Vancouver’s North Shore – Where the Mountains Meet the Sea
Vancouver is world famous for its amazing location where the Coast Mountains and the Pacific Ocean combine to make for one the nicest places to live on the planet. But here’s the funny thing – the city of Vancouver and its major suburbs of Richmond, Surrey and New Westminster, are all pretty flat. The actual mountains meet the sea thing takes place on Vancouver’s North Shore and that’s where I spent two and a half glorious days just before the 2026 Travel Media Association of Canada conference in Richmond. Here’s why I absolutely fell in love with everything about Vancouver’s North Shore and why you will too. In this post I’m going to describe the visit in the same order as I experienced it as it was the perfect introduction to the area and would be well worth repeating for any first time visitor to Vancouver’s North Shore.
Here’s an easy no brainer to start- the view of Vancouver across Burrard Inlet is great as was apparent immediately on arriving at The Shipyards district.
Vancouver’s North Shore is composed of the City of North Vancouver, and the Districts of North Vancouver and West Vancouver with many distinct neighbourhoods including Deep Cove, Edgemont Village and Central Lonsdale. Our exploration began in The Shipyards district where we stayed for two nights in the exceptional Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier.
This is a splurge hotel that not only has fantastic views of Vancouver, but is within easy walking distance of everything in The Shipyards district of Vancouver’s North Shore and that includes at least a dozen good restaurants and bars, museums, galleries and interesting shops. This was the view from the balcony in my room on the fifth floor. Frankly one could sit on the balcony and just watch the ships go by and it wouldn’t be a waste of time.
During our stay on Vancouver’s North Shore we ate at six different restaurants and all were worthy of a positive Trip Advisor review, which I was happy to accommodate. We started off with lunch at Pier 7 which as you can gather from the name is located on one of The Shipyards former piers. Any of the restaurants at The Shipyards could coast on the view, but none of them did. There seemed to be a friendly competition between them to maintain high standards of decor, service and of course, the food on offering.
I love seafood and the one fish I always seek out when in the Pacific Northwest is black cod aka sablefish. It has a beautiful flaky white texture which has a distinct buttery flavour, so much so that in some places it is called butterfish. We don’t get this on the Atlantic where I live so it’s always a treat to find it one the menu as it was at Pier 7. Their version featured a roasted, yes roasted, fillet on a bed of foraged mushrooms with a porcini broth. An absolutely perfect gastronomic start to this mini trip.
This was not the only star dish at Pier 7. The creole spiced calamari was also outstanding.
The Shipyards
The Shipyards is an historic area of Vancouver’s North Shore that was once the home to one of the busiest ship building facilities in Canada. We were given a walking tour of the area by local guide and character Charlie who is holding a rivet bucket which was once used to catch red hot rivets that were then inserted into the steel fabric of the ships built here.
The Wallace Shipyard opened here in 1909 and was a going concern for eight decades. During World War II over 14,000 people were employed here including 1,000 women, Canada’s very own Rosie the Riveters. The workforce built over 100 victory ships during that time. After the war the number of ship orders dropped drastically as did the number of employees, but the shipbuilding continued right up until the 1980’s, the Coast Guard vessel Terry Fox being one of the last ships built here.
After a period of decline the city of North Vancouver set aside a portion of the former shipyard for redevelopment and in 2017 The Shipyards was reborn as an absolute tourist mecca not only for local Vancouver area day trippers, but for people from across Canada and elsewhere. It really is a delightful place to explore with a combination of history and modernity.
Here is a small gallery of photos from The Shipyards. Double click to open one and double click gain to enlarge.
As a birder I enjoyed walking out on the Burrard Dry Dock Pier to view the pigeon guillemots, a species native to the North Pacific.
I also enjoyed the profusion of spring colours in the streets around The Shipyards area, particularly these brilliantly coloured azaleas. In fact, almost everywhere we went on Vancouver’s North Shore in late April we found a riot of spring blooms, something that won’t happen until June in my neck of the woods.
