Vancouver Visitors Guide

Things to Do

Vancouver is a city that shuts down very early. Most places usually close much earlier than you would expect, pretty much nothing is open by midnight, so check closing times beforehand.

Fun Things to Do in UBC

  • Beaty Biodiversity Museum
  • UBC Rose Garden
  • Wreck Beach: This beach is right next to UBC campus, with stairs leading down right behind Place Vanier. It is much more isolated and in nature than other beaches here, and has great summer sunsets. (DISCLAIMERS: This is a clothing-optional beach; the majority of people who go are clothed, however, there are people who are not, so do not be rude and be mindful of who is in the background of any photos you are taking. This beach is not accessible to those with mobility impairments.) The beach closes right after sunset, whenever that is.
  • Museum of Anthropology at UBC
  • Cecil Green Park House: This is partially a graduate student residence, which is not accessible by the public. We request that you respect their privacy. There is also a chance that the main house is booked out for a private event, but if it’s not this is a very nice place to walk around in.
  • Nitobe Memorial Garden: UBC’s own Japanese garden! Open Tuesday - Sunday, admission is $7.00.
  • UBC Botanical Garden: Open Tuesday - Sunday, admission is $11.00.
  • The Pit: UBC’s very own club. It is in the basement of the Nest (the entrance is in the Nest before the building closes, and outside under the staircase after). This is open for free on Wednesday nights, which is the free night for the conference.

Fun things to do in Vancouver

  • Vancouver Aquarium
  • Vancouver Art Gallery
  • Granville Island: This place is considered as a bit of a tourist trap, but it has some nice food, and the views are great.
  • Khatsahlano Street Party: Annual street party in Vancouver, if you are here early for the weekend before the conference.
  • You can make the journey to Richmond (or spend time there before your flight, as it is much closer to the airport).
    • You can do some shopping, or try some of the great Asian restuarants there. Easy places to eat are Aberdeen Center Food Court and Richmond Public Market (these places don’t serve your typical food court food) although there are many other sit-down restaurants worth checking out as well. Things are a little cheaper, but many places here only take cash
    • You can also check out theRichmond Night Market. Note that this place is considered to be very overpriced, but can make for a memorable experience.
    • To prevent confusion for transit: southbound trains alternate between going towards Richmond (“Richmond Brighouse”) and towards the airport (“YVR Airport”). They split at the Bridgeport station.

Touching grass

NOTE: Parks located in Vancouver (surprisingly) have a closing time. Unless otherwise posted, parks/beaches are only open between 6:00 - 22:00.

  • Stanley Park: One of Vancouver’s biggest local attractions. Bordered on all sides by the ocean, Stanley Park also contains Vancouvers’ Aquarium. Note that this closes surprisingly early at 17:30.
  • VanDusen Botanical Garden
  • Queen Elizabeth Park: There are tons of flora here, and you can get a view of downtown Vancouver. This is also where the banquet is happening on Thursday.
  • Wreck Beach: See above in the UBC section (WARNING: clothing-optional). You can swim at all of these beaches, including this one and below, but there are no lifegaurds.
  • Spanish Banks Beach: The closest beach to UBC, that isn’t Wreck. Within walking distance if you are down for a ~30 minute hike through the park, or a short bus ride.
  • Locarno Beach/Jericho Beach
  • English Bay Beach
  • Capilano Suspension Bridge Park: Very pretty place, but it has a hefty entrance fee. It is also pretty far from UBC campus, so this is more of a weekend day trip.
  • Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge: Another place to hike that has a suspension bridge, but it is completely free. This is also pretty far, and would be a weekend day trip.
  • Whistler: This is a very popular hiking spot a few hours out from Vancouver by car. The village in Whistler is accessible via a shuttle that connects from Downtown. However, the village is not particularly well connected to some of the cooler hikes.
  • Squamish: Another popular hiking spot, which is also a couple hour long drive from Vancouver.
  • Downtown Vancouver has good shopping, largely not in malls but along the sterets. Some places to check out are Robson Square or Granville Street.
  • You can find quirky stores near UBC along West Broadway and in Kerrisdale.
  • McArthurGlen Designer Outlet is two train stops from the airport, perhaps something to do if you have a little downtime before your flight out.

Food

On campus

  • University village: There are sit-down restaurants, like Kokoro Mazesoba, Yunshang Rice Noodle, and Beyond BBQ (which has a grand opening menu with 10 dollar dishes). In the basement of one of the building is also the International Food Court; some student favourites are Miyame Sushi and My Home Cuisine.
  • There are places to get food along University Boulevard (the bus loop).
  • Rain or Shine Ice Cream
  • Cafe’s at UBC: JJ Bean, Loafe, Tim Hortons, Starbucks, Bean Around the World, Great Dane, Blenz, Blue Chip (our student run cafe).
  • Bars on campus: The Gallery (top floor of the Nest) and Koerner’s Pub (by the Rose Garden’s).

Off campus

24/7

  • All of these places are in University Village: McDonalds, A&W, Subway
  • Breka Bakery & Café - Kitsilano: 24/7 cafe that is iconic among UBC students for being so. They have pretty pastries.

Extraneous

Weather

  • The weather will range from pleasantly warm to uncomfortably hot at times. The forecast for the week looks sunny and hot, so bring clothes fit for the weather and sunscreen!
  • Carry water at all times/stay hydrated. There are water fountains in every building at UBC. We will not be providing bottled water for events taking place on campus, so bring your own bottle.
  • Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (IBLC) has air conditioning, and is located centrally if you ever need a quick break.

