Welcome to Vancouver! This loop starts at the historic Waterfront station, follows the harbour to Canada Place and the Olympic cauldron, then heads through downtown into Gastown, the city's first neighbourhood, and on to Chinatown.
Each stop's audio starts by itself when you're within about 100 ft (free and unlocked stops only). Keep this page open with the screen on. Distances are straight-line, so follow the streets and watch for traffic.
Welcome to Waterfront station, the main transit terminus in Vancouver, on West Cordova Street. It was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway and opened on August 1, 1914, as the Pacific terminus for the railway's transcontinental passenger trains to Montreal and Toronto. It's actually the third CPR station; the previous one stood a block to the west. The building is neoclassical, with a red-brick facade and a row of smooth white Ionic columns, and the columns repeat inside the grand hall, where two large clocks face each other high on the walls, along with paintings of Canadian landscapes.
Since 1977, the SeaBus ferry has left from a floating pier connected to the station by a walkway over the tracks. Today it links SkyTrain, SeaBus and commuter trains.
🚶 Walk to the next stop (0.3 mile · ~6 min walk): Head north along West Cordova Street to the building with the white sail-like roofs on the water. About 6 minutes.
This is Canada Place, on Burrard Inlet. You'll recognise it by the fabric roofs that look like sails. It stands on the site of the Canadian Pacific Railway's Pier B–C, built in 1927 for ships trading across the Pacific. During Expo 86, it was the Canada Pavilion, opened by Prince Charles and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and more than 5 million visitors came before the fair closed.
Today it houses part of the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Pan Pacific hotel and the Vancouver World Trade Centre. It's also the region's main cruise ship terminal, where cruises to Alaska begin, and it was expanded in 2001 to add another berth. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, it served as the Main Press Centre.
🚶 Walk to the next stop (0.4 mile · ~8 min walk): Walk west along the waterfront to the plaza with the tall white cauldron. About 8 minutes.
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That was the last free stop. The full tour continues with 7 more stops: Jack Poole Plaza, Marine Building, Harbour Centre, Gastown, John Deighton, Sam Kee Building, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, each with narration, audio and walking cues.
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The first person to use code FIRSTVANCO at checkout gets the full tour free.
