Gastown-Chinatown, Vancouver: neighborhood guide

Gastown and Chinatown sit at the east end of downtown Vancouver, between the glass towers of the City Centre and East Van. Hastings Street runs between them: Gastown to the north, Chinatown to the south. The rough boundaries are Gore Street east, Dunsmuir Street south, the railway tracks north, and Waterfront Station and Cambie Street west.

Gastown grew from shanties around an 1860s sawmill and became the city's early saloon and entertainment district. Chinatown was settled mainly by Chinese immigrants who arrived in the late 1800s to build the transcontinental railway. Both declined after the Great Depression, and a 1960s plan to run an expressway through the area started the preservation debate that saved much of the brick and stone building stock you walk past today.

The result is uneven. Restored storefronts, patios and cocktail bars sit a block or two from street-front drug dealing. Gastown leans heavily into tourism — souvenir shops every few doors on Water Street — while Cordova Street east of Cambie is more run-down and has vintage shops. Chinatown, the second-largest in North America by area, is quieter and rougher-edged; the centre of Chinese Vancouver has largely moved to Richmond. Between and east of the two is the Downtown Eastside, walkable by day but not somewhere to tour, and best avoided at night if you do not know it.

Stay in Gastown if you want to step out of your hotel into bars, restaurants and old streets, and you value being two minutes from Waterfront Station for the SkyTrain and SeaBus. It suits couples, solo travellers and short city breaks. Chinatown has fewer beds and goes quiet in the evening, so it works better as a daytime destination than a base.

Do not base here if you are travelling with young children, want quiet evenings, or would find open drug use on the walk home distressing. The City Centre is calmer and still walkable to Gastown; the West End puts you near Stanley Park and Denman Street restaurants. Yaletown-False Creek suits a newer, tidier waterfront feel. All are 10–25 minutes away on foot or by SkyTrain.

If you do book here, ask for a room away from Hastings Street and check whether the entrance is on Water, Cordova or Pender rather than the Hastings corridor.

Gastown carries the bulk of the restaurant and bar scene, with patios on Water Street and along the side streets. Expect modern Canadian cooking, cocktails and late kitchens; the trade-off is tourist pricing on the main strip. Cordova Street and the blocks east are cheaper and less polished.

Chinatown is where you go for barbecue and noodle shops, Chinese bakeries and provision stores along Pender and Keefer Streets. Many kitchens close early and some shut one day a week, so check hours before a late walk. The area around Keefer Street has the highest concentration of places to eat.

Vancouver's wider Asian food scene, including the largest concentration of Chinese restaurants, is out in Richmond rather than Chinatown. If food is the reason for your trip, plan a SkyTrain ride to Richmond and treat Chinatown as a daytime stop.

The easiest approach is on foot from Waterfront Station on Cordova Street: Gastown starts immediately outside, and Water Street is the first street on your left. Chinatown is a further 15–20 minutes east along Pender Street; the Millennium Gate at Pender and Taylor marks the entrance, but most of the action is a few blocks further east around Keefer Street.

TransLink runs the region's buses, SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express. Waterfront Station serves the Expo and Canada lines, and Stadium-Chinatown station on the Expo line puts you at the south edge of Chinatown. Fares can be paid with a Compass Card, a Compass Ticket, or by tapping a contactless credit card or mobile wallet; Compass Card and Ticket fares are discounted. A Compass Card carries a refundable deposit.

By car, Hastings Street is the main east-west route and links to the Trans-Canada Highway. Parking downtown is expensive and street parking is limited, so most visitors leave the car and walk or ride the SkyTrain.

Short answers to the questions travellers ask most about basing yourself in Gastown-Chinatown.