Published by Vancity Tours · Vancouver Local Guide · 5 min read
There’s a reason Granville Island shows up on almost every “best public markets in the world” list. It’s not just a market — it’s a whole neighbourhood, crammed onto a small peninsula under the Granville Bridge, packed with food vendors, artists, breweries, boat builders, and buskers who are genuinely good.
The problem is that everyone knows about it. By late morning on a summer Saturday, it’s elbow-to-elbow. So here’s the local approach: get there early, eat well, and be out before the tour buses arrive.
The Public Market — What to Actually Eat
The market is the heart of it. Vendors selling smoked salmon, fresh pasta, local cheese, flowers, artisan bread, oysters, BC wines, hot food from a dozen different cuisines — it’s genuinely overwhelming in the best way.
Salmon. This is BC — the smoked salmon here is incredible and makes a great gift. Get it vacuum-packed if you’re flying home.
Fresh bread. There are a few excellent bakeries in the market. Go early and the bread is still warm.
Oysters. If you eat shellfish and you haven’t had BC oysters, fix that immediately.
Beyond the Market
The Net Loft — a collection of independent shops and galleries just outside the main market building.
The artisan studios — working artists and craftspeople rent studios across the island and most keep their doors open. You can watch a glassblower, a ceramicist, a printmaker — all working in real time.
Granville Island Brewing — one of BC’s oldest craft breweries, right on the island.
Getting There — Skip the Car
The Aquabus is the local way to go — a tiny ferry that runs from the south end of Hornby Street downtown, crossing False Creek in about 5 minutes for a few dollars.
If you’re on one of our private Vancouver city tours or a post-cruise tour, we drop you right at the market entrance and give you free time to explore.
One Thing Nobody Tells You
The island is built on a former industrial site. The brick buildings, the loading docks, the industrial-scale architecture — it’s all original. When you’re standing in the middle of the market surrounded by fresh flowers and artisan cheese, you’re standing in what used to be a nail factory. Vancouver is good at that kind of reinvention.
Granville Island is one of the stops on Vancity Tours’ private Vancouver city tours — hotel pickup included, no parking required. See the tour →