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Granville Island – Attraction Area
In order to get to our destination, we Google mapped the route taking the Skytrain and bus. We got a bit lost walking from the bus stop to the Island and ended up on the bridge overlooking the island’s market. Getting to enjoy the view from above with the market, boats, bridge and mountains in the background made getting lost worth totally it. It was a perfect morning view, the only thing missing was a morning coffee in hand. Once we got off the bridge and onto the Island, exploring was easy. This island has tons of little shops, restaurants, playgrounds, and murals.
Looking for more things to do in Vancouver? Click here to read “10 Fun Things To Do In Historic Downtown Vancouver“
Vancouver Open Air Museum – Giants Murals – Granville Island
Ocean, a concrete production company, has called this island home since 1917. They have added art to their yard with a 3D painting, “Giants”, by OSGEMEOS. Set up in front of the artwork is a viewing station with some local history about the area and the company.
The Chain and Forge – Instagrammable Wall – Granville Island
This public space hosts free events throughout the summer and is decorated with beautiful murals.
Travel Tip: Looking for more murals? Check out the parkade beside it.
Trip Highlight – Artisan Sake Maker – Tour – Granville Island
Thanks to a suggestion from Instagram, we visited this little Sake Shop. They produce many different products and are always experimenting. They have been making sake for 11 years and growing their own local rice for 5 years. Our guide explained the process from getting the rice fields ready for planting to the finished product, sake. They use, sell or recycle everything that is left over from the process. Their fields produce more rice then they need so they sell the extra to local restaurants. I sampled both of their sparkling sakes. My favourite was Junmai Sparkling Sake. After the tasting, I had to try their in-house Ginger Ice Cream crafted using “sake kasu” (the lees leftover from fermented rice mash). The ice cream kept its cool and its shape in 26 degrees Celsius, well past my endless photo taking. It tasted of fresh ginger and smooth rich rice milk; I really enjoyed it!
Travel Tip: Email them ahead of time and book a tour.
Tour Cost: $5.00 per person
Make – Shopping & Souvenirs – Granville Island
This funky store features tons of local products and designs. If you are looking for the best Vancouver t-shirt, you will find it here. The staff created all the t-shirts or you can design one for yourself!
Granville Island Market – Food & Shopping – Granville Island
This vibrant little market is filled with fresh produce, flowers, pies, soups, souvenirs, and coffee. So many people from Instagram recommended this place to us, we had to visit!
Travel Tip: Come early. The market fills up fast with tourists. We arrived just after it opened at 9 am on Friday and it was busy but still easy to walk around. By 1 pm, the place was packed and hard to navigate through.
Amenities: There are two sets of washrooms in the market.
Granville Island Market
JJ Bean – Coffee – Granville Island Market
The first place I visited inside was JJ Bean, a local roaster coffee chain, for a quick espresso macchiato for me and a Caffe Mocha for JC. Both beverages were smooth and delicious!
The Market Grill – Breakfast with a view – Granville Island Market
We worked up an appetite browsing through the wares and decided to order two False Creek Croissant breakfast sandwiches with herbed cream cheese, fried egg, and smoked bacon. We headed outside to a table on the wharf with our food. The big hearty croissant sandwich was perfectly crispy. We even got to meet a friendly local who offered to take our photo.
JJ Stone Craft – Souvenir – Granville Island Market
As we toured the market, I had to stop and look at the hand-made obsidian knives with bone handles. The artist sources the obsidian locally from the Cascade volcanic range that spans from BC to California. He then shapes each blade using the traditional flint knapping process. I bought a few of the colourful flaked-obsidian rock samples as a souvenir.
What is your favourite thing to do on Granville Island? Share in the comments below or Tweet at me here
Where we stayed
My go-to for finding a place to stay in any city is Airbnb. Since we had a late check in time (our plane did not land until 10 pm on Thursday night), I had a difficult time finding a place that was ok with a late check-in. After some searching, I found a place within a 15-minute walk of the Richmond-Brighouse Skytrain station. In its former life, it was a hotel room, it had all the basic amenities and fit our needs. It is not on my map but you can find a link to the listing here. If you have never booked with Airbnb before, click hereto get $45 off your first stay.
Looking for more things to do in Vancouver? Click here to read “10 Fun Things To Do In Historic Downtown Vancouver“
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**Please note that this trip was during my gluten days of summer and I am not familiar with the gluten free options available at the places we visited.
