The oldest part of the city — Gastown's cobbled streets, Victorian brick warehouses, the famous steam clock, and hip bars and restaurants, beside the historic Chinatown. Atmospheric, central and hip, though it borders the rough Downtown Eastside (be aware at night); the base for history, cool bars and character.
A look around
What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.
€150–260
typical per night in Canada
The sensible middle
Typical prices for Vancouver — neither steal nor splurge.
Where it sits
The circle is Gastown & Chinatown and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.
How far is everything?
From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.
- Canada Place & the waterfront9 min walk709 m
- Granville Island8 min taxi2.5 km
- English Bay & the seawall8 min taxi2.7 km
- Stanley Park & the seawall10 min taxi3.3 km
- Kitsilano Beach11 min taxi3.8 km
- Kitsilano (beach)15 min taxi4.8 km
- Capilano Suspension Bridge20 min taxi6.6 km
- Grouse Mountain32 min taxi10.8 km
- The Museum of Anthropology34 min taxi11.3 km
On your doorstep
What you’re living next to if you stay here.
- 5.Gastown & the steam clock — The city's birthplace — cobbled streets of Victorian warehouses now full of design shops, galleries and some of Vancouver's best restaurants and bars, and the famous (if faintly kitsch) steam-powered clock that whistles on the quarter-hour. Wander the historic lanes, and it's the heart of the city's cool dining and drinking scene.
- 8.Chinatown & the classical garden — One of the largest and oldest Chinatowns in North America — heritage storefronts, herbalists and bakeries, and the serene Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, the first full-scale Ming-style scholar's garden built outside China, a walled oasis of ponds and pavilions. Atmospheric and reviving; the garden is a peaceful gem.
- 13.Gastown's bars & restaurants — Gastown is the heart of Vancouver's cool nightlife — craft-cocktail bars, breweries and acclaimed restaurants tucked into the brick warehouses and cobbled lanes, from speakeasies to buzzing gastropubs. The best evening out in the city; bar-hop the historic streets, and it's especially atmospheric under the old lampposts.
When are you staying?
Booking.com & Airbnb open searched to Gastown & Chinatown; flights via Google Flights.