Pay Respects at Dude Chilling ParkFind the official green city sign reading Dude Chilling Park at Guelph Park on Brunswick Street, a prank so beloved the Park Board made it real. Salute the reclining wooden figure it mocks.WeirdEasy20 min
Out-Laugh the Bronze ManiacsAt Morton Park by English Bay stand fourteen giant grinning bronze men mid-hysterics. Mirror their pose for a photo and try to keep a straight face afterward.Photo HuntEasy20 min
Squeeze Past the World's Skinniest BuildingAt 8 West Pender Street stands the Sam Kee Building, a Guinness-certified commercial building under two metres wide, built out of spite over a land grab. Stand against it for scale.CultureEasy15 min
Stare Down the Giant SparrowsIn Olympic Village Plaza two house sparrows loom five and a half metres tall, a Hitchcock joke about invasive species. Pose tiny beneath the menacing little birds.Photo HuntEasy20 min
Catch the Chandelier Spin Under a BridgeBeneath the Granville Street Bridge hangs Rodney Graham's Spinning Chandelier, which lowers and twirls for four minutes at noon, four, and nine. Time your visit and watch a ballroom fixture dance over traffic.WeirdEasy20 min
Find 'Girl in a Wetsuit' on the Stanley Park SeawallOn a boulder along the Stanley Park seawall near Brockton Point sits Girl in a Wetsuit, Vancouver's cheeky answer to Copenhagen's Little Mermaid, complete with flippers and a dive mask. Wave hello at low tide.Local DetailEasy30 min
Get Startled by the 9 O'Clock GunWalk to Brockton Point in Stanley Park before nine at night, where an 1816 naval cannon has boomed daily for over a century. Stand near it and feel the whole harbour flinch.ActiveBold1 hr
Visit the Train That Built the CityInside the free glass pavilion at the Roundhouse in Yaletown sits Engine 374, the locomotive that pulled Vancouver's first passenger train in 1887. Chat up the volunteer who guards it.FamilyEasy25 min
Stand in the Old City MorgueThe Vancouver Police Museum at 240 East Cordova lives in the former coroner's building, and cheap admission gets you into the real autopsy suite where twenty thousand bodies passed through. Linger if you dare.Rainy DayBold1 hr
Order a Seaweed-Topped Hot DogAt the original Japadog cart on the Burrard and Smithe corner by the Sutton Place Hotel, get a Terimayo dog buried in teriyaki, mayo, and crispy seaweed. It started here in 2005.Food & DrinkEasy20 min
Run the Stanley Park Seawall before the cyclists wake upLace up at dawn and run the flat 10-km Stanley Park Seawall loop the way locals do, ocean on one side and Lions Gate Bridge straight ahead. Beat the bike traffic and you basically own the whole waterfront.ActiveMedium1 hr 15 min
Jog the False Creek loop past Science WorldTrace the False Creek Seawall from Sunset Beach past the shiny Science World dome and Olympic Village, where Vancouver run clubs do their easy miles. Flat, scenic, and over before brunch guilt sets in.ActiveEasy45 min
Get soaked at the free Variety Kids Water ParkBring towels and let the kids loose on the free spray jets at the Variety Kids Water Park by Lumbermen's Arch, including the climbable Fox's Den rock. It runs 10am to 7pm in summer, so the only cost is staying dry yourself.FamilyEasy1 hr
Lose the kids in the Granville Island Kids MarketFree to enter and packed with a two-storey slide, ball pit and 25-plus tiny shops, the Granville Island Kids Market is a rainy-day rescue that has kept Vancouver families busy for over 40 years. The arcade costs extra; the chaos is included.FamilyEasy1 hr 15 min
Hit the waterslide at Second Beach PoolSwap the chilly Pacific for the heated outdoor Second Beach Pool in Stanley Park, complete with a kid-pleasing waterslide and ocean views over English Bay. Open Victoria Day to Labour Day for cheap-thrill summer laps.FamilyEasy1 hr