10 mistakes people make when visiting Vancouver for the first time

Margarita Young/Shutterstock | i viewfinder/Shutterstock

When it comes to visiting Vancouver as a tourist, there are many tips and tricks to ensure a great stay. While we can’t control the weather, we can at least point you in the right direction in terms of mistakes to avoid making while in the area, and we’ve rounded up some of our favourites and possibly the easiest ones you can avoid doing.

Not lining up for the bus

The lineup of commuters at King George Station/Daily Hive

We can spot the tourists a kilometre away when there’s a line, or a lack thereof, at some of the busiest bus stops. Metro Vancouver’s bus etiquette is a bit unusual compared to some other cities, and that includes a serious honour system lineup for the bus. However, on longer buses like the 99 B line, there are often three lines, one for each door, and that can also confuse people who aren’t used to that militant commitment to a queue. That etiquette is also in place at concerts, sports games, and more, so be aware if you are budging we will absolutely judge and maybe go as far as to frown at you.

For some reason, however, this rule goes out the window on the platforms to get onto a SkyTrain, or that time that the City gave out free salt.

Only staying and sightseeing in Vancouver

Surrey Vaisakhi Parade (Peter Newton/Shutterstock)

We get it, Vancouver is beautiful and has the well-loved Gastown Steam Clock, but we promise there are a lot of amazing things to see outside of Vancouver itself. In fact, a lot of the things many tourists assume are in Vancouver aren’t actually in the city, such as the Vancouver International Airport (it’s in Richmond) or the Greater Vancouver Zoo (found in the Langley Township). We highly recommend seeing the neighbouring cities, like historic New Westminster or Fort Langley, dining away your day in delicious Burnaby, spending a day at the beach in White Rock or South Surrey, or sitting back and relaxing at a brewery in Port Moody and Port Coquitlam.

Getting caught trying to pump your own gas

Kat Om/Shutterstock

If you are heading out of Vancouver, it’s important to know that each city has its own distinct personality and bylaws that could catch you off guard. One of the biggest mistakes someone can make in Richmond, for instance, is pumping their own gas. Richmond is among the very few North American spots where it’s still against the law to have self-serve gas stations; all of them need to be full-serve, and an attendant will handle the gas pump for you due to reasons that made sense in the ’60s.

Travel with only a credit or debit card

Kamil Zajaczkowski/Shutterstock

Speaking of Richmond, while it’s not an official law or rule, it is smart to have some cash on hand, as some establishments are still cash-only. The same is true for some areas of Vancouver.

Many locals suggest this is due to high credit card fees and the specialized equipment needed for card payments can negatively impact small businesses; however, others suggest other reasons we won’t dive into here.

Try to hike down the Grind

Grouse Grind/grousemountain.com

Oh, if we had a dollar every time someone mistakenly tried to do this, we would have enough for a micro-studio on the DTES. You can hike up the Grouse Grind, but you cannot walk down it. It’s one-way only due to safety concerns, as the trail is too steep and narrow. Typically, that will mean you have to pay to ride the gondola, called the SuperSkyride Aerial Tramway, for about $20. You could walk out on the longer and windy BCMC trail instead.

Stay too late at the bar and miss your train

@TransLink/Instagram

Us locals are also guilty of occasionally missing the last train of the night. Even on nights when service is extended later, like New Year’s Eve, it’s still a dangerous game to stay to the last call and try and make the last train from Waterfront Station or the last bus from Bridgeport before they stop running for the night. Did you miss the last Expo Line train leaving downtown on Saturday at 1:16 am? The next train to arrive to get you to Surrey Central won’t be until 7:15 am. Are you wondering why the SkyTrains don’t run later or 24 hours a day? So were we, and officials told us it has to do with track maintenance.

Don’t take advantage of alternative modes of transportation

evo car share hullo ferries nanaimo terminal f

Evo Car Share vehicle at Hullo Ferries’ Nanaimo terminal. (Evo Car Share)

This is something lots of our out-of-town visitors can’t get over: Evos. You can use this carsharing service in many parts of Metro Vancouver and in Victoria (on Vancouver Island), and the most important thing to remember is that you have to bring them back to the city afterwards. So you could take an Evo on a ferry or even to a music festival, but you can’t abandon the car afterwards in a field.

You might also like:

Other options outside the standard taxi, Uber, or Lyft include the SeaBus (part of the public transit routes) or the ferries on False Creek. You can take the ferries to check out Granville Island or even just take a small cruise around the city for a few dollars. There is no need to buy a pass ahead of time for those — the captain collects your fee on board.

Trying to get to the Island on a long weekend without a reservation

BC Ferries’ Horseshoe Bay Terminal in West Vancouver(Shutterstock)

Trying to get a spot on a BC ferry on a long weekend or even any weekend in the summer is a real challenge unless you have booked your spot ahead of time. While most of the time, it’s easiest just to walk on and avoid the reservation frustrations, we heard of a sailing wait just this past long weekend for walk-on passengers, too. It. Gets. So. Busy.

Now, if you have time to kill, you could try your luck getting on a boat by showing up early to the terminal and being incredibly patient, but we advise you to bring snacks and fun friends to chill with because it could be a long, long wait. Plus, sometimes the boat breaks down.

As one DH staffer explained, “You gotta reserve on the weekends, my dudes.”

Think Granville Island is an island

Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock

The iconic Granville Island area, complete with seafood restaurants, an incredible market, and incredibly quick-thinking seagulls, is often mistaken for an actual island by those who come from out of town. So much so that they get confused trying to access it. We want to make sure you don’t miss this spot, so our best suggestion is to take a little ferry from downtown below the Granville Street Bridge for the most sea-nic route (get it), but you can also easily drive and park there as well. Lots of buses also go to Granville Island, and it’s a really nice walk, too.

granvilleisland.com

It’s a peninsula now, but it was once an actual island. The Vancouver Harbour Commission created it in 1916 as part of a reclamation project to create more industrial space for warehouses, mills, and factories. In the 1950s, the city wanted more space, so they filled in False Creek, creating the area now known as Sutcliffe Park and the Waterpark.

Carrying an umbrella

A rainy bus sits on Robson Street in Vancouver as people with umbrellas cross the road.

January 24, 2024, in Vancouver on Robson Street. (Daily Hive/Claire Fenton)

We cannot explain it completely, but for some reason, Vancouverites are very against carrying an umbrella, even in this famously rainy region. It seems to be not only Vancouver that swears by a baseball hat or just toughing it out when it comes to the elements, but our neighbours to the south in Seattle have this umbrella bias as well. Rationally, the only reason this author can think of against an umbrella is that it is truly annoying to be hit in the face with one while walking along Robson Street, and we only lose them anyway.

Let us know what you think of our list in the comments below!

With files from Amir Ali and Nikitha Martins

You might also like: