One day in Vancouver: itinerary and highlights

Stanley Park remains the day's first appointment: the peninsula of forest, larger than any urban park in North America, is walkable along the Seawall, the coastal trail of over eight kilometres that edges the ocean between ancient trees and totem poles carved by First Nations.

Proceeding toward the centre you reach Gastown, the city's oldest quarter, recognizable for its steam clock and cobblestone streets that now house galleries and venues.

A few steps away you enter Vancouver's Chinatown, one of North America's largest, with the classical Chinese Dr. Sun Yat-Sen garden hidden behind its walls.

For lunch, the Granville Island Public Market, the covered market under the namesake bridge, offers a wide choice among food stalls and small local producers.

In the afternoon, a ferry crosses the False Creek to English Bay, the city beach where summer residents gather at sunset.

Just outside the centre, on the north side of the bay, the Capilano Suspension Bridge instead crosses a forest gorge at seventy metres height.

With evening, returning to the centre, venues around Gastown or Yaletown remain an excellent base for dinner, with city lights lighting up over the water.

Stanley Park, Gastown, and Chinatown manage to convey Vancouver's urban side, while the afternoon choice between English Bay and the Capilano Suspension Bridge adds its waterfront or mountainous side.

A ride up the Grouse Mountain by cable car and Granville Island explored with more time remain chapters for a second visit. Seeing Vancouver's skyscrapers reflect in the ocean with snow-capped mountains behind remains the most direct image of the city.