GMTK Travel Diaries - Vancouver, Canada (Patreon)

Hey! One of the perks of running GMTK is I get to travel around the world to give talks and lectures. I get to pop into different cities for a few days, check out the sights, and then head home.

Right now, I’m sat in Vancouver airport - having given a talk at EA’s offices here - and I thought I’d share some snaps, memories, and recommendations from my weekend in the city. 

Getting around

Make sure you get the Compass day pass. This thing costs about 10 bucks and lets you ride busses, trains, and the seabus all day long. Stuff’s pretty spread out, so public transport is kind of essential. 

Oh, the Seabus is a short, comfy ferry ride between Downtown Vancouver and the north shore.

Downtown Vancouver

My favourite area in the city was Gastown, which is a cute hipstery area, where old industrial buildings have been turned into cool cafes, diners, and shops. 

I found a bookstore here called MacLeod’s Books that was absolutely packed with thousands of obscure books. Really fun to explore. 

I also caught a movie here (Shoplifters) at the Cineplex - and played some House of the Dead in the lobby!

Grouse Mountain

This was definitely my favourite thing to do. In less than an hour, you can go from the bustling streets of Downtown Vancouver to the top of a snowy mountain. 

Up there, you can walk through snow, sit by a fire, do ice skating, go snowboarding or skiing, and eat in restaurants that give you an amazing overview of the city. 

To get here Take the Seabus over to North Vancouver and get a bus from the ferry port to Grouse Mountain. It’s pricey - it’s about $60 to take the Gondola up to the top. If you’ve got legs of steel, mind, you can hike up the mounts for free. 

Museum of Vancouver

This Museum proved a bit tricky to actually get to - but it’s a nice spot if you can get there. It’s got a full history of the city, from its First Nations Musqueam origins, through its Asian immigration, to the 50s and 60s. 

There are also time-limited events on. I caught one about the city’s obsession with neon lights. They were very cool to check out up close. The museum costs about 20 dollars. There’s also a Planetarium and a Maritime Museum in the same area. 

There’s more I didn’t see, like Grenville Island, Stanley Park, and the suspension bridge. Maybe EA will have me back in the future...