Coming from Chicago, this Art Gallery is on the smaller side. However with that being said - they…read moremade the best with the space they have with some interesting pieces. We really enjoyed the variety.

The Vancouver Art Gallery has the feels where from the outside it looks like it can be as extensive…read moreas one of the large metropolitan museums you would expect from big cities. However, once you enter you see the exhibits are a bit more subdued and it isn't as large as it seems from the outside. Still, that shouldn't discourage you from having a good time and getting a big old "VAG" hand stamp on you to experience this art gallery. The exterior of this museum is all Victorian in the scope of its columns and use of concrete materials. It could be a museum perfectly placed in any other Commonwealth country. Entering inside you go through a long hallway with a gift shop at the very end with a good selection of art related and niche items to buy. On one side of the hallway are lockers and restrooms. On the other is a stairway up to their cafe/restaurant as well as the entrance to the actual galleries for the museum. It doesn't feel aged and instead quite modern and efficiently designed. As most museums, there is a rotation of different exhibits and featured artists. During my visit one of the most visually stunning pieces was an atrium area with curving staircases on both sides with a rainbow pattern of waves on the ground. It was a nice visual and interactive piece and definitely one meant for social media. Continuing on I enjoyed seeing lots of interactive art pieces. One was a prompt on the wall where you could put sticky notes on the wall to answer the question. Another similar piece was found but instead of sticky notes you could hang pieces of paper with words or artwork as your response to their prompt. One of my favorite parts of the Vancouver Art Gallery was their offerings of easy to carry foldable chairs. This meant if you really found something you wanted to spend more time on you had a chair to help sit for a while. I wish more museums had this amenity. First Fridays of each month means free admission, though it is first come first serve so you might be waiting a while. But a free admission to this museum felt worth it. However, if you have to pay to come in unless they have a specific piece of art or artist featured that you like it might feel a bit expensive for the price of admission. Either way, museums are a great insight into any city and if you want to experience the creative side of Vancouver, the Vancouver Art Gallery is a good place to visit while exploring the city.

This is one of the most fabulous Museums I have been to for Archaeology. It is well run and the…read morecollections are stupendous. There are drawers filled with treasures that you can pull out and look at. The huge totem poles, alone, are worth the visit.

It was my first time visiting Vancouver, and the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) was at the top of my…read moremust-see list. The museum is beautifully designed, with a spacious layout, abundant natural light, and thoughtfully curated exhibits. I spent over two hours exploring, and every moment was worth it. Getting there was easy--I took an Uber from my hotel, and the ride was quick both ways. If you're in Vancouver and have an appreciation for museums and history, MOA is absolutely a place you shouldn't miss.

It was my first time visiting in a long while, so my aunty brought me to the museum to check out,…read moresince it was pouring outside. It was a cool and informative spot that gave you a nice surface level on the history of Vancouver, BC. The information wasn't too excessive and the props and displays were well positioned. They even had nice areas throughout the museum that made a good spot for a quick photoshoot! Unfortunately, the staff were not friendly and were bery dismissive and lacked information when asked. There were two at the front desk that were judgemental, as well, as they made some rude comments about us to one another.

This was an absolutely lovely museum. Thank you for hosting us last week at Indigenomics IMPACT…read more The best part of the experience was that all the panels were held in a planetarium and this is the first planetarium I've ever seen with a stage. It made the conference that much more awesome. HIGHLY recommend the museum as an event space! And wish I had more time to view the exhibits, but of what I did see, the retro/back-in-time exhibit was my favorite. It even had a working juke box!

It's Spring Break so we came to Science World instead of the mall to switch things up for our son…read more We grabbed the annual membership so we won't feel we are losing out for not staying there the whole day and the membership fee pays for itself in around 3 visits. I used to think Science World it's huge but it turns out it wasn't. Now that I am a mom, I noticed how toddler friendly the place is. We were legitimately surprised by how many babies and toddlers were inside! There is even an area for kids 5 and under. We can definitely make the membership worth it

Science World has the gift of bringing out your inner child. The silver globe-like dome is one of…read moreVancouver's main landmarks. inside, I got to experience lots of hands-on exhibits. You can explore at your own pace but the place is typically packed and full of lots and lots of energy. The live science shows and demonstrations tend to get busy but are intriguing to watch. I love to walking along the seawall from False Creek and walking back just in time to see the dome light up at night. It truly never gets old.

Of all the years that I lived in North Vancouver I didn't know anything about the history of the…read moreelectric streetcars! Did you know that long before a bridge was built across Burrard Inlet, residents and visitors alike sought an easier way to traverse the hilly North Shore. From 1906 to 1947, electric streetcars were the answer. Now people living in North Vancouver could get to work on time, and visitors and tourists could access hiking trails and visit attractions like the Capilano Suspension Bridge. You've got to come here to speak to the amazing staff of historians and check out the last streetcar that was salvaged and refurbished which is in this museum.

From the owner: MONOVA: Museum of North Vancouver, operated by the North Vancouver Museum and Archives, is a shared…read morepartner agency of the City and District of North Vancouver. MONOVA operates both the Museum of North Vancouver (115 West Esplanade) now open in The Shipyards and the Archives of North Vancouver (3203 Institute Road) in Lynn Valley. In addition to the two physical visitor centres, MONOVA supports several other online/offsite experiences for the public to engage with and learn about the past, present and future stories of North Vancouver.

