Meet the Giant Sparrows

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

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

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

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.

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

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

A fern lined creek trail running straight through Coquitlam's tower district, with a volunteer salmon hatchery halfway along it.

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.

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.

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.

A free Fraser River stroll past the wave-roofed Olympic Oval, with interactive bobsled simulators waiting on the first Thursday.

Port Moody's original main street: false fronts, vintage shops, painted utility boxes and a 1908 railway station at the end of it.