Stanley Park is the heart and soul of Vancouver. It is one of the best urban parks on Earth and it is beautiful. Walking the seawall in Stanley Park is one of the best things to do in all of Vancouver. It gives you amazing views around every curve and there are plenty of paths to veer off on if you so choose. However, I definitely recommend walking the seawall in Stanley Park in its entirety at least once to see what the park has to offer.

Walking the seawall in Stanley Park will take you anywhere from an hour and a half to about three hours depending how fast you walk, how many stops you make and if you can even make it at all! It’s a pretty long hike, some 9 miles or so-especially if you walked down from city center or the waterfront. So just be aware.

If you’re walking the seawall in Stanley Park, there are a ton of things to see along the way. Some of my favorites are the totem poles, the mermaid statue and the views of the Lions Gate bridge and Siwash Rock. All are great to check out and offer great pictures. The lighthouse is also pretty cool, right at the point of the seawall.

You can walk in two different directions to circle the seawall. I actually walked both ways in consecutive days to get a different perspective and both ways are equally cool. I would recommend going to the right when you enter Stanley Park though so you end up at the beaches after a long walk.

The two biggest beaches are Second and Third beaches. They are pretty interesting and definitely have some characters hanging out at them! I also love the logs on Third Beach. It just goes with the whole Pacific Northwest theme.

Keep in mind there are many signed paths that crisscross the seawall so if you are getting tired or your feet hurt you can always cut across and shorten the hike significantly-just watch out for Canadian Geese!

Obviously, I loved walking the seawall in Stanley Park but many people choose to bike the same path. There is actually a dedicated pedestrian path and right next to it is the bike and rollerblade path. It is very well laid out and you never feel threatened by bikers.

You can rent bikes pretty much anywhere in Vancouver. I didn’t do it this trip but I have before and it’s really fun. This was my third trip to Vancouver but first since the 2010 Winter Olympics; which was an amazing time as well! But you can clearly see the torch is still burning bright!

I also happened to be in Vancouver during Canada Day; which is Canada’s birthday and basically the equivalent of the Fourth of July in the US. There were some 250,000 people along the gorgeous waterfront area of Vancouver and in Stanley Park itself.

I stayed at the beautiful Fairmont Waterfront Hotel and actually watched the awesome fireworks display from the club lounge patio on the 9th floor of the Fairmont Waterfront. It was literally the best seat in all of Vancouver to watch the fireworks. It wasn’t a bad place to check out the pool either!

Sadly, this trip to Vancouver was only for two short days but a great two days it was. Vancouver is literally one of my favorite cities on Earth and is a city I could live in. It is a green city and very outdoor oriented. Similar somewhat to Seattle or Portland, I think it is even better because it is such an International city and the people are simply so polite that you wonder why all people can’t be that nice.

That said, there is so much to see and do in Vancouver that I could write several posts on it but if you only have a day or two, definitely try walking the seawall in Stanley Park. You really get a feel for the outdoor nature of the city and its people.

Vancouver rocks!

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