Places to See: Granville Island

We are trying to explore more of the places in our own backyard, and find what is family friendly. Most recently we headed to Granville Island for a family day out. From where we live in Surrey to the market, depending on traffic, it is about an hour drive to get there. This does not phase us, we just make a day of it and grab some coffee on the way there. First up after finding and paying for parking, we headed to the docks to look at the water, bridge, and boats.

There is just something so relaxing about being by the water. I instantly start to calm down. It is absolutely gorgeous by the water the surrounds Granville Island. Our oldest spent a good chunk of time running around, trying to convince the birds to be her friend, and also chasing them so that they would fly.

The nice thing about Granville Island is that it is stroller friendly. I had no issues pushing our youngest around in the stroller. There were ramps available if needed. My one concern was being near the road ways there are some sidewalks, and some areas without and you are near moving vehicles so be sure to keep an eye on your child, and hold their hand when near the roads.

Going inside the Public Market is my favourite. There is so much to check out, and to enjoy. Everything is fresh. There fish, breads, all sorts of pastries, and so much more. There are also a few stalls with handmade items. The one place we were told that we could not miss was Lee’s Donuts. The donuts are made daily, and the smell is incredible. You’ll be sure to want to enjoy a donut or two. We were eyeing up getting a box of macarons from Bon Macaron Patisserie Ltd. to take home with us, but sadly things got a little busy for us and we forgot to go back. We definitely could have spent much longer looking at all of the different shops, and what was available but it was time for lunch. Certain people were getting very “hangry”.

This is my one problem with the market, there is not enough indoor seating and during lunch time it is incredibly busy there. This is even more so true on the weekends. It was very difficult for me to maneuver the stroller around, and there were several times where I’d been waiting to get a table for our family and I was cut off be other people who shoved their way past me and then took the table. We went with a different plan and got some fish and chips from Celine’s Fish and Chips and headed outside. There are a lot of benches out there, but the issue here is you need to watch your food and keep the birds away. They will make an attempt to get your fries! We did finally get an open table to sit at so that our oldest could sit properly, and eat her meal. I think next time we may pack a picnic lunch and go enjoy our meal some place in the area surrounding the market. Maybe over by the duck pond, which was our last stop on this trip.

We wandered to the Kid’s Market to do some more exploring. There is an indoor play area called The Adventure Zone which costs about $10 to go in, and does have in and out privileges for the day. We took a little peak into the different toy stores, but quickly headed outside to the duck pond that is tucked in behind it and let our daughter play at the tug boat that is there. 

Soon it was time to head back to our car, and get going home. We will definitely be back again soon. We have much more exploring to do, and we want to try more of the food items that are available there.