Gastown and the Waterfront of Vancouver
Gastown is the historical core of Vancouver. This old district is now a series of streets with an old-town feel, branching out from the beautiful Maple Leaf Square, one of the most charming vintage squares in British Columbia. To the south is the large Chinatown district, which also has attractions and commercial streets. The city's waterfront developed later, initially as a gray port and now a tourist attraction featuring the city's famous observation tower – Vancouver Lookout. Nearby on the pier, there's the peculiar architectural masterpiece of Canada Place. Today the area combines a flow of tourists between attractions and bustling streets, financial functions, and quite a few ethnic residential spaces including Japantown.
How much time is needed for a tour of Gastown and the Vancouver waterfront?
For a tour of Gastown, Chinatown, and the Vancouver waterfront, it's worth dedicating half a day.
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8 Must-See and Do Things in Gastown and the Waterfront of Vancouver
- Sail with the sailboats at Canada Place
- Amazing view from the top of the Vancouver Lookout
- Historic Vancouver at Maple Tree Square in the heart of Gastown district
- Intriguing historical criminology at the Vancouver Police Museum
- The landscape design of Sun Yat-Sen Park
- The impressive vintage look of Waterfront Station
- Take a photo under the Millennium Gate in Vancouver's Chinatown
- The beautiful dome of Sun Tower
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What are Gastown and the Waterfront of Vancouver?
Gastown, Chinatown, and the Waterfront of Vancouver are fascinating residential and commercial districts in the eastern part of downtown Vancouver, close to downtown.
- Gastown is the historical core of the city. The district was founded in the mid-19th century around a tavern and developed as the first settlement along the Burrard Inlet, the deep fjord north of the Fraser River's mouth where Vancouver's port is located.
- About twenty years after the construction of Gastown's houses, the first houses of Chinatown were built to the south of the district, as the residence of Chinese immigrants who came as part of the gold rush and later to build the trans-Canadian railway.
- The waterfront developed later, initially as a gray port and transportation center. In the 1960s, the city decided to make the waterfront more attractive to visitors. It underwent a makeover, with commercial towers built, including attractions like the Vancouver Lookout observation tower and later the iconic Canada Place.
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Map of Vancouver's Gastown, Chinatown, and Waterfront Districts
Everything to See and Do in Vancouver's Gastown and Waterfront
Canada Place
Canada Place is now one of Vancouver's most recognizable landmarks. The building was constructed in 1985 on a pier converted for commercial purposes, and due to its peculiar appearance, it became the star across the waters of Vancouver's harbor at Burrard Inlet, the fjord that seals the downtown from the north. The site currently hosts the Vancouver Convention Center, a hotel, and the World Trade Center of Vancouver. The building also serves as a terminal for cruise ships stopping in the city on their way to Alaska.
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The unusual structure was built on what used to be the Canadian Pacific Railway pier, where goods arriving from the Pacific Ocean were loaded onto trains at Waterfront Station. After demolishing the gray industrial building, the city decided to convert the area for tourism purposes, and thus the strange-looking building resembling sailboats was constructed. Initially, city residents mocked the building, calling it a cheap copy of the Sydney Opera House. However, over the years, it has become particularly beloved and is now almost the city's main icon.
Address: Canada Pl. 999, Vancouver
Waterfront Station
The Waterfront Station in Vancouver was, following the completion of the Canadian railway, one of the central and bustling stations in all of Canada, mainly for the purpose of transporting goods. It is the terminal station of the train line that connects the Atlantic Ocean, Montreal, Toronto, and the central cities of Canada with the Pacific Ocean. The elegant station building dominates the city's waterfront.
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The station was completed in 1914 and to this day it serves as the city's transportation hub, both for the exit of containers from the port as well as for internal transportation functions. The station is connected with two metro lines – the Canada Line (the light blue) and the Expo Line (the blue). It is located on Granville Square, along the waterfront of the docks and near Canada Place.
Address: W Cordova St. 601, Vancouver
Vancouver Lookout
Toronto has the CN Tower, neighboring Seattle has the Space Needle, and Vancouver has a sort of combo with a round observation tower, but instead of a pole, it's on a skyscraper. The Lookout is at the top of the Harbour Centre Tower across the street from the Waterfront Station. At the top of the tower, there's a round observation deck with transparent elevators climbing inside the building itself above West Hastings Street.
