The Lions Gate Bridge is the only sensible foot route to the North Shore from downtown. Most people drive across it without realizing there’s a sidewalk; most of the sidewalk’s users are runners. Crossing on foot is one of the better walks in the city.
The walk starts in Stanley Park (use the Causeway entrance, or take the seawall from English Bay and turn inland). The pedestrian path winds through the park for about twenty minutes — old-growth cedar, the occasional raccoon, no traffic noise until you’re a hundred yards from the bridge.
The bridge itself is 1,500 meters across. The sidewalk is on the east side, separated from traffic by a low concrete barrier. At wind speeds above about 50 km/h the bridge sways perceptibly — not enough to be unsafe but enough to remind you what suspension bridges actually do. The view from the middle: Burrard Inlet to the east with downtown rising behind it, the Strait of Georgia and Vancouver Island to the west.
You land in West Vancouver. From there, you can pick up the Capilano Pacific Trail (downhill toward the river, classic North Shore rainforest, 90 minutes round trip), or walk five minutes east to Park Royal and catch a bus back over the bridge. We prefer the trail.
Best time: early morning on a weekday. The runners are out at 6am; by 8 the casual walkers arrive. Avoid late afternoons in summer (school groups, tour buses, a lot of phones-up-on-the-railing).