Gastown Orientation Tour

Gastown: The Heart of Vancouver

Explore the beautiful cobblestones streets outside of the CES Vancouver campus, guided by our activity leader staff. Enjoy a walk through the surrounding neighbourhoods and landmarks such as the Gastown Steam Clock, Maple Tree Square, Coal Harbour and the Olympic Cauldron. Our walking route includes plenty of time to stroll leisurely with classmates, take photos together, and learn interesting facts about both Gastown and Vancouver's rich history and inhabitants. This activity remains a staple of CES Vancouver's programs as it provides the perfect opportunity to get to know local culture while connecting with fellow students.

Orientation Tour Itinerary

1:00 – Leave CES Vancouver after student lunch break.

1:15 – Explore Water Street outside CES campus, stop at Gastown Steam Clock.

1:30 – Walk down Water Street to Maple Tree Square, a unique intersection home to several historic buildings.

1:45 – Retrace route back up Water Street to Waterfront Station.

2:00 – Continue to Canada Place and the Vancouver Convention Centre, stop for facts about the area and to take photos of the harbour and seaplanes.

2:45 – Visit Olympic Cauldron, Vancouver sign and Digital Orca statue. Explore art monuments near the Convention Centre and take group photos.

3:30 – Walk to Vancouver Lookout building in Harbour Centre, Activity Leader will check in for group.

3:45 – File into elevators and ride to the top of Vancouver Lookout, walk around inside and take photos.

4:15 – Return to elevators and descend back down to street level.

4:30 – Walk to Waterfront Station and leave for home!

Gastown Steam Clock

Gastown's most iconic landmark, the Steam Clock is a popular photo spot for tourists and other visiting Canadians. Built in 1977, it blasts out a whistling column of steam every 15 minutes.

Water Street

Water Street is one of the main streets running through Gastown, recognizable for its vintage-style cobblestones. It houses the Steam Clock, many small business shops and a variety of restaurants.

Maple Tree Square

A few blocks down from CES Vancouver, Maple Tree Square is recognizable by the large, triangle shaped building splitting the street into three ways. It is not only a landmark of the first building constructed in Gastown, but also a hub of restaurants.

Vancouver Cenotaph

Located in Victory Square, the Cenotaph is a monument constructed to remember the fallen members of Canada's military. Every year on November 11th, a ceremony is held here with hundreds of Vancouver residents to honour the veterans that fought for Canada.

SFU Vancouver Campus

Within the Harbour Centre building lies the Simon Fraser University Vancouver campus, a bus ride away from its mountaintop counterpart. Here, post-secondary students study with a focus on film, literature, dance, theatre and many other courses.

Waterfront Skytrain Station

Waterfront Station is home to not only bus stops and skytrain lines, but also to the SeaBus, a small ferry that regularly transports commuters across the water to North Vancouver. The ever expanding lines of transit makes Waterfront Station a great starting place for any journey.

Canada Place

Lined by docking cruise ships, Canada Place is a lively hub of activity in Vancouver's Coal Harbour area. With its connected Convention Centre, this building hosts people from all over the world for international or domestic business meetings, warehouse sales for local retailers and conventions for comic books and video games.

Olympic Cauldron

The Olympic Cauldron was built for the 2010 Winter Olympics hosted by Vancouver. Here the flame was carried and lit by ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky to signify the start of the games, with the flame burning here at the center of Coal Harbour until the closing ceremonies.

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