Vancouver Private Walking Tour of Downtown Chinatown and Gastown

Vancouver, Canada

Explore Downtown Vancouver, Chinatown, and Gastown on a private, 90-minute walking tour. A professional tour guide will lead the way through the city's most historic stomping grounds, revealing the Prohibition-era past of Vancouver and Chinatown. Visit the city's most famous heritage buildings — the Sun Tower and the Dominion Building — and explore the cobblestone streets of Maple Tree Square. Finish in Gastown, surrounded by the city's most talked about bars and restaurants, or have the guide assist back to the starting point.

Mobsters. Opium. Booze. Delve into Vancouver's dirtiest secrets with a private group on this scandal-fueled walking tour.

In 1917, Prohibition hit Vancouver harder than a slug of bathtub gin, knocking the city to its knees. Saloon doors swung closed for good, forcing law-abiding citizens into an underground world of bootlegged spirits and illicit activity. Mob bosses set up scores of illegal drinking dens, and dirty cops were paid to look the other way. Vancouver’s longest-running mayor, L.D. Taylor, emerged from the chaos, soon notorious for his shadowy past, raucous parties, and underworld ties. When the US followed suit with their own prohibition three years later, enterprising Vancouver rum-runners made millions smuggling booze on midnight voyages down the coast.

On this 90-minute walking tour, explore the secret underbelly of Vancouver's prohibition history, while visiting the city's most famous heritage buildings. Take in the salacious Sun Tower and the ornate Dominion Building, once the tallest building in the British Empire. Travel into the back streets of historic Chinatown, once home to bawdy houses, opium dens, and beer parlours.

Finish the tour on the cobblestone streets of Maple Tree Square, surrounded by Gastown's most talked about bars and restaurants. It's a perfect place to share stories with your friends and family over a post-tour dinner or drinks.

From back alley blind pigs to Chinatown opium dens, these aren't the kinds of stories heard on tour buses.