Along with the local newspapers, scores of Vancouver businesses and organizations publish pamphlets, booklets, guides, and brochures to keep locals and visitors well informed about what’s available and what’s going on in Vancouver.
Local Newspapers
The Vancouver Sun
Vancouver’s major local newspaper with local news and national and international news as well. You can read it online or buy it six days a week. It isn’t published on Sunday. In Thursday’s Sun, you’ll find West Coast Life, the weekly entertainment guide.
The Province
The other major local paper, The Province has local, national and international news, and it is known for its excellent sports coverage.
The Indo Canadian Times
A Punjabi Weekly newspaper serving the Indo-Canadian community for the last 29 years, the Indo Canadian Times is published every Thursday Morning.
The Georgia Straight
Vancouver’s hip alternative newspaper, published on Thursdays and available all around town. Entertainment guide and local news.
Vancouver Courier
The community newspaper, The Courier, delivers local news, editorials and an entertainment. Publishes four editions weekly, two on Wednesday, on on Friday and one on Sunday.
Business in Vancouver
This comprehensive business weekly provides an overview of just about everything going on in Vancouver’s business community including meetings, trade shows, events and news.
West Coast Life
Published as part of Vancouver Sun’s Thursday newspaper, WCLife gives you a guide to what’s going on around town for the week.
The Republic
The Republic of East Vancouver is an independent fortnightly newspaper published in Vancouver. It bills itself as Vancouver’s Opinionated Newspaper.
North Shore Newspapers
North Shore News
The North Shore news provides an insider’s look at local issues from a small town perspective.
North Shore Outlook
This newspaper provides a slightly different slant on North Shore news.
National Newspapers
The Globe and Mail
Canadian equivalent of the New York Times, Published in Toronto, The Globe and Mail has the best Canadian national news but very little local news.
The National Post
This paper was started by Conrad Black to provide an opposition voice to The Globe and Mail which he considered too left leaning. However, Black sold the National Post and all his other Canadian newspapers so he could move to England and become a Lord. Since his departure, the newspaper has improved.
Free City Guides and Maps
Vancouver Parks & Recreation Map & Guide
Includes parks, beaches, golf, pitch and putt and swimming pools. If you call the Park Board, they will mail you a copy:
604-257-8400
The Stanley Park Map and Guide
Lists monuments, trails, features and seasonal programs. Available at the Parks and Recreation office, 2099 Beach Avenue, and in Stanley Park. You can also call the Parks office at 604-257-8400 to order one by mail.
Read BC Books
Over 100 British Columbia books for visitors and residents
This excellent guide includes a description of excellent BC books for children and adults and a list of bookstores in the province. This publication is available at bookstores.
NOTE: Visitor publications, unless otherwise noted, are generally available at one of the two airport Tourist Info Centres, in hotel lobbies or at the downtown Tourist Information Centre.
The Vancouver Illustrated Map and Directory
This map provides a birds-eye view of downtown Vancouver and includes landmarks, buildings and street names.
Vancouver Tourist InfoCentre’s Calendar of Events
Published every month, this brochure provides a handy, thumbnail sketch of what’s going on.
Visitor’s Choice
This booklet contains many advertisements but it also contains useful general information about major attractions, entertainment, restaurants and good maps. It’s as good as many guidebooks, and more current.
Preview: The Gallery Guide
A guide to Vancouver art galleries and other art venues. It includes Washington, Oregon and Alberta and all of British Columbia. You can pick one up at any gallery
Vancouver Books, Maps and Useful Items
Here at the BC Passport Books and Maps page, you can get information about good Vancouver books and maps and where to find them. If you’re coming to Vancouver, you may want to read a couple of these before you arrive.
Dream City: Vancouver and the Global Imagination
Vancouver, located at the edge of a continent, has become the model for post-industrial urbanism.
This book explores the links between the city’s natural setting, political history, planning and design culture and the forces that are reshaping Vancouver’s urban environment. Dream City offers insight into how buildings, public spaces, extraordinary landscapes and civic values have merged to form a uniquely 21st-century city.
Douglas Coupland’s Souvenir of Canada and Souvenir of Canada 2 are useful books and a quick reads if you want to get a feel for the country. Canada is much more different from the US than many people recognize, primarily because many of the differences are hard to pick up if you’re not paying close attention.
Coupland’s observations and photographs will give at least the beginnings of insight into what makes Canada different from the rest of the world and Canadians the unique way they are. If you can’t find this book at amazon.com, try amazon.ca
Another way into the specifically Vancouver consciousness is to read Coupland’s City of Glass. This intimate portrait of Vancouver is done in images, memories, descriptions and reflections. Reading the book will give you a special feel for the place.
