Where to stay in Vancouver
Vancouver's centre sits on a peninsula, with YVR 12 km south in Richmond and the North Shore across Burrard Inlet. The areas differ in how a car fits in: meters and garages in the centre, permit streets in the residential neighbourhoods, and separate cities without Vancouver's major events tax around the airport and on the North Shore.
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How the areas differ
Downtown is the city centre on the Downtown Peninsula, one of the densest areas in Canada. It takes in Coal Harbour on the harbour, Yaletown, a former warehouse district that has become one of the city's most densely populated neighbourhoods since the 1986 World's Fair, Gastown, the original settlement and a national historic site, and Canada Place, the convention centre and cruise ship terminal. The West End lies between the downtown business district, Stanley Park and English Bay, about 1 km from the centre by road.
Kitsilano, on the south shore of English Bay, is mostly residential, with shops and restaurants on West 4th Avenue and West Broadway, about 5 km from Downtown by road. Richmond, a separate city on Lulu Island and Sea Island, holds the airport, about 7 km by road from its centre. North Vancouver, another city, on the North Shore of Burrard Inlet, is centred on Lonsdale, where Lonsdale Quay is a SeaBus terminal and transit exchange.
Staying with a rental car
At YVR the rental counters are on the ground floor of the parkade beside the terminal, and no bridge in the Lower Mainland carries a toll, according to GetCar's guide Driving in Vancouver, which also covers the ferries, the British Columbia rules and the winter tyre rule on the mountain roads.
City meters run from 9 am to 10 pm every day, holidays included, usually for one or two hours, and daytime and evening rates can differ. Since 27 April 2026 they take cards and the PayByPhone and HotSpot apps but no coins, and the downtown core costs CAD 5 to 6.50 an hour (via GetCar). The City uses no QR codes for parking payments, so a QR sticker on a meter is a fraud.
Residential permit streets carry No Parking Except with Permit or time-limited signs, and a permit is valid only in its own zone. Residents can buy visitor permits, so a host can arrange parking for a guest's car; ask before booking. Stanley Park is pay parking on every road inside it, CAD 4.75 an hour up to CAD 17.75 a day from April to September (via GetCar). In the centre, with street limits of one or two hours, ask the hotel what its garage charges.
Taxes and rental rules for a guest
BC charges 8% PST on short-term accommodation, and Vancouver, Richmond and North Vancouver add a 3% Municipal and Regional District Tax. In the City of Vancouver a further 2.5% Major Events MRDT applies from 1 February 2023 to 31 January 2030, and because the provincial taxes then exceed 12%, the 5% GST is charged on them as well as on the room. The province's own example: a CAD 200 room in Vancouver comes to CAD 238.35 with all four taxes.
BC defines a short-term rental as accommodation offered to the public for money for less than 90 consecutive days, hotels and motels excluded. Since 1 May 2025 hosts and platforms must be registered with the province, hosts must show the provincial registration number, and a local business licence number where required, on every listing, and platforms remove unregistered listings and cancel their bookings. A guest faces no fine for staying in a rental that breaks the rules.
In Vancouver, Richmond and North Vancouver, the provincial principal residence requirement limits short-term rentals to the host's own home plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit on the same property. The City of Vancouver adds its own licence: the host must live in the home, the licence number appears in all online listings, and the home takes one booking at a time.
When to book what
Compare totals with the taxes in, and check that a rental listing shows the provincial registration number and, in Vancouver, the City licence number. A continuous stay of 27 days or more carries no PST or MRDT.
Stanley Park parking costs more from April to September than from October, CAD 4.75 an hour against CAD 4.25 (via GetCar).
Visitors from the UK and the EU fly to Canada with an eTA, which costs CAD 7 and is valid for up to five years or until the passport expires. Romanians need an electronic passport for it. US citizens and US permanent residents need no eTA, and nobody needs one arriving by car, bus, train or boat.
Which area for which trip
A first visit on foot, or a cruise: Downtown.
Stanley Park and English Bay: the West End.
A neighbourhood stay by a beach: Kitsilano.
A first or last night by the airport: Richmond.
The North Shore: North Vancouver.
Questions
How far is YVR from Downtown Vancouver?
12 km, or about 14 km by road. The airport is on Sea Island in Richmond, a separate city.
How much tax is on a hotel room in Vancouver?
In the City of Vancouver, 8% PST, a 3% MRDT and a 2.5% Major Events MRDT, with 5% GST on the room and those taxes: CAD 238.35 on a CAD 200 room in the province's example.
Is street parking free in the evening in Vancouver?
Not at the meters, which run until 10 pm every day, holidays included, with evening rates that can differ from daytime ones.
Can a whole apartment be rented short term in Vancouver?
Only the host's principal residence, or one secondary suite or accessory unit on the same property, with a City licence and a provincial registration number shown in the listing.
Is a guest fined for booking an unregistered rental in BC?
No. The province puts the responsibility on the host and the platform, and platforms remove unregistered listings and cancel their bookings.