Digital Nomad’s Guide to Vancouver

Dramatic picture of Vancouver port, looking out to Pacific Ocean with boats scattered in the water.

Every time I visit Vancouver, I find myself wondering, “why don’t I live here? Should I live here?”

The city is super cool, eco-friendly, vegan-friendly, bike-friendly. The people are beautiful. You’ve got the ocean, mountains, and a million amazing hiking trails within reasonable driving distance. Here are some cool places I found while hanging around there.

(Want to know what Vancouver sounds like? Here’s a playlist of local indie acts.)

Coffee Shops

Prototype Coffee

883 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1R8

Stylish cafe in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, with great coffee.

(Photo: Marc Z. Goldgrub)

Kranky

228 E 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5T 1G5

A small, indy Mount Pleasant cafe with a outsized character.

Black and white cafe exterior with window signage.

(Photo: Kranky Cafe)

Moja Coffee (Commercial Drive)

1102 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L 3X2

Spacious, hip cafe on one of the coolest streets in the city.

Cafe exterior showing windows, white aesthetic, and a dim light inside.

(Photo: Moja Coffee)

Restaurants

The Acorn

3995 Main St, Vancouver, BC V5V 3P3

The city’s top echelon vegetarian restaurant. Very artisanal, very busy. Make a reservation and be prepared for a hefty bill.

Restaurant interior with chairs, tables, nice lighting.

(Photo: The Acorn Restaurant)

Viet Family

1414 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L 3X9

In a city with a lot of great vegan Vietnamese restaurants, this beautiful spot on Commercial Drive is probably the top category contender.

Wide assortment of colourful, quality vietnamese vegan dishes.

(Photo: Viet Family)

Cofu

1833 Anderson St #103, Vancouver, BC V6J 1J8

Fitting for Vancouver’s renowned Japanese culinary scene, Cofu is a premium plant-based sushi restaurant located in the city’s Chinatown.

Dark, Japanese restaurant interior with nice lighting and a long bar with stools.

(Photo: Marc Z. Goldgrub)

Also great: Nuba, MeeT, Eternal Abundance

Parks and Recreation

Totem pole on rocks by beach with city and trees in background.

Stanley Park

Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC V6G 1Z4

This enormous park is basically the park in Vancouver.

(Photo: Lonely Boy/Pexels)

Lobe

713 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1R3

Extremely cool “spatial sound studio” with lots of super interesting events.

Building exterior from street at nighttime.

(Photo: Marc Z. Goldgrub)

Kolm

525 W 8th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1C6

The best ‘hipster sauna’ in a city where living well is a big part of the granola culture. Tality Wellness is also great, but Kolm is a bit bigger and its aesthetic a bit more relaxing.

Dimly lit sauna interior with cushions and a bright marble-looking table.

(Photo: Kolm)

Drugs and Alcohol

Alcohol: Legal drinking age in British Columbia is 19.

Cannabis: Recreational cannabis is legal. It can be purchased from licensed dispensaries by adults aged 19+, though there are also some unlicensed dispensaries in the city. Vancouver has long been famously 420-friendly, well before cannabis was legalized for recreational use in 2018.

Psychedelics: Vancouver’s psychedelic situation is very interesting and a little complicated. The sale of psychedelics is illegal, but there are numerous aboveground stores that sell psilocybin, and some even sell LSD, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, kratom, and peyote. Vancouver police have openly said they’re not really concerned about psychedelics, probably because all resources are required to deal with the city’s catastrophic hard drug addition problem. MDMA is not openly sold, but personal possession of up to 2.5 grams is decriminalized (but only for private, not public use - see more about this here).