Vancouver Street Art – Main Street Self Guided Tour

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Vancouver has always had a knack of brightening up the streets with the odd mural or two. The official or unofficial street art piece here and there. But recently there was a rather large mural festival where numerous pieces were unveiled. Some of Vancouver’s alleys have been painted with designs to make it more vibrant in the downtown core. Then there are the neighborhoods known for their artists and creative residents. The Vancouver street art movement seems to have really taken off in a big way.

I noticed recently when driving past Main Street that there were some new artworks up on the sides of buildings. Then the next time I went past I saw some more. Finally I decided that I would take a walk down Main Street to check them out. Armed with my camera I wanted to capture some of the beautiful pieces along the way and show you that Vancouver isn’t all about expensive activities.

Where to start on Main Street

Although there are other neighborhoods with a lot of Vancouver street art, it was Main Street I wanted to explore more. Main Street is a rather steep street leading all the way from near Downtown Vancouver to South Vancouver. That’s a lot of walking. Since it was summer when I did this I wasn’t about to walk uphill. I instead drove up Main Street in one of Vancouver’s car share rides, and parked at Main Street and East 28th. This is where the street art started to grow a little more sparse. Local’s tip: this is also where you will find one of my favorite Vancouver restaurants East is East. Amazing Afghan/Indian fusion food.

I had my camera and a bottle of water, and off I went. Walking down Main Street in the direction of downtown. Main Street has some wonderfully eclectic stores. Vintage shops, thrift stores, local crafts and independent cafes and eateries. It’s a wonderful neighborhood, so if you decide to follow in my footsteps then at least take time to appreciate the area.

Remember to take a reusable water bottle with you on your travels, like this one from FastTech

Vancouver street art tour

Walking North on Main Street keep to the left hand side of the road. When you reach East 26th Avenue you’ll see a small convenience store on the corner. That’s where I found the first piece of art that day. More than one actually. The first piece was a portrait of a woman and next to her the words “This might feel like home”. On the other side of her is a house next to what looks like a tornado. The phrase now makes a little more sense as a reference to the Wizard of Oz.

From there I didn’t see much art for a while. There were some dated pieces just after King Edward Avenue, but I soon realized not much else. So I carried on walking. The next piece I saw was this one at East 21st. Again on the left hand side of the road (West side). There’s a cafe called Coco et Olive, and around the corner on 21st Avenue is a lovely looking art piece with some lemon trees (I think).

One block further down on East 20th Avenue is Lagree West, a gym, which has this mural painted on the wall.

East 19th to East 12th

Along Main Street there is such a Vancouver street art culture that even local businesses are getting involved. They have themed murals painted on their exterior walls. Like Coco et Olive and their Mediterranean inspired mural. Or Lagree West gym and their strongman mural. As I crossed the street to the right hand side of Main Street, I found Nikkyu, a Japanese restaurant at East 17th Avenue. Just around the corner onto 17th there’s this mural.

Staying on the right hand side of Main Street I continued down to East 16th Avenue. There’s a little Hasty Market convenience store on the corner. It doesn’t look like much but this mural by @milanbasicart really brightens up what would otherwise be little more than a run down store.

Same goes for this one across the street, an interesting maze

Another of my favorite Vancouver restaurants is Burgoo. Burgoo is all about comfort food, think pastas, stews, soups and sandwiches. A lot of Mediterranean, and other worldly dishes. If you’re in Vancouver GO THERE. Their Main Street location is opposite the Heritage Hall on East 15th Avenue and has a couple of cool murals on the wall. First is a fish mural, maybe because all the seafood menu options. Second is a character in a garden showing the roots of some of the inspired food items on the menu.

Two blocks further down, on the same side of the street I came across 49th Parallel cafe. This mural overlooks their spacious patio.

And just across the street, behind the Dairy Queen is a little parking area where I spotted this kid.

East 12th Avenue to Broadway

Broadway is at 9th Avenue, and the amount of Vancouver street art I found around here was crazy. I kept finding one piece that led me to another and another. Soon I was in the middle of an alley with no real sense of how I got there. What started me on this journey was this piece. It’s pretty eye catching, even from a distance. It can be seen on East 12th Ave which is a main road through Main Street.

