English Bay Sunset by Tony B
If you’re wondering where to spend an evening with your loved ones to share the most romantic minutes of the day with them, you should find a nice place to watch the sunset. Even if you just want to take some pictures, there is no better time to take your camera out and get some stunning photos than during sunset in Vancouver. The burning skies above the city are among the most beautiful in Canada. Don’t hesitate, check the time of today’s sunset, take you special someone out for a dinner, and visit one of the most beautiful places to watch the sun go down together.
English Bay
English Bay is one of the most popular places to watch the sunset in Vancouver. The place where businessmen go after work to catch a bit of a fresh air, roller bladers whiz by in fluorescent spandex, mums take their children to watch them play in the sunshine, and people go to chill is also a place where you can catch the sunset photo of your life.
This place is not about seclusion or solitude. You go to English Bay to watch a sunset with hundreds of fellow Vancouverites — your whole family, your friends, all the people you care about. However, if you prefer a calmer place but you still want to be on English Bay, there is the landmark Inukshuk, just down the seawall. The Inukshuk is one of the places where a camera aimed at sunset should be obligatory. Sitting on a grassy hill with the monument standing in front of you as the sun goes down is an amazing experience.
Grouse Mountain
Grouse Mountain by Robert Nyman
Only a 15-minute drive out of town and a short gondola ride up, Grouse Mountain offers a stunning location to watch the sun descend on the horizon, colouring the city and sea below with red and yellow. If you’re lucky enough, the sunset will catch you while going up in the gondola, suspended in mid-air.
The mountain is an ideal place to take your better half for dinner in the restaurant with one of the best views on the west coast. Be sure to make a reservation in the Observatory restaurant and enjoy the last beams of light while eating their marvellous red wine cured beef carpaccio or just making your life sweeter with champagne poached aldergrove rhubarb, which is, by the way, heavenly.
Cloud 9 Revolving Restaurant
Cloud 9 Revolving Restaurant is a very classy way to enjoy beautiful Vancouver sunsets. If you’re scared of heights, this one might be a bit of a challenge for you — at least it was for some of my friends who didn’t know better. Cloud 9 is like being on a cloud: it is hosted by Empire Landmark Hotel on the 42nd floor!
You can enjoy a stunning, 360-degree view of the city, and the experience is enhanced by outrageously huge windows. The restaurant is set up so that the seating area would make a slow turn around the base of the building. It is definitely worth going up during a sunset and seeing Vancouver in the midst of a purple and red sky. It’s well worth the pricey menu. You get what you pay for. The great prix-fixe menu that will save you some money.
Wreck Beach
Wreck Beach by Guilhem Vellut
Vancouverites probably know what Wreck Beach is famous for, but I’d better explain this to visitors of our truly diverse city. Funny as it may be, the beach is famous for its clothing-optional policy. All naked swimmers and sun-lovers enjoy one of the most appreciated sunsets in the city. If you want to make your date a bit less boring, try this site for the change. In summer, the Wreck drumming session begins just before sunset every day.
The Seawall
To go for a run on the Seawall while the sun’s going down is one of the best things you can do in the summer evening. If you’re not a big fan of running, or you’re just feeling a bit lazier than usual, the Seawall is the perfect place for an evening walk.
If you take a camera with a tripod with you, you’ll have the opportunity to catch nice scenery with boats and Stanley Park in the background. Siting on the Seawall, with your feet dangling over the wall, all your worries magically disappear.
Cypress Provincial Park Highview
Cypress Provincial Park has two day-use/picnic areas. The Quarry picnic area has a large, grassy area with eleven picnic tables. Highview has a small, grassy area and six picnic tables. It’s the main lookout over Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and the south end of Vancouver Island, and the view is jaw-dropping. Both the day-use areas have two pit toilets and picnic tables with barbecue attachments, but you have bring your own briquettes. There are no fire rings, and fires are not permitted. It will never cease to amaze me how beautiful Vancouver looks at sunset from this place. It’s just outside of downtown Vancouver, so it’s ideal for a little evening trip if you don’t want to visit Grouse Mountain.