This beautiful 1,000 acre park in Vancouver’s downtown is one of the city’s most popular attractions. Stanley park is surrounded by a beautiful 10 km seawall, amazing beaches and a seaside pool. Inside this urban forest park you’ll find the aquarium, an outdoor amphitheatre, cycling and walking trails, restaurants, and more.

Quaint and charming Granville Island is the perfect place to spend an afternoon or an evening. In the Granville Island Market you’ll find delicious local artisan foods. The island is home to a brewery, a distillery, an artisan sake maker, and so many amazing restaurants! It’s also a great place to shop for souvenirs, or see street performers, theatre, music shows and more. Plus this is the main hub for the annual Fringe Festival.

You’re sure to love Vancouver’s most popular and accessible public beach. English Bay is just a short 25-minute bus ride away from the ILSC campus, and is the place to be in Vancouver’s summer. Relax on the beach with friends, grab an ice-cream from a local food truck, or a drink on the patio at the Cactus Club and take in the view. And don’t miss the annual Celebration of Light fireworks events which attract around 1.4 million people each year.

You can’t miss a visit to Vancouver’s closest and most popular local mountain. In winter, this is a top choice for skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing, but all year round, Grouse is a great place to go for a hike, or to take in majestic views of the city. Make sure to try the Skyride gondola or check out the “Eye of the Wind”, an observatory inside Grouse Mountain's windmill, offering amazing 360° views.

Vancouver’s iconic landmark, with its recognizable “sails” is a popular spot for tourists to explore. Set right in downtown, Canada Place houses a convention centre, a hotel, and a cruise ship terminal. It also includes Fly Over Canada, which offers interactive film experiences that will make you feel like you’re in flight. Canada Place hosts annual Canada Day celebrations, and a variety of other community and arts events.

Originally built for the Expo 86 World Fair, this popular spherical building is immediately recognizable in the Vancouver skyline. Science World is now home to permanent and temporary exhibits designed to meet an amazing mission to “ignite wonder and empower dreams” through science and nature. On top of its exhibits, you can also take in amazing films at the Omnimax theatre inside.

Check out the place where it all began in 1867. Gastown is the original colonial settlement that eventually became the city of Vancouver. These days, Gastown combines its historic architecture with hip and trendy pubs and nightlife, cool cafés and restaurants, amazing galleries that highlight First Nations (Canadian Indigenous) art, and so much more. Make sure to check out the famous steam clock which whistles to announce the time every 15 minutes.

The perfect weekend getaway, Whistler is about 2-hours away from Vancouver, and there are regularly scheduled busses that will take you there. Whistler is the west coast’s most popular ski resort, made even more famous by the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, but it’s the perfect escape any time of year. Enjoy year-round festivals, skiing, hiking, mountain biking and the restaurants and shops in walkable Whistler Village.