Whenever we drive past I always point it out and say I want to take a photo. Today…wish granted! I had crossed the road from the last few pieces I’d seen and was on the left hand side of Main Street. I walked along to East 11th Avenue until I got to Dock Lunch, a cute little restaurant a few stores in. Walking into the alley next to it I finally got to the piece I’d wanted to see up close. Which meant I could also read the caption that went with it. Queen Elizabeth II for those who couldn’t tell before.

The other awesome news was that in going down this alley, I came across other pieces I didn’t even know were there. They were mostly portrait style street art.

I wandered back around to Main Street and crossed over to the right hand side. Still on East 11th Avenue I turned left down the alley (Watson Street). Behind the Dulux paint shop are some interesting, colorful pieces including this one I’m not even sure how to explain.

At East 10th Avenue take a quick left to see this epic vegetable celebrating mural on the side of Tocador restaurant.

If you head back down the alley, Watson Street, and turn left at the end just before Broadway, there are some pieces around the parking lot.

Then looking back onto Main Street there’s a piece that dominates the entire side of a building a little higher up.

Around Broadway and Kingsway

Well that was a lot of walking. But I made it to Broadway. I’m going to take you on one slight detour before heading back down Main Street. Along Broadway heading East there’s an intersection at Kingsway. Head up Kingsway, kind of back in the direction you’ve come. There’s a parking lot with a number of pieces making up a really good reflection of Vancouver street art. I walked from the slightly more rugged looking parking lot, through the alley to the main parking lot. There I found all of these pieces plus a lot more.

Either walk back down Watson Street (the alley) to Broadway again or go back the same way to Kingsway. Cross over Broadway and between Kingsway and Main Street is a little entrance to a parking lot where I found these art pieces.

And along Kingsway above Gene coffee bar is some beautiful Native art.

It’s from here that you get some pretty nice views of downtown Vancouver and the North Shore mountains. That is if you ignore all the cranes and construction work.

Main Street to Olympic Village

From the left hand side of Main Street I started walking towards Olympic Village in False Creek. This whole area is filled with some of the best East Vancouver breweries and makes for a pretty fun Sunday afternoon activity. Today though, I was going to check out all the awesome Vancouver street art around here. At the corner of Main Street and East 7th Avenue is this quote on the side of a building.

From there I carried on walking West off Main Street and found some of the most incredible murals. I walked around and around, into alleyways, down side streets, through parking lots. Weaving in and out of the streets until I came out on East 2nd Avenue around Ontario Street. If you walk up and down Ontario Street and Quebec Street and keep checking out the avenues and alleys, you’ll see all the amazing pieces that I saw. Here are some of the best ones.

If you need a break between all the walking around you can hit up one of the cute local coffee shops, or the breweries. Electric Bicycle is a really fun one to check out, and when you get to East 2nd Avenue there’s the Brewhall which has some amazing beers on tap.

The best Vancouver street art

I can’t say that there isn’t more awesome street art in a different part of Vancouver. But this has always been my favorite area. Mix in some cute coffee shops, nice little vintage stores, and plenty of craft breweries. That’s a recipe for a good day in Vancouver. Vancouver is known for being an expensive city. Our attractions cost a lot of money, hotels aren’t too cheap. But this is a free activity you can do in Vancouver that will keep you busy most of the day if you wanted it to.

Want to find art in other cities? Here’s my guide to finding street art in Camden Town, London

I’m always on the lookout for street art wherever I go. If you visit Vancouver, then takes notes on some of these places, and check them out yourself. I’m sure over time some of them will disappear and be replaced by others, although hopefully not too soon. I believe they are having another mural festival soon so there will likely be more Vancouver street art popping up in the city over the next year or two too.

If you’ve enjoyed this post please leave a comment or share using the social media buttons below. Where have you found some great Vancouver street art? Or other places in the world? What’s your favorite piece here?