After our tour of The Shipyards we walked a short distance to the MONOVA, the Museum and Archives of North Vancouver where we had a guided tour and I learned that many people generally believed to be from Vancouver are actually from Vancouver’s North Shore including Bryan Adams, Jason Priestly, Chief Dan George, figure skater Karen Magnussen and hockey players Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini and Paul Kariya.
Dinner the first night was at Sempre Uno, an upscale Italian restaurant in The Shipyards district only a block or so from the hotel.
We started off sharing a dozen of the freshest oysters I’ve ever had. My previous experience with West Coast oysters has not always been great – they tended to be simply too large to comfortably swallow in one go. These however were the perfect size, big is not always better.
I am a pasta bolognese addict and although I love many other great pastas I cannot pass up bolognese in a fine Italian restaurant. I’ve never been to Bologna, but if the real deal is as good as the Sempre Uno version then I’ll be in culinary heaven when I do get there.
Another wonderful looking dish enjoyed by one of my fellow journalists was a squid pasta with crab sauce that was on as a special. If you’ve never tried pasta made with squid ink, you’re really missing something. After the conference is over I’m headed to the Adriatic where black pastas are a big deal, so I didn’t feel guilty picking the bolognese.
After this great meal we were whisked by way of golf cart to the Copperpenny Distilling Company. This is a free service that takes the need for a cab or Uber out of the picture. 
Lower Lonsdale Streetcart
The distillery produces award winning gins, including gold at the 2025 World Gin Awards. I learned that they actually make a gin that is partially flavoured by oyster shells – I guess I should have brought our leftovers from Sempre Uno.
We’d only been on Vancouver’s North Shore for less than a day and I already had enough material for multiple social media posts.
Breakfast the next morning was at another Shipyards restaurant, Provisions Italiano in the boutique Seaside Hotel. which oddly enough does not show its breakfast menu on the website. However, trust me, this place is definitely worth checking out for the first meal of the day. Here’s proof.
This is their version of ham and eggs. Beautiful to look at and better to taste.
How about pancakes? A tiramisu pancake I mean. That creamy custard you see there? Just as good as you can imagine.
Not up for morning sweets? Then let’s go for some BC smoked salmon on avocado with dollops of dill cream and pickled onions. Just wow!
As John Catucci would say, “You gotta eat here!” Actually that would apply to all the places we ate at on Vancouver’s North Shore.
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
Day two of the Vancouver’s North Shore mini-trip featured two iconic attractions that every Canadian should experience at least once, the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain. I had previously walked across another North Shore attraction many years ago, the Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge, but not the much more famous Capilano bridge. What I was not aware of until we got to the entrance and met our guide was that there is much more to the park than just the bridge. It is in fact a triple attraction facility with the Treetops Adventure and the Cliffwalk supplementing the bridge and making for a two or three hour visit and not just a walk across the bridge and back.
The first suspension bridge over the Capilano River was built in 1889 by George MacKay a Scottish engineer who purchased 6,000 acres of heavily forested land on both sides of the river. It was a simple hemp and cedar plank construction that began attracting visitors almost from the time it was built. This photo from the bridge’s website gives an idea of just how flimsy looking that bridge was.
After MacKay’s death the original bridge was replaced with a wire cable bridge in 1903 that was reinforced in 1914. After going through a series of owners, in 1956 Rae Mitchell completely redid the bridge in only five days, giving it the strength required to handle the throngs of tourists he hoped to entice to the site, adding walking trails and upgrading the tea room into a full scale restaurant. In 1983 his daughter Nancy Stibbard took ownership and embarked upon a series of upgrades by adding the Treetops Adventure in 2004 and the Cliffwalk in 2011.
So with that brief introduction let’s check out arguably the most famous attraction on Vanvouver’s North Shore.
This is the view of the bridge from the cliff’s edge.
And this is the view as you enter to cross it. Is it scary? Not really, although it certainly wobbles with the weight of the people crossing.
