday morning in John Hendry Park.

A gentle 8 km out-and-back along the Fraser River from Fort Langley village to the original 1827 fort site.

Burnaby's Italian high street: four blocks of delis, a sixty year old bakery, murals, and the North Shore mountains at the end of every cross street.

Two five-metre house sparrows stand in Olympic Village square, free to visit, and exactly as uncanny as that sounds.

Free colour-coded trails through 5,000 hectares of Douglas firs and old growth that predates Canada. UBC's lab, your date.

Level 9 of the Central Library has a free rooftop garden with downtown skyline views. Most Vancouverites have no idea it exists.