When you live in a place like Vancouver with so much to offer, you inevitably find your favourite spots and tend to forget all the other things the city has to offer. To prevent our favourites from slowly ending our explorations of the city, we made a list of all the SkyTrain stations, threw them in a box and made our own adventure raffle. Once a month, we draw the name of a station and head off to explore. The first winner? New Westminster!
From the station, walk one block south to the quay where you can stroll along the banks of the Fraser to the new Westminster Pier Park. It’s 2.5 kilometres if you want to walk all the way to the southern end of the park. Along the way you can rest at the urban beach, take a look at the public art pieces, and enjoy the river. Returning to the quay would give you a 5k walk, jog or cycle to work up an appetite for the delicious food at the locally owned and locally sourced restaurants at the River Market.
Our favourite food options so far:
Freebird - Choose from two types of chicken (both are amazing) - Thai style roast chicken and Singapore chicken rice. Order the plate and you get a tasty side of papaya salad and rice with your chicken. As two former long-time residents of Bangkok, we can confidently say the food is really good, especially if you ask for extra chiles in your som tum. Go early or you might find the roast chicken sold out.
Longtail Kitchen - Longtail offers a nice assortment of Thai dishes ranging from standard curries to harder to find seafood dishes. They also have a little market if you want to cook Thai at home.
Pamola Bakery and Café - Great bakery serving Mexican food including tortas, sopes, and molletes. The sopes and molletes are definitely not standard fare in Vancouver (and definitely delicious).
Tre Galli Gelato - On a nice day, there will be a line. Don’t be surprised if it’s out the door.
If it’s raining and you have your children with you, take a look at the Vancouver Circus School and/or The River Critters Kids Club. A perfect time to slip away for a coffee, perhaps?
For adults and older kids, every first and third Saturday of the month, the River Market hosts an artisan market. In addition, there are often artisans teaching their skills, including soapmaking from Thursdays to Mondays with Jolene. Douglas College runs a maker lab that offers community members a collaborative working and meeting design space equipped with 3D printers.
Before you leave New Westminster, don’t forget to check out the World’s Tallest Tin Soldier and the Fraser River Discovery Centre.
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Verdict: Totally worth it. We will be back.
To Get There: Take the Expo or Millennium line from downtown Vancouver to New Westminster. It takes about 30 minutes. Exit the SkyTrain station and walk an easy 3 minutes to get to Quayside Drive next to the Fraser River.
