Where We Spent a Wake Window: Granville Island & Public Market

Sep 4

Auntie & Yuyu enjoying a sunny lunch outside the Granville Island Public Market

Location & Parking:

Parking Pointers: Paid parking is available, but it is notoriously difficult to find a spot. Give yourself lots of time or consider alternate transport.

Set your GPS to: Granville Island & the Public Market 1669 Johnston Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 3R9.

Official info: https://granvilleisland.com/ & https://granvilleisland.com/public-market

The Damage Report ($):

Strolling around Granville Island and the Public Market are free! But, there are many tempting things to buy along the way.

Wheely Friendly?

Yes! The roads are generally smooth with ramps. We typically walk to Granville Island with Yuyu in the stroller and love it (well, she eventually protests to get down). I’d actually recommend bringing a stroller because it’s pretty busy with many pedestrians and cars.

Little girl sitting between her grand parents next to the Granville Island waterfront. — Yuyu, Nana & Baba ( grandparents ) outside the Granville public Market

The Snack Situation:

There is an abundance of food around Granville Island and in the public market - you’ll be spoiled for choice. While we’ve tried some restaurants around the island, our favorite and most convenient place to eat with Yuyu is at the Public Market itself.

Yuyu’s Go-To: A quick, minimal-mess, and tasty slice of Pepperoni pizza Pizza Pzazz.
Mum’s Favorite: The Pad Thai and Pad See Ew from Sen Pad thai ( I know, I know I wish Yuyu would eat it too but, alas).

The real magic is escaping the crowds on a sunny day and sitting outside on the picnic tables next to the waterfront. Just beware of the brazen seagulls! I’ve had a Lee’s donut taken right out of my hand, and Yuyu had some pizza snatched (she didn’t give it up though without screaming and getting the attention of everyone sitting outside).

Potty Proximity:

There is a bathroom in the Public Market and a change table area.

Mum Musings:

We go to Granville Island frequently with Yuyu. At first, it felt like a bustling tourist area, but over time, we found things that kept us coming back as "locals."

Mini carousel ride in the Granville Island Kids Market.

Toddler-Specific Activities & Transport Hacks

Simple Walks: Sometimes we’d just go for a walk, grab a snack from A Bread Affair, and watch the buskers who are close to the entrance.
Water Taxis: Granville Island’s location makes it a perfect hub for hopping around the city. (We dedicated a full post to the False Creek Water Taxis, including pricing, routes, and the stroller situation, if you want our comprehensive guide)
Kids Market: A bit overwhelming but a mecca for kids. (For a first-hand account of tackling the Kids Market with a toddler, check out our full review)
Carousel Theatre: I really enjoy going to the theatre, and being able to take Yuyu is such fun. (We shared our full experience at The Carousel Theatre for Kids in a dedicated post.)

Other Things We Did:

Gift Shopping: We brought all our visitors here and found some neat places for gifts. These were three of my favorite spots:
- Northern Bars (in the Public Market) for BC’s famed nanaimo bar chocolates. They have cute packaging and even offer cooler bags so they travel well.
- The Inukshuk Gallery for lovely souvenirs for a range of budgets.
- The amazing and unique independent multilingual/multicultural book store: Nooroongji
Improv Comedy: My mum and I went to a hilarious all-female cast at The Improv Centre for International Women's Day. With a bar and snacks available, it's a fun night out for parents. I was lucky to have my mum with me for 3 months and wrote a blog post about some of our favourite dates together.

Toddler Tolerance Level:

It varies - the sheer variety of Granville island gives you the ability to stretch a wake window if you want. We’ve stayed for 1 hour on some days and a full half day on others.

Nap Roulette Options?

My favourite suggestion is the scenic walk from Granville Island to Kitsilano Beach. (Thanks for the tip, Nan and Pop McDonald!) It’s a beautiful 35 mins route along the seawall, perfect for stroller naps if you time it right. No need for me to explain the route: I found this handy route description for the walk to Kitsilano Beach!

Auntie on double duty as we walk around Granville Island.

Author

Mimi of Mi & Yu things to do in Vancouver

I’m Mimi, the writer behind Mi & Yu. This blog was born out of a year spent exploring Vancouver with my toddler Yuyu and newborn son Gabe while my husband Jamie worked through a demanding fellowship.

What started as a way to survive the newborn phase turned into a collection of tried-and-tested family adventures, real reviews, tested logistics, and the occasional toddler meltdown included. Now back home in Newfoundland, I’m sharing those adventures so other parents can skip the decision fatigue and get straight to the fun part.