GRANVILLE ISLAND
Granville Island captures Vancouver’s essence —
water-enhanced beauty, brisk commerce and a
focus on all things local and sustainable. Just a
quick mini-ferry ride from downtown, the pedestrian-friendly peninsula looks towards English Bay
and the city skyline. Recalling 1930s beginnings
on “Industrial Island,” refurbished warehouses
and colourful metal sheds house visitor-friendly
studios devoted to ceramics, glass and metalware,
fine wood- and paper-works, or beautiful fabrics.
Seven days a week, chefs and gourmands shop the
Public Market for sustainable seafood, all-natural
sausages, handmade crafts, farm-fresh produce
and local honey. Outdoors, buskers draw appreciative crowds with music, acrobatics and stand-up
comedy. No need to drag the kids along to the
micro-brewery or the artisan-sake maker; they
will feel perfectly at home among the toys and
activities at Kids Market. Island eateries employ
freshest farm-to-table and Pacific sourced ingredients. Live theatre, stand-up comedy and seasonal
events such as jazz-festival concerts are on the
menu at several indoor and outdoor venues.
SOUTH GRANVILLE
Art has been in the air on Vancouver’s Gallery Row
for decades, ever since beloved Vancouver painter
Emily Carr returned from Paris in 1912 and set up
studio in the former “mud wallows” at Broadway.
Just follow the colourful street banners commissioned from local artists, and vibrant hanging bas-
kets, from Granville bridge to 16th Avenue and its
two dozen galleries, high-end antique dealers and
sophisticated specialty stores. Whether you are
mad for modern photography, collect classic furniture, adore Asian artefacts or favour First Nations
jewellery, the range of mediums and styles for sale
here artfully mirrors the city’s cultural tapestry.
Take time out from your gallery hop to taste the
art of West Coast cuisine, an eggy brunch or fine
pan-Indian fusion cooking. Let it all settle during
a hammam spa treatment before celebrating the
performing arts at the veteran Stanley Industrial
Alliance Stage.
CAMBIE STREET
When it was chosen as the neighbourhood for
Vancouver’s impressive art-deco city hall in the
1930s, Cambie Street was still considered the
boonies. Fast forward 80 years to find a hip urban
streetscape along a major artery, still with almost
unparallelled mountain and city views, and only
a quick SkyTrain ride, walk or cycle south across
Cambie bridge from downtown. Around Broadway,
bright new big-box stores offering housewares,
clothes, electronics and up-market groceries give
way to a variety of locally focused businesses.
Whether it’s specialty cheeses or organic fruit,
friendly oenological advice or crafty beers, real
bookshops or a spot of flamenco and tapas you’re
after, you can find it in Cambie Village. If you
want to stroll, bus or drive the extra mile, follow
the boulevard with its wide grassy median south
Beach Avenue leads out
of Stanley Park into the
West End
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