Vancouver: Mountains Behind, Ocean Ahead

Vancouver sits between English Bay (west, facing the Pacific) and the North Shore Mountains (peaks above 1,700 meters) directly to the north. Sunset over English Bay from Sunset Beach or Spanish Banks is the defining shot: the sun drops behind the Vancouver Island mountains 90 kilometers to the west, creating a double-layered horizon. At 49.3°N, golden hour extends to 56 minutes in summer, and the June solstice sunset falls past 9:20pm. Cypress Mountain viewpoint, at 926 meters on the North Shore, places the city below with the full south-facing panoramic: downtown, English Bay, the Fraser River delta, and Mount Baker (3,286 m) in Washington state visible to the southeast on clear days. Stanley Park seawall, a 10-kilometer loop, passes every orientation from the port to English Bay.