Coupland, famous for coining the term “Generation X” in his 1991 novel of the same name, writes about young North Americans trying to cope with the world of technology, change and corporate greediness. Perhaps his most famous book, Microserfs, written in 1995, about Microsoft employees and their desperate search for life inside an all-consuming corporation, provides a now strangely dated glimpse of the technology world on its way up.
Another essential Vancouver book if you love to walk or hike and want to take advantage of the fantastic walking and hiking around Vancouver is Dawn Hanna’s ‘Best Hikes in Southwestern British Columbia.’ The book covers Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, Bowen Island and Howe Sound. Best Hikes and Walks is the perfect hiking companion, not counting energetic, enthusiastic two and four legged companions.
Vancouver Travel Guides
52 Best Day Trips from Vancouver
This excellent book has suggestions about things to do on the North Shore and Bowen Island and then farther afield. If you like to hike, you can really get a feel for the magic of this area by visiting Lynn Headwaters in North Vancouver or taking the Brothers Creek Trail into the mountains. You’ll find spectacular scenery, deep canyons and a kind of peace you only find in nature.
The British Columbia & Alberta Adventure Travel Guide
(Guided Outdoor Trips and More)
Sarah Bell
Guided outdoor trips and other adventure travel opportunities in the diverse terrain of western Canada including ski touring, snowshoeing, dog sledding, canoeing, sea kayaking, nature expeditions, gold panning, and more.
0-919574-97-1. $14.95
The British Columbia Lodge & Resort Guide
(Includes the Banff/Jasper Area and the Yukon)
Sarah Bell
Includes waterfront lodges, resorts, inns, cabins, and cottages; bring-your-own-bedding cabins; hot springs resorts; romantic country inns; fishing lodges; and lodges with doorstep access to walking, hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, and dog sledding.
0-919574-80-7. $11.95
Hot Springs of Western Canada
Glenn Woodsworth
A new guide to Western Canada’s hot springs. This book includes hot springs resorts and natural and hand-made hot springs pools. Some can be reached by car; others require a walk, hike, or boat trip.
0-919574-90-4. $24.95
Mountain Biking British Columbia
Darrin Polischuk
A guide to the best mountain biking trails in British Columbia.
0-9680342-1-7. $24.95
Where to Walk Your Dog in Greater Vancouver
Ross W. Powell and Hero
150 places to walk dogs including Burnaby, Coquitlam, Delta, Langley, Port Moody, Richmond, Surrey, and outlying areas.
0-9683117-0-9. $18.95
Exploring the Coast Mountains on Skis
John Baldwin
A comprehensive guide to 200 mountain ski touring trips in southwestern British Columbia. Most are day or weekend ski trips to alpine areas near Vancouver. Includes all areas worth a visit on skis.
0-9691550-1-8. $19.95
The Vancouver Area Diving Guide
Carl Trepanier
A guide to 80 of the best dive sites in the Vancouver area, with lists of local dive shops, dive clubs, and other facilities and services for divers.
0-919574-81-5. $19.95
Bicycling Near Vancouver
Margaret Slack
The best cycling day-trips in the Greater Vancouver area.
0-919574-33-5. $9.95
Sea Kayaking Canada’s West Coast
John Ince and Hedi Kottner
Explains how to get the most from your west coast paddling experience and includes shoreline hot springs, totem poles, sandy beaches, fishing villages, and wildlife viewing.
0-9691064-0-8. $19.95
If you don’t buy them online, you’ll find A Souvenir of Canada, City of Glass and Best Hikes and Walks at the following Vancouver books stores:
Banyen Books and Sound
3608 West 4th Avenue
604 732-7912 or 1 800 663-8442
Banyen books has been in Kitsilano since 1970, and although it specializes in spiritual/healing books and audio, there is a small section on local hikes.
The Travel Bug
3065 West Broadway
604 737-1122
This store has a nice environment and friendly staff. The selection of books and maps is good.
Wanderlust
1929 4th Avenue
1 866 739-2182
This travel store has some local hiking books as well as maps.
Phone Cards: If you want Phone Cards, you can purchase them at local convenience stores. Most stores carry several, but the best for calls to the US and Canada are ‘Gold’ or ‘Any Time’. Neither has a connection fee or any hidden charges, and both have very reasonable rates, about 6 cents a minute. For other destinations, ask the merchant which card is best for your desired destination. Get the one with no connection fee unless you’re planning to make calls lasting more than 30 minutes.
Public Transportation Day Passes: You can purchase C$10.00 Day Passes for unlimited one day travel on local buses, SeaBus and Sky train at the SeaBus and Sky train terminals or at Fare Dealer outlets located in all Safeway Stores, 7/11 Convenience stores, Save On Food Stores, and many London Drug stores and Shoppers Drug Marts. You’ll can get transit maps at the Fare Dealer outlets as well.
