The Lions Gate Bridge, a green suspension bridge spanning the First Narrows from Stanley Park to the North Shore, was built in the 1930s by the Guinness brewing family, who had bought land on the slopes of West Vancouver and needed a way to get buyers there. It is the gateway to the Sea-to-Sky Highway, and the West End, where this ride begins, lies at its southern end, a dense, leafy neighbourhood of apartment towers, old houses and tree-lined streets between downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park.
Stanley Park is one of the great urban parks of the world, a peninsula of old-growth forest, beaches and gardens almost surrounded by the sea, with a seawall path running around its edge. English Bay, on the West End's southern shore, has a sandy beach and a promenade, and the sunsets over the water are famous.
The Sea-to-Sky Highway, Highway 99, runs north from the bridge along Howe Sound, a fjord of steep mountains and dark water, to Squamish and Whistler. It was rebuilt for the 2010 Winter Olympics, with wider lanes and better curves, and it is one of the most spectacular rides in Canada. Along the way, the Britannia Mine Museum, Shannon Falls and the Stawamus Chief, a huge granite monolith popular with climbers, are worth a stop.
The highway is busy, especially on weekends, and speed enforcement is strict. Watch for rock falls, wet roads and sudden fog. The Lions Gate Bridge has a reversible centre lane and can be congested at rush hour.
Start with coffee on Denman Street, top up at a station on the way out, then take the causeway through Stanley Park, where the cedars close overhead for a few minutes before the bridge lifts you over the water and the Coast Mountains fill the visor. It is hard to think of a better first ten minutes for any ride.