Short of running rampant through sewers and subterranean tunnels with half-historian/half-rat hybrids, walking tours are the best way to really get to know the ins and outs of a city. Learn the lay of the land without mutant interference with today's Groupon: for $39, you get admission to the Museum of Anthropology & Gardens Tour from West Coast Sightseeing (an $84 value). Tours are offered year-round, every Wednesday and Sunday.
The day-long urban adventure begins around 9:30 a.m., when your carriage, or tour bus, picks you up at your hotel or at the passenger loading zone of Canada Place. You’ll enjoy the lively narration of an on-bus tour guide as you weave through the city streets, exploring artsy Kitsilano before disembarking for a beach-break at Spanish Banks Beach. Next, you’ll be shuttled to the Vancouver Museum of Anthropology, where you’ll take in the stunning architecture while ambling through the collection of about 36,000 ethnographic objects, about 535,000 archeological objects, and the missing link between man and toaster. After lunching at the museum (the cost of food is not included in this deal, but you will receive a 10%-off voucher to the university’s Sage Bistro), you may wander over to the University of British Columbia’s rose gardens and its traditional Japanese Nitobe Memorial Garden, or opt instead to take in the lush greenery at the UBC Botanical Gardens. Once you’ve absorbed your daily intake of nature, the tour bus will return you to your original pick-up point, five full hours of enriching Vancouvering later.
Whether you're visiting Vancouver during a break from your ego-wrestling career or you're a lifelong resident looking for a chance to try out your new hydraulic calf muscles, the Museum of Anthropology & Gardens Tour from West Coast Sightseeing is an ideal way to learn more about the city. Call ahead to reserve your spot.
Reviews
The Museum of Anthropology comes with Frommer's highest recommendation. Yelpers give it a 4.5-star average, and TripAdvisors give it a four-star average:
- This isn't just any old museum. In 1976, architect Arthur Erickson created a classic native post-and-beam-style structure out of poured concrete and glass to house one of the world's finest collections of West Coast native art. – Frommer's
- Went to the reopening, new building is stunning. Really well laid out and cool drawers you can pull out to see all the exhibits… – VikiB, TripAdvisor
SNOWBUS
Since 2004, SNOWBUS's fleet of 56 comfortable passenger coaches has shepherded skiers and snowboarders back and forth between Vancouver and Whistler Blackcomb. The route schedule allows mountaineers to hitch a ride out of Vancouver, schuss and slalom to their heart’s content at the world-renowned resort, and hop back aboard a bus for their trip home. The service gives downhillers a way to circumvent the hassles of dealing with traffic and parking, and enables them to partake in après-ski revelry without fear of drinking and driving or drinking and cartwheeling back to Vancouver.