The visitor guide
Vancouver museums and art galleries
Here's the short version. For museums, start with the Museum of Anthropology, Museum of Vancouver, Maritime Museum, Roedde House or Police Museum. For art galleries, choose the Vancouver Art Gallery or Bill Reid Gallery. Pick by subject, not by postcode.
Guide reviewed October 18, 2026. Prices are per adult and come from each venue's own site.
- Places featured
- 7
- Price per person
- $10 to $35
Museums and galleries to visit
Open a place for its price information, maps and directions, then build a plan around it. Prices are per adult; check each venue for child rates and booking conditions.
Stand Under the Totems at the Museum of Anthropology
UBC Point Grey campus · $26
Time-Travel the City at the Museum of Vancouver
Vanier Park · $23
Climb Aboard the St. Roch at the Maritime Museum
Vanier Park · $22
Step into the 1890s at Roedde House Museum
West End · $10
Get Delightfully Morbid at the Police Museum
Downtown Eastside · $14
Get Lost in the Vancouver Art Gallery
Downtown · $29-35
Northwest Coast Art at the Bill Reid Gallery
Downtown · $15
Plan your visit
Each museum suits a different mood. The Museum of Anthropology sits in the northwest corner of the UBC campus, a separate trip from downtown, so plan a whole outing around it. Its official site warns that the bike route from downtown involves a significant hill, so plan for that if you're cycling. The Museum of Vancouver and the Maritime Museum share Vanier Park, which makes them an easy pairing. The Maritime Museum's own site announces a St. Roch revitalization project.
Smaller stops suit a narrower mood. Roedde House is a restored 1893 home, and its own site tells visitors to ring the old-fashioned doorbell, so you get to arrive like a Victorian caller. The Police Museum covers a darker side of local history, set in the old morgue in Gastown. Its site says it's moving to a new building with elevator access, and that the current heritage building has stairs and no wheelchair access, so check its venue page and call ahead if mobility is a concern. For galleries, the Vancouver Art Gallery is the big downtown choice, and its site lists Tuesday as the day it closes, so don't plan your gallery date for a Tuesday. The Bill Reid Gallery is the smaller one for Northwest Coast art, and its Gallery Shop has no admission fee, so you can browse the Indigenous art and art books and pay only for what you take home. Once you've picked one, open its venue page to start a date plan.
Official visitor sources
- moa.ubc.ca visitor information
- museumofvancouver.ca visitor information
- vanmaritime.com visitor information
- moa.ubc.ca visitor information
- museumofvancouver.ca visitor information
- roeddehouse.org visitor information
- vancouverpolicemuseum.ca visitor information
- vanartgallery.bc.ca visitor information
- billreidgallery.ca visitor information
Photo credits
- Cover: Wikimedia Commons
- Time-Travel the City at the Museum of Vancouver: Wikimedia Commons
- Place cards: credited on each place's own page.
By Date Spark team. Guide reviewed October 18, 2026.
Museums & galleries questions
Good to know· 3 questions
Which Vancouver venues here are museums and which are art galleries?
The Museum of Anthropology, Museum of Vancouver, Vancouver Maritime Museum, Roedde House Museum and Vancouver Police Museum are museums. The Vancouver Art Gallery and Bill Reid Gallery are the art galleries.
Which museums are in Vanier Park?
Two of them. The Museum of Vancouver at 1100 Chestnut St and the Vancouver Maritime Museum at 1905 Ogden Ave are both listed in the Vanier Park area, so they pair easily for one outing.
Where is the Museum of Anthropology?
It's at 6393 NW Marine Dr, in the northwest corner of the UBC campus. Its official site gives transit, bike and car directions, and notes that the bike route from downtown has a significant hill.