Cuztomized Private Walking Tours
Private De-Tours
Our private tours are a great way to see Vancouver at your own pace and customized to your interests
All local guides with 10+ years experience
Nuanced, independent, and unfiltered urban explorations
We specialize in social history, urban planning, cultural heritage, public art, architecture, and contemporary processes that shape the city
Downtown, Gastown, West End, Coal Harbour, Chinatown, Strathcona, Olympic Village, Mt Pleasant, Granville Island and beyond.
Private Tour Rates (Approximately 2 -3 hours):
$250 CAD per tour 1-4 people
$300 CAD per tour 5-10 people
For larger group rates email info@vancouverdetours.ca
Downtown and Gastown
This tour focuses on the historical and contemporary events that gave rise to the central city. Beginning in the heart of downtown, we’ll tell the story of Vancouver through both its architecture and the intangible processes behind it. Stops include the Vancouver Art Gallery, Robson Square, Granville Street, Christ Church Cathedral, and the stunning art deco Marine Building. From there we’ll move into historic Gastown, or ‘Luk Luk’i’ as it was known to Coast Salish residents before the arrival of prospectors, sailors, and loggers in the mid 1800s. Hear about the waterfront industries and labour movements that rose and fell in the last century, and the post industrial tensions that simmer between heritage and development, ‘revitalization’ and gentrification. Stops include Waterfront Station, Victory Square, Woodward’s, and Gaoler’s Muse/Blood Alley.
Duration: 2.5 hours
Chinatown and the Old East End
Explore the history of immigration and social activism through two of Vancouver’s oldest settler neighbourhoods. For much of the last century, Vancouver’s Chinatown was the largest in Canada and 2nd largest in North America. Today it sits at a crossroad between recognition, preservation, and re-development. The area’s early residents faced undue discrimination and challenges, yet persevered in helping to create the distinct city we have today. From there we move east to Strathcona, Vancouver’s first residential neighbourhood that grew around the saw mills, fish canneries, and shipping piers of Burrard Inlet. Nicknamed the ‘League of Nations’ due to its multi-cultural mix of residents, the East End was home to working families from Italy, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, China, and sizeable Jewish community. We will also visit the sites of the Japanese (Paueru-Gai) and Black (Hogan’s Alley) communities that were displaced by racist war time measures and ‘urban renewal’. Finally we will explore the legacy of the area’s fight against ‘slum clearances’ and modernist planning, which gave birth to community activism in Vancouver and helped save much (but not all) of this unique and resilient neighbourhood.
Duration : 2.5 hours
Vancouver Street Art and Mural Tour
As official tour partners of the Vancouver Mural Festival, let us guide you through some of favourite pieces of street art in historic Mt Pleasant. Explore some of the brand new murals, as well as artistic highlights from previous years. Learn about the social history of Mt Pleasant and how it became the hub for this community-driven festival. Themes will include:
Highlighting Indigenous artists and works
A diversity of styles, including abstract, figurative, graffiti and beyond
An insider’s scoop into how the festival has brought 300+ murals to light since 2016
The greater processes of socio-economic change happening in Mt Pleasant and Vancouver that both celebrate and endanger creative communities
Duration: 2 hours
Contact us
info@vancouverdetours.ca
778-995-5484
