If you are a sunset seeker, make your way to Vancouver. During the city’s long summer days, the sun stays high above the horizon until 9 p.m., leaving plenty of time to enjoy the sky’s changing colors.
Here are six ways to savor these extended seasonal evenings.
Cycle the Sunset
Explore Vancouver — and the sunset — on the recently launched Sunset and City Lights Tour, a leisurely guided bicycling excursion with Cycle City Tours.
Starting from the company’s downtown shop, where you’ll be fitted with a spiffy bike (or an e-bike, if you prefer), pedal along the Coal Harbour Seawall and into Stanley Park. There, you’ll go past Lost Lagoon and along gentle rainforest trails to check out some of the park’s massive cedars and Douglas firs. Ride along Second Beach and English Bay, where you can watch the sun sink over the water.
Along the way, you’ll learn about the city’s past and recent history, including its indigenous heritage, and the legacy of Chinese railway workers and other groups who contribute to Vancouver’s multicultural mix to this day.
Before you return to your starting point, cycle past the twinkling lights of Yaletown’s condo towers and Science World’s landmark geodesic dome. The three-hour tours run daily through August.
Sunset at the Shipyards
On Friday evenings throughout the summer, catch the SeaBus ferry from downtown Vancouver and head for The Shipyards District. It’s a 12-minute cruise to this rapidly developing waterfront neighborhood in North Vancouver, which now has a cool contemporary art gallery, a new craft beer trail and, from May through September, a buzzing night market.
At the Shipyards Friday Night Market, graze your way through more than 20 food trucks that park by the water, raise a glass in the beer garden and enjoy live music from local bands. The sunset views over the water — with the downtown skyline, Stanley Park and Lions Gate Bridge in the background — are a bonus.
Sunset in the Mountains
You can’t visit Vancouver without making at least a quick trip to the mountains. Grouse Mountain — a ski resort in winter and a destination for hikers and sightseers in summer — is less than 30 minutes from downtown.
When the summer sun begins to set, find a spot on the patio at the resort’s Altitudes Bistro to have a drink with spectacular vistas across the alpine landscape and Capilano Lake.
Plus, on Wednesdays (6 to 10 p.m.) through August, there’s live music on the patio, too.
Sip the Sunset
One of Vancouver’s best locations to while away a warm-weather evening is Reflections: The Garden Terrace, a peaceful cocktail lounge at Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Rosewood Hotel Georgia.
This plant-filled outdoor oasis on the property’s fourth floor is a wise destination for an evening drink, whether you’re sipping a Secret Garden Fizz (gin, vermouth, pineapple, lemon, rosemary syrup and soda) or a Green Thumb Margarita (the Mexican classic updated with a shot of fresh green juice).
There’s plenty to munch on as well, from Mediterranean-inspired small plates like torched Pacific salmon with chermoula (a garlic and herb sauce) dressing or crispy cauliflower with pine nuts and pomegranates.
If you’re still hungry, dig into heartier dishes like British Columbia wild halibut with harissa and polenta, or try housemade cavatelli with lobster, peas and mascarpone.
SUP the Sunset
Water surrounds downtown Vancouver, so it’s easy to head out for a sunset paddle. You can rent stand-up paddleboards or kayaks from Vancouver Water Adventures’ location on English Bay Beach and float along the shore into Stanley Park.
For a unique perspective, sign up for the tour company’s Light the Night SUP experience, a guided paddle on illuminated boards that glow in the water. This 90-minute excursion runs on Friday and Saturday evenings, launching from Vancouver Water Adventures’ Granville Island location.
If you’d prefer to enjoy an overwater sunset from a seated position, head out on the Urban Sunset Kayak Tour with Ecomarine Paddlesport Centres. Departing nightly through early September from Granville Island, this 2.5-hour trek combines local history with a gentle paddling adventure.
Serenade the Sunset
To end your day with some music, catch local acts every evening in the stylish Lobby Lounge and RawBar at Five-Star Fairmont Pacific Rim.
The sleek, window-lined space provides a picturesque backdrop for the fizzy Bullet Train (Japanese whisky, sherry, green tea, yuzu cordial and Amaro Montenegro) or a refreshing Lobby Lounge Lemonade (a non-alcoholic blend of blackberry, English breakfast tea, lemon and sparkling water). Tip: Continue the fun over weekend brunch by visiting RawBar on Saturday or Sunday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. for the new “long board” sushi platter — an omakase experience for two or more that highlights B.C.’s seasonal salmon run.
