Vancouver is at the 21st place in the ranking for the
most expensive cities worldwide and the most costly in North America. This can
make it a bit tricky to travel to this wonderful place on low-budget.
Here are some tipps and tricks how to experience
Vancouver anyway.
Focus on something.
At first you need to know, what is important for
yourself while traveling.
Do you want a comfortable accommodation, do want to
eat well or is shopping your passion?
If you want to go out for dinner every night, just
like me, you have to deal with a more simple accommodation and no new stuff for
your wardrobe.
Even if you are not on low budget, it can make your
journey much easier to know what you want to focus on, because especially big
cities are full of possibilities and you must accept that you can’t check out
every hot spot while your stay.
Get a bike.
Van is not only one of the most expensive cities, but
is striving for a title as the greenest city of the world in 2020 too, so there
is a very good developed system of bike routes. If you are as lucky with the
weather as me, seek for a bike rental near your hotel or hostel (if there is none,
at Denman/Georgia Street is a central point for rental shops) and get sporty! A
bike for a week is about 108CAN$ or 180CAN$ for 2 weeks and you can get to
nearly every place in Downtown with it very fast. Even North Vancouver is
reachable within a longer tour. Another plus is that you might not be identified as a tourist, because Vancouverites get on their bikes as soon as the sun comes out.
If you are not so lucky with the weather, or just not
into biking, the public transportation, which is based on busses, has got
reasonable prices too. It might be the better deal for you, if you want to see
places that are in districts farer away, like Burnaby or West Van. Just check
out the page of TransLink for their fares!
Skip Capilano Park and Suspension Bridge.
It is one of the most visited tourist attractions and
also very expensive with its 33CAN$, but there is a free alternative in Lynn
Canyon, with another, smaller, Suspension Bridge, the Twin Falls and less
tourists. I enjoyed it very much there, because you are mostly completely alone
and get a better experience of the beautiful nature! Another free park to see
in Lynn Valley is the Seymour Conservation Reserve, where the Rice Lake and a “Bear
Island” are located. So if you want to get the ultimate kick of seeing a bear
in free nature, the chance to get it in SCR is not too bad!
For the ones, who prefer an idyllic postcard
landscape with ocean view, the Lighthouse Park is probably a better choice. It
is located in West Van and I admit that the drive there takes some time, but it
is worth it! The name-giving lighthouse and the view from the immense rocks at
the sea and the skyline of Vancouver are amazing. You will meet some more
people there than in Lynn Canyon, but it’s still not touristic. 
Check out the newspaper.
One thing I really liked about Vancouver, are the
freesheets that you can pick up all over the city. Magazines like the Westender
offer a rubric with information about all the events going on over the week and
sometimes there are tipps for free presentations or good and cheap restaurants
too. It is also very interesting to get an insight to the current occurrences
of the city and which topics locals are dealing with.
So if you are wandering around and see a news rack,
don’t forget to pick one up!
Look for Street Art.
I would have never expected that there is so much
Street Art around in Van! Actually there were even guided tours for it in my
hostel! I didn’t join it, because of a lack of time, but while wandering around
I saw a lot of it. Especially around Chinatown, there is a lot. The famous
artist IHeart is local in Vancouver too, so you could check out his website and
try to find his works all over the city.
Also, there are a lot of free, small art galleries
around, most of them on Main Street(look for Western Front Gallery) or
Hastings(I loved the atelier of Ian Sheh).
Go to the Farmers Market.
Well, Granville Island is cute and, at least, the
entry is free, but it’s also very often very full over there. If you are
looking for a similar experience and are visiting Van in summer, you should
look for a Farmers Market! Now, in spring, they start to reopen one by one and it is really cool. Local farmers sell their vegetables and stuff and even if you don't buy anything, everyone is opened to tell you something about their work. At Hastings Market, I learned how Tire d'erable is made and tried smoked salmon with maple sirup marinade, because everyone wants to communicate and share their experiences. You don't feel like it is about selling anything.
It is kind of like this everywhere in Vancouver. Even if a lot of things there are very expensive, the people are so friendly and opened that they are happy if you just have a look in their shop and have a chat with them.
I really had a great time and I'm sure you will have one too!
If you want to share any opinions or different ideas for a low-budget trip, feel free to comment. :)
