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The Forbidden Downtown and Gastown Walking Tour

20 reviews

The Forbidden Downtown and Gastown Walking Tour

from USD $26.91

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Explore Vancouver’s dirtiest Prohibition-era secrets. From mobsters and rum runners to corrupt politicians and opium dens, this historical walking tour winds through Gastown’s and downtown Vancouver’s most historic streets and alleyways – and most illicit stories.

BOOK WITH CONFIDENCE: As members of ABTA and ATAS we are 100% financially bonded. You can book your day trip with us in absolute confidence, no matter where in the world you are.

In Brief

Location:

Vancouver, Canada

Country:

Canada

Duration:

2 hours

Operates:

Daily

Highlights:

Comprehensive tour of the city

Great overview and orientation of the city

Fully narrated tour

Informative, friendly and professional guide

Led by a local guide

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, 646 Richards St, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 3A3 Canada

The walking tour begins at the Holy Rosary Cathedral, downtown.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Victory Square, 150 Hastings St W, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 1G8 Canada

Victory Square is home to some of Vancouver's finest heritage buildings, including the Dominion Building and the Sun Tower. It's also a perfect place to discover some of Vancouver's juiciest history!

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Gastown, Waterfront between Granville and Main Sts. North of Hastings St., Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 2K7 Canada

The tour wraps up on the cobblestone streets of Gastown, the historic centre of Vancouver.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: The Dominion Building, 207 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6B 1H7, Canada

Hear about the tallest building in town in 1910!

Duration: 10 minutes

Inclusions

Professional guide

Exclusions

Gratuities
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Departure Point

Mobi Bike Share, 441-499 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver, BC V6B 1X4, Canada

Returns To

Maple Tree Square, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Additional Information

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Children must be accompanied by an adult
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

Booking Information

You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity.

Cancellation Terms

This trip is fully refundable up to 96 hours prior to the commencement of your trip.

Booking Terms and Conditions

When you book this trip, you need to read and accept the terms and conditions for booking our day trips in excursions.

Scoring an average traveller rating of 4.35 out of 5 based on the last 20 recent reviews

“

Glenn was awesome and distractive! I really enjoyed this tour and to discover an other side of Vancouver.”

Kathleen C • Submitted 01 Oct 2019

“

Guide Glenn Tkach did an excellent job leading this informative and entertaining tour.”

Patrick H • Submitted 05 May 2018

“

The most professional guide ever. Tour was well organized and very informative. Highly recommend.”

Julie M • Submitted 04 Oct 2017

“

Excellent tour! The pace was perfect, lots of information and great sights.”

Jennifer O • Submitted 01 Oct 2017

“

This was a fabulous tour! Our guide, Glenn, was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the city and presented the material with both stories and historic photographs. I'm a Vancouverite and learned something new! I'm going to look into the other tours that Forbidden Vancouver offers and do those as well. This tour was well worth it and I would recommend it to both visitors and locals!”

Tiffany K • Submitted 26 Sep 2017

“

Excellent guide Roxanne enthusiastic and knowledgeable!”

Wayne K I • Submitted 12 Aug 2017

“

So Much Fun..and Educational, too!! I had a free evening alone in Gastown and wanted to stay in the area until about 10 pm so this Tour fit the bill. Leonard, our guide, was an excellent speaker and quite knowledgeable about both Vancouver Past and Present. I felt safe in his group, especially when he offered to walk me to my bus stop after the tour. I can't wait to take my whole family on his Tour when we return to Gastown. Thanks, Leonard, for a highly enjoyable evening and wonderful memories of Gastown!”

Pat J • Submitted 28 May 2017

“

This was an excellent walking tour! The guide Amon rhymes with Salmon was fascinating to listen to and he had a very humorous way of passing on all the information he had to share. We were taken to some interesting places and buildings and each one had a link and a story relating to the days of prohibition. Great tour, definitely recommend.”

Bridgette K • Submitted 12 Sep 2016

“

I had Nevada as my tour guide and I loved this tour so much. We started at the Cathedral on Dunsmuir and travelled down to the Dominion Building, Chinatown and ended at GasTown. It was a wonderful and thorough explanation of what went down in the 1910's and 20s during the prohibition era, and taught me a lot about the city's history with immigrants, bootlegging, laws, key persona at the time, and all the major secrets! What really sold the adventure was the real life photos that Nevada showed us. The pictures really took us back to how life was like then so that it wasn't just a fairy tale, it made it real. Thank you Nevada for the great time!”

Alexis M • Submitted 11 Sep 2016

“

Very comprehensive and informative. Almon was great.”

dsulli101 • Submitted 12 Jul 2016

“

This tour was amazing!”

John B • Submitted 12 Jul 2016

“

The guide was great as well as the tour. The guide provided in a really nice way interesting details about both Chinatown and Gastown. I really advise to do this tour.”

jamesjmp • Submitted 21 Jun 2016

“

Enjoyed the tour and the guide was great and knowledgable. Only downside was the Weather as it was a torrential downpour.”

Matthew W • Submitted 03 Sep 2015

“

Leonard our guide was very good. Gave a good history of the areas we walked through. Tour is recommended.”

Liz • Submitted 16 Sep 2019

“

Great tour for what Roxanne had to work with. There is some that she could not tell you about as they don't know exactly what happened. Enjoy the tour and Roxanne was very polite and respectful”

Michelle D • Submitted 21 Aug 2017

“

Great introduction to some of the details of life way back then in Vancouver. Energetic and interactive with relevant commentary throughout and led by a knowledgeable guide and a steady pace so all could keep up. Meeting point is a little vague and not necessarily somewhere I'd like to hang around by myself for too long. Overall really enjoyable and educational.”

Miss J • Submitted 29 Nov 2016

“

Growing up in Vancouver I learned much more than I thought I would. The guide was very entertaining and engaging. Definitely recomend for locals and tourists alike.”

Chris S • Submitted 14 Sep 2016

“

Generally very informative about the early history of Vancouver. A lively commentary. Personally I would have preferred not to traverse the less salubrious area area between Chinatown and Gastown. There were many people 'down on their luck' or with various issues that was off putting.”

Mike O • Submitted 27 Aug 2016

“

I would not recommend this tour. The guide was excellent and made Vancouver history come alive but walking thru dirty streets with homeless people, drugged out teenagers and someone urinating 50 feet from out group is not my idea of a good time. Oh, did I mention needles on the side walk where we stopped to listen to our guide. This tour is a bust.”

Diane S • Submitted 05 Aug 2018

“

The Guide really made this very fun and informative.”

leon b • Submitted 25 Aug 2017