Consuming substances responsibly

  • The legal drinking age, and legal age to consume cannabis in British Columbia is 19.
  • Purchasing these requires 2 pieces of government ID (one has to be a photo ID).
  • Substances are not permitted inside UBC buildings. Otherwise, Vancouver is pretty liberal with their restrictions (e.g. see here and here under Public use).

Transportation

Vancouver’s transit system is handled entirely through a card system, called Compass. At entrances to buses, and both entrances/exits for trains, you need to tap your card to get on (and off). This can either be a Compass card (which you can purchase at vending machines in train stations or at Shoppers / London Drugs) or a credit card. With a card, you are able to transfer in a 90 minute window without paying another fee (ask for a transfer ticket if you intend to pay by cash). It is cheaper per ride to pre-load money on the Compass card, but the card costs $6 (it is technically refundable if you return your card at the end of your trip… but this is to select, inconvenient locations and no one really does it; if you want to figure this out, you should call Vancouver Translink because information online is sparse). You can load money online at Compass Card’s website or at the machines that also give you the cards. For specific pricing, see here.

We’ll list the specific buses to get to our event locations below, but for general transportation, UBC has a bus exchange (and a bus loop, which have distinct buses) that should be able to take you to most locations. To return to UBC, almost anywhere you should find a bus returning to UBC, i.e.

“All roads lead to UBC.”

There are certain “express” buses which should take you to most destinations faster, and come more often: 99, R4, 44. NOTE: transit in Vancouver ends surprisingly early. Most buses and trains end their service from 0:00 - 1:00. There are limited night buses (the only one that goes through UBC is the N17, which connects UBC to Downtown), but even these end their service at about 3:00 - 4:00AM.

To and From the Airport

  • Taxi/Uber is about $35-40 to UBC Vancouver campus. It is, however, cheaper than this often.
  • Compass cards can be bought from the Skytrain station at YVR airport; these machines are also used to load money onto the compass cards.
  • The most convenient transit route to UBC campus from the airport is to take the Skytrain Canada Line to Oakridge-41st Avenue station, and take the “R4 41st Avenue to UBC” until the end of the line. NOTE: TransLink charges an additional $5 on top of the usual transit fee for transit rides leaving YVR.
    • This intersection can sometimes be confusing, as there is another R4 going the other direction and getting out of the train station can be disorientating. Make sure the bus you get on says “UBC” at the top.
    • Experiment (we haven’t tried this before): If you intend to take transit to get to UBC from the airport, and you are arriving on Monday, the cheapest option (excluding the cost of the Compass Card) is to buy the Compass Card from one of the vending machines and load a day pass on it online, since you are likely transiting back and forth from the Beach BBQ later that day, and this avoids the extra YVR fee. The crucial step is to get the day pass online, otherwise if you get it from the compass machine, you will still be charged the YVR fee.
  • The most convenient transit route to the airport is taking the “R4 41st Avenue to Joyce station” to Oakridge-41st Avenue station, and taking the Skytrain Canada Line to YVR airport.
    • Southbound trains alternate between going to “Richmond Brighouse” and “YVR Airport”, although their route is mostly the same, before splitting off at “Bridgeport” station. Unsurprisingly, only one of these routes will take you to your desired destination, but watch out for this.
  • The trains close around midnight, but the N17 and N10 are night buses that should be able to get you from the airport to UBC (although, note the N17 ends service around 3:00).

Driving

Parking at UBC is quite expensive. Most of the parkades should have spots open since it’s the summer, however, it will cost you $20 for the day and $10 if you want to keep your car there overnight (these can be purchased at the machines in the parkades). The best parkades for our buildings are probably the Fraser River parkade and the Rose Garden parkade. There is free parking along Marine Dr near Place Vanier, however, these sports are incredibly hard to get, and you can’t leave your car there overnight. For our off-campus events, parking at/near Locarno beach is free, and the banquet will require paid parking (but please don’t drive to the venue if you are planning to drink).

Vancouver has many, many flashing green lights at intersections along many of the main roads that go through it. This essentially means you have a green light, and the light will stay green unless a pedestrian presses the button to cross.

Off-Campus Events

If you have mobility impairments that would prevent you from arriving at the following events via transit (as both require walking on a hill), please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of the organizers and we will set up an alternative mode of transportation for you.

Beach BBQ Social

Our BBQ will be happening at Locarno beach (Google Maps). This starts at 6:00pm and will run until 9:00pm. To reach the beach, you can walk just under an hour from UBC campus (but this is through a park and along the beaches), or you can take the 84 or 4 bus. Bussing will take about 10 minutes and an additional 10 minutes walking afterwards.

Banquet

The banquet will be held off UBC campus at Seasons in the Park (Google Maps). To reach the event, one can catch the 33 bus from UBC, and take it all the way to Queen Elizabeth park, where the restaurant is located (you will have to walk about 10 minutes through the park to get to the restaurant, which is at the top of the hill). The R4 works as well, but would require an additional 10 minutes of walking. To arrive on time, if you are taking the bus, we recommend leaving at 18:00 from UBC, and 18:30 if driving. Dinner begins at 19:00, so please arrive by then.