Take a Sightseeing Tour of Vancouver on the SkyTrain and SeaBus

It is easy and inexpensive to explore all Vancouver has to offer using public transit. You will find lots of wonderful places to explore. One of Vancouver’s major assets is it’s natural westcoast beauty. Fortunately, much of Vancouver’s SkyTrain line runs on tracks elevated above the city providing some great views, and providing tourists with a cost effective method to see this wonderful city. This makes exploring Vancouver by rapid transit an enjoyable experience as well as a practical way to get around. Even though we live within 2 hours of Vancouver, we would often use the SkyTrain and Seabus to take our children for an enjoyable days outing in Vancouver.
Vancouver tourist attractions
If your accommodations are downtown I suggest taking a ride on the Expo line beginning at any of Waterfront, Granville or Stadium Station, whichever is the closet to you accommodations. Although the Expo line is a subway to start, it quickly ascends above the city and passes some well known Vancouver landmarks. Watch for Telus World of Science and the BC Place Stadium when the train climbs above ground. The train travels mostly southeast along some of the high parts of Vancouver, giving you some really good views of the mountains to the North and the Fraser River Delta to the south. Eventually the SkyTrain will take you over the world’s longest transit only bridge as it passes into Surrey far above the Fraser River.

There are many interesting attractions to get off and explore along the Expo Line including Stadium – Chinatown Station where you can discover Vancouver’s Chinatown along with the Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Classical Chinese Gardens; Main Street – Science World Station where you can spend part of the day at the Telus World of Science; Patterson Station in Burnaby where you can explore the forested paths of Central Park; Metrotown Station where you can explore hundreds of stores and activities at Metropolis at Metrotown, British Columbia’s largest shopping complex; New Westminster Station where you can see the mix of old and modern buildings along the waterfront in historic New Westminster and the New Westminster Quay.

From Waterfront Station at the northwest terminus of the train line you can enjoy a ride on the SeaBus passenger ferry which carries passengers across Burrard Inlet to Lonsdale Quay Public Market in North Vancouver. Lonsdale Quay will give you more great views and you can spend some time exploring the many shops and dining options inside the market. Strive for seats next to the windows on the Seabus and you will see fabulous views of the Stanley Park and Vancouver’s skyline.

With multiple zones and categories, Vancouver transit fares can be hard to understand even for the local residents. To help keep things easy, I suggest travellers purchase a day pass. Carrying a day pass you are good to go all day and into the night on the entire transit system with no worries about zones.