Christmas lights are one of the best things about Vancouver in December. We discovered this as we walked across the stunning Capilano Suspension Bridge, snuggled up to the Abominable Snowman at the Aurora Winter Festival and explored the city’s festive light displays. The Christmas Lights in Vancouver have been ranked as some of the best on the planet. Here are five great places to see them.
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Canyon Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge
Canyon Lights is a winter festival that runs from late November to late January and it’s the best place to see Christmas lights in Vancouver. The Capilano Suspension Bridge is fully lit with twinkling lights and there are hundreds of thousands of sparkling lights in the park that surrounds it. The Treetops Adventure features lighted suspended walkways in the canopy of 250-year-old Douglas Fir trees. The lighted trees are said to be the eight tallest Christmas trees on the planet.
Related: Check out our list of Europe’s Best Christmas Markets.
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Aurora Winter Festival
Canada’s largest winter festival, the Aurora Winter Festival, is also one of the newest Christmas lights festivals in Vancouver. Located at Hastings Park, the venue has a skating rink, a snow tube park, wonderful light displays, food gardens and amusement rides. There are also costumed characters like the abominable snowman and the ice queen.
Bright Nights at Stanley Park
There are more than three million sparkling lights on the Bright Nights Christmas Train and at Stanley Park Train Plaza during the holiday season. You can buy tickets to ride the train and enjoy the breathtaking displays. A portion of ticket sales support the BC Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund. This experience includes the chance to visit Santa and see the parade of trees.
Festival of Lights at Vandusen Botanical Garden
More then one million lights create a dazzling Christmas lights display in the Vandusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver. A large portion of the botanical gardens are lit up. There’s a central pond, a carousel, hot chocolate and food on offer. It’s one of the most famous displays of Vancouver Christmas lights in the city. There’s a dancing light show, candy cane trees, a gingerbread walk, Santa’s workshop and more.
Vancouver German Christmas Market
Vancouver’s German Christmas Market is not known as much for its light displays as for its unique shopping a food booths. That said, it is incredibly beautiful after dark. It made our list because the lighted booths and Christmas displays are a great place to get into the festive spirit.
Where to Stay
We stayed at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in downtown Vancouver. It was walking distance to many of the sites and they also have a free hotel shuttle. The historic hotel has one of the best hotel art collections in North America.
Related: Read our post about the Lincoln Christmas Market.
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