Granville Island

Granville Island Public Market Experience

Edible British Columbia’s signature tour provides the opportunity for both locals and visitors to learn about and experience BC’s most visited and best known public market. With more than 12.2 million visitors a year, Granville Island can be a very busy place! Put yourself in the experienced and knowledgable hands of Edible BC and learn the secrets and the best places to shop.

The centerpiece of the island experience is the Granville Island Public Market which houses a diverse array of vendors. Irresistible green grocers, butchers, bakers, fishmongers, importers, ethnic food sellers, sweets stands, and casual eateries as well as a wine shop and a micro roaster of organic coffee are some of the neighbouring tenants. Just outside the market are many local artisans as well as the Netloft, a book store devoted solely to cookbooks. With more than fifty permanent vendors and a constantly rotating roster of farmers, culinary artisans and cottage industry food producers, Granville Island is a true cook’s treasure and a foodie’s heaven!

With everything from fresh buffalo mozzarella and live lobster to famous Oyama sausages and Terra breads, Granville Island is your one stop culinary shop. This former industrial area’s open and airy architecture is definitely distinctive and adds a flair to the island.

Overview

2009-10 Dates:
Tours depart at 9am daily* 
*with the exception of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver *February 12 – March 1, 2010.  Special tour times are posted on our 2010 Winter Olymics Page

Price:
$49 per person plus GST and gratuity

Duration :
Approximately 2 hours

Max/ Min Group size:
8 / 2

Meeting Spot:
In front of the Edible BC Retail Store, located on the east wall of the Public Market

Tour Includes:
• A 2-hour tour of the Granville Island Public Market and surrounding area
• Edible BC recycled tote bag
• Tastings of regional foods
• Tips on food selection and preparation
• Recipes
• EBC bottled water
• 10% off coupon for Edible BC Retail Store
• Insights on local restaurant and culinary finds

Note: Tickets for all these tours must be purchased in advance. The cut off time for ticket purchases is 5pm the day prior to the tour. Tickets cannot be purchased the day of the tour. Ticket purchases are nonrefundable and cannot be transferred to another date.

Stops along the way include:
• A unique tea store that prepares some of the best authentic Chai Tea in the city using their unique blend of spices, milk, sugar and butter.
• South China Seas where the owner sources some of the most hard to find ingredients including green papaya, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, fresh tamarind, truffles, wild mushrooms and much, much more.
• The Stock Market where you can shave hours off your dinner preparation with a multitude of readymade sauces and the best demiglace and lamb stock in the city.
• Two local butchers who will amaze you with the quality of their meats and provide those hard to find custom cuts and specialty products.
• Seafood suppliers who provide the freshest wild BC products including salmon, crab, cod, halibut, prawns and other seasonal specialties.
• Terra Breads, bakers of unique artisan style breads and pastries

NEW – ADDITIONAL SHOPPING OPTION BEGINNING IN FALL 2009 

Together with Vancouver’s Shopabout Tours, Edible BC has created a new tour that allows you to do both!  Sample & Shop Granville Island combines EBC’s incredibly popular Chef Guided Market Tour with Shopabout’s in-depth Granville Island Shopping Tour for an extensive five-hour sampling and shopping excursion!

Start at 9am, with one of EBC’s experienced chef guides as you sample your way through Granville Island’s freshest foods and insider secrets.  At 11am, fuelled by your finds, join Shopabout’s Donita Dyer and explore the eclectic shops and artisans that cover the bustling Island.  You’ll finish at 2pm, with a filled belly and shopping bag.

Sample & Shop Granville Island Tours
$80 per person, plus GST
available on weekends only starting September 12, 2009.  Look for the Sample & Shop Granville Island tour on the booking engine at the top of the page. 

Testimonials:

“My tour this morning was wonderful! Rossana is bright, personable and generous with her knowledge. In addition to her knowing about the food and the vendors, she was able to share the history of the market area. Thank you for offering this delightful opportunity to learn about food, and about BC culture.”
- July, 2009

“I loved this tour !  The stops we made at the different venues were informative and very yummy.  I only wished i could bring the whole market home with me. After the tour my daughter and I went back to places we had stopped at, picked up items for our lunch which we ate out on the deck.  Then I bought what I could bring back with me on an airplane.  I would even take this tour again!  I would hope that every visitor and person living in the area would take this tour!   Thanks!”
- March, 2009

“Gurj was a wonderful host.  He took the time to find out our needs and interests, he was very knowledgeable about products. Gurj was very personable and shared lots of valuable tips for us.  We thoroughly enjoyed th day and will be signing up for more tours in the near future.”
- January, 2009