Here’s the view looking down from either side.
And.
It’s 70 metres or 230 feet to the river below in case you are wondering.
The thing about the bridge is that it’s just really neat to look at from different perspectives. This is from the Cliffwalk.
The Treetops Adventure is completely different as you ascend 33 metres or 110 feet above the forest floor to walk across seven suspension bridges between some of the largest trees you’ll ever see.
Below is the Living Forest boardwalk where you can glance up a trees as old as 1,500 years. How these mighty giants avoided being felled in the logging mania of the late 1800s is a miracle in itself.
This is Grandma Capilano who is only 800 years old.
Honestly, even if there wasn’t a suspension bridge here, it would be a great experience just walking in this amazing forest.
Probably scarier than the bridge for some people, the Cliffwalk takes you along a 700 foot elevated walkway that is attached to the Capilano River gorge cliff face. There are several places to step out on a balcony to just take in the views all around you.
Near the end you get a good look at Capilano Waterfall.
After exploring Capilano’s three main attraction there was some time to check out the Trading Post before convening for lunch at the Cliff House Restaurant. The pacific cod fish and chips were excellent, although I forgot to take a picture.
Grouse Mountain on Vancouver’s North Shore
Our afternoon adventure was at another of Vancouver’s North Shore iconic attractions, Grouse Mountain. 2026 marks the 100th year that Grouse Mountain has been open as a ski hill, but for the past 36 years it has operated as something closer to a year round natural theme park with multiple ways to enjoy the mountain environment 365 days a year. We are here just after the close of the ski season and before the summer season gets in full tilt, but there’s still reason to visit.
One of the primary attractions is of course the view and as you can see in this photo from the Grouse Mountain website, it is spectacular.
Unfortunately today the weather is not cooperating and out gondola ride to the top takes us into the low lying clouds that have enveloped the mountain.
On the top we are met by the general manager and taken on a tour starting with a visit to the hi’wus Feasthouse, a traditional Indigenous longhouse where two Squamish First Nations Elders share some of their oral stories that have been passed down for centuries. Each has a special meaning used to teach the listener life lessons to be a responsible person.
Grouse Mountain has two famous residents that generally miss the skiing season entirely. They are Grinder and Coola, two grizzly bears that have been living on Grouse Mountain for almost 25 years, arriving in 2001 as orphaned cubs. They have literally just come out of hibernation a few days before and are definitely still groggy. I had forgotten just how big and scary looking grizzly bears are. With the fog up here, this is the best picture I could take.
I did get a much better picture of the next resident on Grouse Mountain.
This is Cleo the barn owl. Although this species is found around the world, in Canada they are only resident in Southern Ontario and Southwest BC. Clio is one of Grouse Mountain’s owl ambassadors and does up to 300 appearances a year to educate people on the importance of owls to a healthy environment.
While we had only brushed the surface of all that Grouse Mountain has to offer, our host intimated that a major event associated with the FIFA World Cup might be happening there soon. Writing this some months later, I now know that is the World Cup Watch Party that will be held here on June 27th featuring England vs. Panama on a giant screen as the game is played below in BC Place. While it is a free event, unfortunately for those who might want to attend, all tickets have already been accounted for.
We returned to The Shipyards in late afternoon and were scheduled to meet at King Taps in the Lonsdale Quay for dinner. Lonsdale Quay is adjacent to The Shipyards and features a market with dozens of specialty shops along with a food hall where you can get just about any type of cuisine you might imagine. My friend Chris Tripodi, who is a guide for Richmond based Adventures Abroad, is an empanada addict and would love this place.
I had some time to browse before joining the group at King Taps and came across the Artisan Wine Shop which sells only BC wines. Thanks to our byzantine provincial liquor laws, we do not get many BC wines in Nova Scotia, but I know from experience that BC produces some of the best Pinot Noirs and Pinot Gris on the planet. After chatting with the owner I bought one of each, but they won’t make it back to Nova Scotia.
