Explore Downtown Vancouver by SkyTrain

Because the city of Vancouver offers such a wide variety of attractions, activities and events, it can be hard to know where to start when you're beginning your tour of the city. Fortunately, many of this metro's most popular sights, shopping centres and museums can be found in the downtown area. Here, you won't have to worry about dealing with traffic, as you can use the SkyTrain for transportation. Four stops going north to south along the Expo line (the downtown SkyTrain route) will leave you within walking distance from the best things to see and do in Vancouver.

Waterfront Station

The Harbour Centre Tower is the perfect place for you to start your tour of the city, as it's Vancouver's highest point, standing 581-feet tall. The tower's slowly rotating observation deck provides stunning 360-degree views of the city that can be seen both day and night. You can get your bearings and pick out local landmarks with the help of informative plaques and signs lining the deck. If you get hungry or you decide to visit the tower at the end of the day instead of the beginning, you can enjoy a delightful dinner inside the rotating Top of Vancouver Restaurant, which is located one floor above the observation deck.

When you're finished taking in the breathtaking views from the Harbor Centre Tower, come back down to earth and do some shopping in the Harbour Centre, where you will find several retail shops, a delicious food court, and a multitude of services including shoe repair, tailor/dry cleaner, a salon, drug store, and a book store.

After visiting Harbour Centre, check out one of the most unique buildings in Vancouver, Canada Place, which houses the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre, the Vancouver Board of Trade, IMAX theater (with the second largest screen in Vancouver), and even the Pan Pacific hotel, as well as several restaurants and shops. This impressive structure, whose architecture resembles a sailing schooner under full sail, also serves as the terminus for several world-class cruise ships returning from their plights along the Alaska cruise route. In fact, if you're lucky, you may see the Pacific Princess, which is none other than TV's famous Love Boat. When you're done here, you'll need to hop back on the SkyTrain.

Granville Station

This station will drop you off right on Granville Street, the very core of the city's urban culture. This street is situated in the heart of downtown Vancouver and lined with many diverse businesses including Duthie's books and The Bay Department Store. The vast hodgepodge of people rubbing shoulders on this street is unbelievable. You'll see everything from interesting street performers and international sellers advertising homemade goods to boardroom business people hurrying along to the next meeting and artsy teenagers trying to look bored. No matter what category you fall into, you're sure to find something you're interested in somewhere on this street, especially if you like shopping. Granville Street mall (which runs from Nelson to Hastings) is a great place to browse through, as is Pacific Centre mall (which covers more than three street blocks.)

However, for the best in Vancouver shopping, you must walk a few blocks south on Granville and check out the most fashionable shopping area in the city, Robson Street. Considered by many the "Rodeo Drive of British Columbia," Robson Street boasts trendy, sophisticated designer boutiques along with posh gathering spots and chic restaurants.

Library Square, which is also quickly accessible from the Granville Station, is one of the city's most famous landmarks, and its modern architecture is absolutely stunning. It is home to the Vancouver Public Library, which boasts a myriad of regular special events and authorial readings, as well as many special collections, including 131 photo albums that contain photographs from Vancouver's history. Along with housing the actual library, this structure also hosts government offices, shops, and cafes, as it takes up an entire city block and features open plazas and even a dazzling waterfall. It's definitely a must-see Vancouver attraction. But once you're done here, it will be time for another trip to the SkyTrain.

Stadium Station

After exiting from the Stadium Station, you will be very close to the Canadian Craft Museum, which is a cultural facility devoted to displaying crafts, both historical and modern, that unite the best aspects of art with function and practicality. Here, you will find several works of local, national, and even international art portrayed through a variety of facets, including pottery, textiles, glass, jewelry, and baskets. Every year, scheduled rotating exhibits are displayed in the museum, along with those from the permanent collection. If you're specifically interested in a particular craft, you may be able to find a replica that you can purchase in the Gallery Shop.

Located in the former provincial courthouse (and near the Stadium Station), the Vancouver Art Gallery is home to several works of contemporary art by Canadian and Native Inuit artists. It also offers a Children's Gallery with available workshops, as well as other programming options including interpretive performances, art demonstrations, and guided tours. While you're here, be sure to check out the permanent collection of painting by Emily Carr, a famous Canadian painter. Then, it will be time for your last SkyTrain ride.

Main Street/Science World

This final station stop will take you right to Science World, a museum that not only houses the Alcan Omnimax Theater, which has the largest screen in the world (27m or 88.6 ft) and features films on a variety of interesting subjects, but also hosts a multitude of hand-on exhibits that offer information about light, sound, physics, biology, meteorology, and music. If you brought children on your Vancouver vacation, then they are sure to love crawling through a beaver lodge and observing tree roots hanging from the ceiling in the Search Gallery, which teacher about British Columbia's natural history. This attraction is particularly great for families and great end to your time touring the city.