Irving House, completed in 1865, is the one oldest homes in the Lower Mainland and it is the oldest…read moreheritage house museum in B.C.! Being a fan of Burnaby Heritage Museum, I never knew about this place until my family told me about it. I came here with my parents, and there were no other visitors other than my family during the entire tour of the house. Tracy, the tour guide, was super friendly and helpful with the tour and I was able to stop and ask any questions during the tour. I loved how Tracy did a vintage vacuum demonstration as I haven't seen anything like it before. I loved the fact that visitors could go upstairs and see the entire house! Many of the items in the home were original from the original owners, though some were purchased or donated from other sources.

Irving House was built in 1865, back when New Westminster was striving to be the capital of British…read moreColumbia. It was lived in by family members up to about 1950, when it was sold to the city of New Westminster, and turned into a historical centre. Thus, if you're a history buff, love antiques (especially Victorian-era pieces), or ever watched the show "America's Castles", you should take a tour of Irving House. The house was built in high style by Captain Irving, a man who made a lot of money in the California, Alaska, and BC Gold Rush, and virtually poured it into the house. The architectural details of the house are interesting and well explained by the costumed guides. Since I was practically the only visitor at the time, I pretty much got my own personal tour. According to them, all the furniture and pieces displayed in the house are authentic to the period - no reproductions (except for some fake food in the kitchen, perhaps). Many belonged to the Irving family and their descendants; others were donated. The house is currently decorated, Victorian-style, for Christmas. Lots of garlands, an amazing Christmas dinner setting, and a beautiful little Christmas tree. Those into old-fashioned decorations should check it out. Legend has it too, that the house is haunted by none other than Captain Irving himself. At the very least, you can see the bed he reportedly died in, and it's one enormous piece of furniture. My guide demurred on confirming the story that an indentation of a body can sometimes be seen in the bedcovers. I saw nothing on my visit, though. In any case, it is New Westminster's oldest surviving home, and thus probably one of the oldest homes in the Vancouver area. It's a wonderful glimpse into what life was like in the early years of British Columbia, if you were high society folk. Admission is by donation, so it's affordable even for writers to visit.

The Bill Reid Gallery downtown is a premier art gallery show casing aboriginal / indigenous art…read morefrom the Northwest Coast. Bill Reid was a master artist (of many talents) who brought aboriginal art to the public & the world in way prior to his works were aboriginal art was mostly ignored or never really seen in importance to Canada's history. One of his most famous pieces is located at YVR Vancouver International Airport - the famous Jade Canoe sculpture. It has appeared in many travelers photos as they pass through the airport - one not to miss. The Bill Reid Gallery is small museum but is a must check out, whenever you're in downtown Vancouver. Do not expect the same experience like at the Natural History Museum (NYC or London) nor the Met, which requires hours of time to get through. The BRG is way smaller. Budget to spend at least an hour here. I enjoyed the displays & was actually quite impressed with what I saw. If you're heavy into art & native history, I'd highly recommend a visit out to the University of British Columbia to check out the Museum of Anthropology. See my review.

Nice place to learn about indigenous art. Kind of dull if you aren't interested in art or history…read more Nice gift shop at the end, and some beautiful totem poles and wood statues.

This was a great historic house tour. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and connected the lives…read moreof the original family members with the larger history of Vancouver.

This lovingly preserved, historic Victorian home belonged to Vancouver's first book-binder and is…read moresuch a hidden gem! The house itself is worth a look with its beautiful architecture - but it's also full of interesting pieces of Canadian history and Roedde family artifacts. You can do a self guided tour - but we opted for the guided tour just for funsies and I'm so glad we did bc we learned a lot I feel like we may have missed just browsing on our own - such as the scandalous story of the home's architect! The house was built in 1893 by British architect Francis Rattenbury - and his story itself was pretty fascinating - a scandalous divorce from his first wife and he was eventually murdered by his second wife's lover! Drama drama :-o The docent also showed us a really neat "Domestic Science Diploma" of one of the family - it even had grades for "cookery" and "housewifery" - I had no idea they even had diplomas like that back then! The pace of our cultural change never ceases to amaze me. They also had a really lovely exhibit featuring renowned Canadian poet Pauline Johnson - whose father was a hereditary Mohawk chief! The house is very well curated and the docents are very knowledgeable. I especially loved how the house really immerses you in the life of the era - one of my fave things was all the Victorian dresses on display! So this museum might seem small but there's a lot to unpack here if you have the time. Their opening hours are limited and seasonal but accurate on their website. The whole neighborhood is historic and very walkable. I regret we didn't have enough time to thoroughly explore! The price is extremely reasonable- it's $10CAD which is just over $7USD at the time of this writing. Parking is limited and street parking in the neighborhood- but we just walked from our hotel easily.

A great place to go on weekends, free admission, spacious and interesting architecture with lots of…read morehistory. Great for young families. Everything was well kept, clean and manicured. The staff there were friendly and actively made conversation and offered demonstrations for visitors. Would even better if there were more parking and food options. Only have a handful of parking at the centre, so you may have to look for residential street parking. Only one cafe there with a very simple menu of hotdogs, coffee and pastries.

Burnaby Village Museum is like stepping into a time capsule. The heritage buildings and vintage…read morecarousel make it feel like you're in a storybook. You can walk through the old shops, schoolhouse, and watch the blacksmith at work in their workshop. During the holidays, there are lights, festive displays, and hot chocolate to sip on. Burnaby heritage museum is also educational and preserved with care. Perfect for families, history lovers, or anyone who loves to experience small-town charm

I found this gem via social media and it's going to become one of my must stop by spot. Not too…read morefare from a threat store on 3rd and Lonsdale Ave, it easily accessible. The books goes from 1$ to 10$ with a big variety of books. I was event able to find some classic French books They do not "buy" used books but they WILL exchange store credit for your used books.

soooo many books and magazines! could spend hours here. If you want to search though to find your…read morenext read or collect some magazines for display or for collaging, this is the place!