King Taps is an upscale purveyor of craft beers and fine wines with locations in the Vancouver area and Toronto. The owners had prepared a number of their most popular dishes for sharing, starting with prosciutto, burrata and sourdough toast.
Followed by these bite size mouthfuls.
Some excellent tuna tataki which I did not get a photo of and then a selection of pizzas. Tell me this doesn’t look great.
We had the option of stopping for dessert at one of the places in the food hall, but I was stuffed and ready to call it a day.
I awoke to this glorious view from the room on our final morning on Vancouver’s North Shore.
Breakfast was once again just down the street from the Pinnacle at Catch 122 where pastries are the thing and by thing I mean it. They are all made in house by the Dilemma Bakehouse
This is their signature egg custard tart and was definitely a contender for the best thing I tasted on Vancouver’s North Shore and made me want to get on the next plane to Portugal.
Until that is, I tried this pistachio topped croissant tart.
I’m honestly glad I don’t live near this place because I’d be here every morning and put on a 100 pounds.
Takaya Tours on Vancouver’s North Shore
Our final experience on Vancouver’s North Shore was an Indigenous cultural experience with Takaya Tours which is owned and operated by the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation a community on Burrard Inlet between North Vancouver and Deep Cove. We were driven to Cates Park which is located on a point where Burrard Inlet splits in two with Indian Arm running due north deep into the Coast Mountains while Burrard Inlet continues to its end at Port Moody and Coquitlam.
Here we met three members of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation who explained what we were about to do, which it turned out, was to be a canoe ride. But this was no ordinary canoe, it was a replica of a traditional sea going canoe that holds up to 35 paddlers. This is a photo of the canoe from the website.
Deep Cove Canoe & Kayak at Cates Park, North Vancouver.
Rob Newell photo.
These are paddles of the wolf clan and we were taught how to use them as a group so that we would act in unison when given a series of commands, rather than just flail around. I’ve been canoeing since I was a kid, but I was surprised at how many in the group that now included some people from other pre-trip groups, had not paddled before.
Our leader was Seth George who sat at the front of the canoe and gave us a continuous narrative as well as several traditional songs over the next two hours.
It was a beautiful day on Indian Arm, but with all the paddling I didn’t have time for any photos. You’ll have to take my word that the scenery was amazing and although we didn’t see any, apparently orca pods are not an uncommon site in the area.
While most readers won’t get the chance to paddle in a 35 person canoe as we did, Takaya Tours offers individually crafted tours by canoe or kayak.
It was really a great way to end this trip on Vancouver’s North Shore where it is the ocean that separates these communities from Vancouver proper.
But we had one last meal and, no surprise, it was great.
Arm’s Reach Bistro has a fantastic location overlooking Deep Cove, one of the prettiest and communities on Vancouver’s North Shore and the site of many celebrity sightings over the years. Honey Doughnuts and Goodies seems to be the main attraction, but just walking down Gallant Street to Deep Cove Park is a wonderful experience on a day like this. After visiting the park we took our place in the restaurant which is literally just across the street.
Okay, the final meal on this trip included beef carpaccio, which I can never get enough of.
Ceviche, and ditto, this one a nice variation on the traditional approach.
And finishing off where we started food wise, calamari, this one with a delightfully spicy marinara dipping sauce.
This is the type of place where I would like to try everything on the menu and trust me I will be back.
Sadly, it was time now to leave Vancouver’s North Shore and return to Richmond, but I am extremely grateful to the folks from Vancouver’s North Shore Tourism Association for hosting me on this trip. Check out their website for many more ideas on how to spend your time here.
As a coincidental aside, I went almost immediately from the TMAC conference to join an Adventures Abroad tour of Slovenia and Croatia. When I met our tour leader Robert Ogden in Ljubljana, it turns out he was born and raised in Deep Cove and lives only a minute away from the Arms Reach Bistro. Small world.