The skyscraper rises to a height of 28 floors and the observation deck adds up to 147 meters. It was the tallest structure in Vancouver until 2001. Despite the vintage touch of the place and the odd feeling (especially for those coming from Seattle who've climbed the Space Needle), the observation deck does a great job offering a breathtaking view of the fjord, the mountain ranges north and east of the city, the ocean, the harbor line, and of course, downtown and the Gastown district.
Today, the observation tower is one of the city's popular attractions, more for the view it offers than for the tower's appearance itself.
Address: 555 W Hastings St., Vancouver
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Gastown District
Gastown is the original settlement core of Vancouver. The district is located in the heart of downtown, between the waterfront along Vancouver Harbor to the north and Chinatown to the south. The district's southern boundary is Hastings Street and its center is the beautiful Maple Tree Square.
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The district, which was once the whole city, was established in the 1860s and was named after John Dayton, known as Gassy Jack. Dayton was the captain of a steamship from Yorkshire, England, who opened the entire district with his tavern.
The neighborhood managed to retain its unique character, mainly because it survived the urban plan to demolish part of it and build a boulevard to downtown Vancouver during the 1960s. Due to protests, the city decided to preserve the neighborhood's streets, and today it's a tourist destination, particularly around Maple Leaf Square. The neighborhood features charming restaurants and the ambiance of old Vancouver.
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Vancouver's Chinatown
Vancouver's Chinatown is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods. The district was established in the 1880s based on the many Chinese immigrants who came to Canada about twenty years before its establishment, as part of the British Columbia gold rush, a northern offshoot of the wave of migration along the Pacific coastline in the mid-19th century. In the 1880s, many Chinese immigrants arrived in Vancouver as laborers for the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The district is located south of the historical Gastown district of the city and east of Downtown. Along with Japantown in its northeastern part, Vancouver's Chinatown is considered the third largest in North America, after the ethnic neighborhoods in San Francisco and in New York.
The district features attractions like the Sun Tower and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, nestled behind the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum. The emblem of the district is the impressive Vancouver Chinatown Millennium Gate on Pender Street, the main commercial street of the area.
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Sun Tower
The Sun Tower is a historic skyscraper located in the northwestern part of Vancouver's Chinatown. The tower was built in 1912 and rises to a height of 82 meters. Once completed, it was the tallest building in Canada, a title it held for only one year until the completion of the elegant Canadian Pacific Building in Toronto.
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The skyscraper was built in the French Beaux-Arts style that was popular at the time. It features a stunning dome, whose bright azure color dominates the district's skyline. Next to the tower is the popular Chinatown shopping center, the International Village Mall.
Address: W Pender St. 128, Vancouver
Sun Yat-Sen Park
The charming Sun Yat-Sen Park is nestled at the back of the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum in the heart of Chinatown. The museum's structure is a stunning pagoda with a green roof, but the fun truly begins behind it.
This is a Chinese garden modeled after the gardens of the Ming Dynasty, with water streams, ponds, shrubs, and trees sprawling over beautiful pathways, all with meticulous landscape design. Unofficially, it is considered the first Chinese garden built outside of China, a trend that later spread to most Pacific coast cities in the USA.
Address: 555 Columbia St., Vancouver
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Vancouver Police Museum & Archives
The Vancouver Police Museum is a fascinating spot, especially for those interested in the history of law enforcement and elements of criminology. The museum is nestled on the border between Gastown to the west and Japantown to the east, in a historic building that served as a courthouse built in 1932. It's become popular mainly for its morbid feel and the criminology displays that tell gripping true crime stories that were actually investigated.
The museum's display features everything captivating in the world of crime including ancient weapons used in crimes, counterfeit money, and objects that once served as evidence. The Knife Room in the museum is the central attraction. Inside, there's an impressive collection of sharp tools showcased in an elaborate display that includes mannequins depicting Vancouver at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.
Address: 240 E Cordova St., Vancouver
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