Vancouver's Holiday Lights (Best Places to See Winter Illuminations in Vancouver)
Canada has always been a place I've wanted to visit and I'm so glad to have had the chance to spend a week there last month.
The wonderful Tourism Vancouver team flew Tom and I to Vancouver for the week before Christmas to see the city's beautiful holiday lights and experience its incredible foodie scene.
It was our first time in Canada (and the continent of North America for that matter!) and so it was a really exciting experience for Tom and I! For starters, I was super impressed to find out that Air Canada has a direct flight from Melbourne to Vancouver. It's about 15 hours and the route only operates a few times a week so be sure to look out for this as its the only airline that flies direct.
Vancouver itself felt really similar to our home city Melbourne. It's very multicultural with lots of different cuisines and restaurants on offer and walking around the city felt very safe. The tourist attractions in the city are all really close together. You can walk to almost anywhere in the city within 15 minutes and the snow mountains are literally 15 minutes from the city. How crazy is that?
We visited Vancouver in winter and whilst I've always thought Canada to be an extremely cold place for winter where your eyelashes freeze the moment you step outside, Vancouver's winters are surprisingly mild. Only a few degrees colder than Melbourne's winters with daily maximum temperatures when we visited ranging from about 4-8 degrees! I was able to get away with a thermal, jumper and coat + jeans.
Where we stayed:
During our week in Vancouver, we stayed at the newly opened EXchange Hotel. The EXchange Hotel was situated in a really convenient location downtown - we found lots of places like Gastown, local restaurants and the main shopping street super easy to reach by foot. It is also only minutes walk from Canada Place which is where all the free shuttle buses for Capilano Suspension Bridge Park & Grouse Mountain depart from, making it very convenient for visiting those attractions as well.
The hotel itself is beautiful - our room was on the Dividend Club Floor which meant we had access to the Dividend Lounge which offered daily drinks and snacks to guests. Breakfast was available downstairs at Hydra restaurant, which also serves mediterranean food during lunch and dinner (I'll share more about that in the food post!).
PLACES TO VISIT
During winter and the holiday season, Vancouver lights up with its spectacular array of holiday light displays across the city. It's such a special time to visit Vancouver and the city really comes alive after dark where thousands of locals venture out to the numerous holiday events across the city to see the incredible holiday lights. I feel like visiting Vancouver during winter is still a bit of a hidden secret, so be sure to check it out before the whole world finds out!
Vancouver Christmas Market
Right by the waterfront near Canada Place is the Vancouver Christmas Market which is a yearly market that features German food stalls and Christmas souvenirs and craft stalls as well. We had a lovely time here eating our way around the market. The atmosphere here is infectious and becomes even more fun closer to Christmas as more and more people head out to enjoy the festivities. It's a great place to spend the afternoon or to have a casual dinner.
Gastown steam clock
If you're in Gastown, be sure to swing by the iconic Gastown steam clock which is one of only a few working steam-powered clocks around the world! Every 15 minutes, the clock blows out steam and over Christmas, it plays a Christmas Projection Show every 30 minutes as well.
VanDusen Botanical Garden Festival of Lights
I think VanDusen's Festival of Lights might have to be my favourite holiday lights event in Vancouver. When we arrived at the gardens here, I was mesmerised by the sheer size of the light display. More than a million lights shine bright here at VanDusen and a winding footpath around the garden takes you through so many different light installations and displays. We spent around 2.5 hours wandering through the garden. The park was extremely busy and it was just so, SO beautiful with so much to see.
Aurora Winter Festival
One of the newer holiday events here in Vancouver is the Aurora Winter Festival. This pop-up festival is a bit of a theme park wonderland with ferris wheels and rides, an ice-skating rink, giant slide, christmas market, food trucks and Christmas lights. I really loved the light displays here which were housed in an area of the festival called 'Mystical Lights'. Here, you wander around a path and through various different installations.
Canyon Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.
Here's another big favourite. The Canyon Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park was truly a breathtaking experience and place. This beautiful park is filled with fairy lights all over. Each year, professional tree climbers come to install the canyon lights around the entire Capilano Suspension Bridge Park and the results of this is absolutely incredible! Beautiful lights lining the entire bridge, lanterns suspended in the air.. there are lights on every footpath and tree in sight!
Being such a popular attraction, I would recommend visiting on a weekday as soon as the park opens if you want to avoid crowds. Because of the trees, you can still see the lights glimmer during the day though of course in the evenings, it would be a whole different experience as well!
Prospect Point at Stanley Park
If you love viewpoints, then definitely head to Prospect Point for sunset. We came by on Christmas Day to watch the snow-topped mountains turn pink. Here, you can also see a beautiful view of Lion's Gate Bridge as it lights up in the evening. Be sure to bring your camera and snap some pics. I’ve never seen a city sit so close to the mountains, it’s a truly breathtaking view.
St Paul's Hospital Lights of Hope
Each year, St Paul's Hospital puts on ‘Lights of Hope’ - a display of lights to fundraise for the hospital. If you're passing by in the city, you'll instantly recognise the hospital from its beautiful front facade of stars acknowledging donors who have made considerable donations as part of this fundraising event.
Grouse Mountain
Vancouver is the perfect city for those who love to visit the snow but also want to have the city nearby. Grouse Mountain, a popular ski area, is only 15 minutes from downtown Vancouver. During Christmas, we took the free shuttle from Canada Place to Grouse Mountain and spend a few hours wandering around exploring the festivities. There’s an ice-skating rink up here, slopes and a beautiful walking path as well as cafes and food. It’s so convenient to think that you barely have to travel far to see a place like this.
Bonus: city decorations
Vancouver sure loves its gigantic Christmas trees! Walking around downtown, we saw numerous gigantic Christmas trees dotted around the city, as well as large ornaments and other displays bringing the festive spirit to the city. Here are a couple of my favourites!
