Chasing Autumn Colours In Vancouver: A Two-Day Fall Escape

Earlier this year, I moved from Sweden to the US. In Texas, there are two seasons: summer and less summer. There’s no gentle transition between them, no leaves changing colours, no shrinking of days during winter.

Not wanting to miss the autumn colours I had long been used to seeing in the Nordics, I headed instead to Vancouver in Canada, a city famed for its fall season.

Vancouver clings to a character of its own, marked by the ocean, mountains, and skylines that shimmer in the gentle sun. It could also lay claim to being one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities, with its populace a blend of Chinese, Indian, Filipino, and American communities alongside the locals.

I had two days to explore the city and found a place downtown to stay. Robson Street, where my hotel was located, is the central artery of downtown Vancouver. Early in the morning, I walked along the street all the way to the ocean, grabbing a cup of coffee to ward off the cool autumn chill. High-end boutiques and several cafés line this thoroughfare, making it one of the most commercial spots in the city.

I walked down to Hornby Street Dock to take a ferry to Granville Island. “Ferry” might be too grand a term for what showed up — a six-seater boat that crossed the small waterway, called False Creek, to take me to the island.

Granville Island Public Market is home to numerous food stalls, a couple of farmers’ markets, and a slew of art stores. Its open architecture ensures that there are no boundaries: the food market merges seamlessly into a shop selling handmade pottery, which then leads into a clothing store offering lumberjack shirts. The island is also a place where one gets to see the different cultures that make up the city. I ran into a Korean woman selling miniature art pieces who, while explaining her work, was also biting into a samosa wrap.

After an early lunch, with the sun high in the sky, I headed to Stanley Park — about a twenty-minute walk from the island. Stanley Park sprawls over more than 1,000 acres and is larger than New York’s Central Park, making it one of the biggest urban parks in the world. It’s home to beaches and gardens, parts of which qualify as rainforest. It’s encircled by a ten-kilometre seawall punctuated with three small beaches, one ideal for sunset views.

However, I was keen to catch the fall colours, so I made my way to Beaver Lake, in the middle of the park. It’s home to ducks and herons that glide lazily over its clear water. Along the lake runs a 1.5-kilometre trail lined with maple, willow, and fir trees. That’s where the colours of autumn come alive, in the leaves of these trees, especially the maples, which turn ruby-red and pink at this time of year, carpeting the whole trail like a soft bedspread.

The park has more than 27 kilometres of walking trails, varying in difficulty. Walking through the whole park could take almost a day. Instead, I hopped on a rented bike to cycle along the paths reserved for cyclists and e-scooters. Joggers ran alongside me, while families played catch or spread out blankets for picnics. Having a park alive with tall trees and birds right in the heart of a city is a blessing not known to many urban dwellers.

Nature blends so seamlessly with Vancouver’s landscape that, within a twenty-minute drive, one can escape into wild forests and streams. One such escape, now a major tourist magnet, is the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It’s in Vancouver’s wild backyard, and its main attraction is the 450-foot suspension bridge that has stood since 1889.

The bridge sees thousands of tourists every day who step onto this wobbly structure not only for the thrill but also for brilliant views of the stream coursing beneath it, surrounded by towering firs draped in moss. I walked across the bridge among tourists, mostly Asian, taking pictures, and then onto a man-made trail that ran between and atop trees. While the crowds don’t allow for silent reflection here, the visit was still worth it — the tall fir trees, some growing up to 90 feet, and the fall colours carpeting the trail made it unforgettable.

Though my trip to Vancouver was coming to an end, my fill of autumn was not over. The two days I spent there were enough to remind me of the colours I had long missed in Texas, and I promised myself to return to this vibrant city in spring to catch the colours of that season too.