GRANVILLE ISLAND, Vancouver

THINGS TO DO IN VANCOUVER-
GRANVILLE ISLAND
Granville Island Vancouver was originally home to the Squamish, then in the late 1800's white settlers built a bridge connecting the north and south shores. However it was not until the early 1900's that the Harbour Commission brought the land and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to change the site from swampland to an industrial island but by the 1960's this too had fallen into disrepair. It was not until the 1970's that the federal government invested millions of dollars to start to create the Granville Island that you see today.

Granville Island sits on False Creek at the southern edge of downtown and attracts thousands of visitors each month. Many of these visitors travel to the island in one of the small private ferries available, they run frequently and are a fun experience. Granville Island is home to a marina, an array of shops, the Granville Island hotel, restaurants, art galleries, craft and book shops. The well known Granville Island Market can also be found here, which has a vast selection of foods available including cheeses, meats, fish, jams, fruits and gourmet foods. There is plenty of choice of food that you can take away and have a picnic at the waters edge.

You could also pay a visit to Granville Island Brewery housed just under the girders of Granville Street Bridge and take guided tours around the brewery tasting the different beers. You can purchase the beers and wines brewed here to take home. There is not a pub at the brewery so to try more of the beers brewed there pop to the local pub The Keg.

Granville Island also has two museums housed in a building opposite the market and brewery. There is the Granville Island Model Trains Museum which has the world's largest collection of toy trains on display. There is also the Model Ship Museum which has a collection of model ships, sailing ships, warships and submarines.

East of the island and easily accessible by one of the little ferries is Science World which is recognised by its huge dome structure. Another museum but of a much larger scale housing five galleries over two levels covering different science and natural history topics. There is also Omnimax cinema on level three.