Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours

Myself and my travel buddy were lucky enough to get on to this tour at the last minute. Joelle was our guide and she was absolutely amazing! She was so engaging and her knowledge was exemplary. Her humour was very entertaining and her passion was clearly obvious when sharing these interesting insights into the history of Stanley park, along the tour. We would highly recommend this tour to get into some of the nitty gritty of the colourful history of this most beautiful park. The park itself is just spectacular and expansive. There is something for everyone either local or visiting. We are SO glad we didn’t just walk around the park in our own as this experience has really added to the overall fun and education to this sacred land. Thank you Joelle!

Glenn was an amazing, engaging storyteller who was very knowledgeable about the history of Vancouver. Each stop was interesting, unique and informative. The hot chocolate was also amazing. Would highly recommend this to locals and visitors alike. Getting to see inside the amazing art deco Marine building was the highlight; stunning! Thanks again Glenn for making us so welcome and keeping us so well informed.

I had an amazing experience on the Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tour last night. It was such a great and memorable night in Vancouver. Our tour guide, Glenn, was incredibly kind, friendly, and knowledgeable. He explained everything so clearly and made the stories come alive in a really engaging way. You could tell he truly cared about the tour and the people in the group. The whole experience was fun, interesting, and very well organized. It honestly became one of the best nights I’ve had in Vancouver. Thank you so much to Glenn and the Forbidden Vancouver team for such a wonderful experience. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting or living in Vancouver❤️

My wife and I went on the holiday history and hot chocolate tour last night led by Aislynn and it was awesome. Felt like we were reliving a drama of the gossip stories from Vancouver history. Aislynn made the history feel alive and we really enjoyed her presentation. We saw amazing architecture and art. And we are already thinking of doing more of their tours.

Got my mom tickets for her birthday for Forbidden Vancouver's History and Hot Chocolate walking tour. What an amazing local experience! Our fabulous professional guide, Marina, made learning about Vancouver's characters, history and architecture fun and exciting. The tour was inclusive, accessible and just the right length at around 1.5 hours. We're planning on going to more of these events with this company. Highly recommended Forbidden Vancouver tours to both visitors and locals alike. -Rebecca and Robin from Vancouver

A wonderful time hearing about historic Vancouver and seeing the building current and past on our Holiday History & Hot Chocolate Tour. Beautiful lights and an expert and welcoming guide, Ashlynn lead us through a fascinating experience and our family of 7 ranging in ages from 13 to 59 enjoyed ourselves very much

Lost Souls tour was a perfect way to enjoy an evening in Gastown and learn a bit of history. Our guide, Janet, was great! :)

We did The Dark Secrets of Stanley Park tour yesterday and it was fascinating! Glenn is a Master Storyteller and had us all captivated with his stories. We went on trails that I have never been on in Stanley Park. My mother is 86 and she did just fine. We both loved the tour and can't wait to do another one!

We had Vanessa for the hot chocolate tour. We got to see Ana go into buildings that we wouldn't have been able to otherwise. Really good history and interesting facts really good for all ages. Even my 10 year old wasn't bored! Took the whole family, my mom & dad myself and my husband and it was so good! Highly recommend!!

Everything went spectacularly! Glenn did a terrific job. It was super to learn so much about the area. Especially, the story behind "Gassy" Jack and how Gastown got its name. Thanks for bringing the history to life.

We enjoyed the Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tour, Lost Souls of Gastown with guide Amy Lee. Not only was it informative it was interactive and theatrical, providing a background, context and history of this complex area of Vancouver. It was great for our 16- and 13-year-olds along with mom and dad. The tour was about 1 1/2 hours and we walked over most of Gastown. A great way to spend an evening in Vancouver.

We did two tours with this company while we were in Vancouver the first was the "Lost Souls of Gastown" tour with Samantha. This tour takes your around the Gastown and your guide will tell you a story about an individual and relate their experiences in the area during the early days of Vancouver. Our guide, Samantha was only on her second tour and she was fantastic, she shared her characters story and answer questions about the area. Our group was about 20 people and the pace was good, so most people would have no problem keeping up. Great Tour and History Lesson all in one. Our Second tour was the Sunday Morning "Really Gay History Tour" and this one was FANTASTIC, our guide for this one was Glenn and as the creator/curator of this particular tour he was passionate about the subject matter. For this one we had a small group of 6 and with the small group Glenn was able to engage with us even more, the tour was scheduled for 2 hours but we ended up going a little bit over but there is so much to share that it didn't seem like we spent that much time walking around Vancouver. Glenn is full of knowledge about the Gay history of Vancouver, the people, the businesses and the changes that have happened over the years. This tour is great for anyone that is interested in the history of Vancouver, and especially the trials and tribulations the LGBTQ groups went though from the pre-colonial day up to the 21st century. We enjoyed both tours and are only sorry that our schedule in Vancouver only allowed us to attend two tours. The prices are very reasonable and the actors and guides are fantastic.

My daughter and I did the Really Gay History Tour and although we both knew we were in for something special, the entire experience went well beyond our expectations. Whether you're a Vancouver local or you're in town on holidays or for a staycation, put this walking tour at the top of your list of things to do. Glenn, our host, is both a trained actor/storyteller and an extraordinarily detail-oriented researcher who left no important name, date, or event unexplored. Our group (which was also fantastic - really lucked out there!) experienced a tour of Vancouver's West End and the role the neighbourhood played in much of our gay history that felt like it wrapped far too soon. We even overshot the two-hour mark (thanks to so much group engagement, questions, and discussion.) It was awesome! What we learned was incredible. Better than any history book could ever hope to impart because story vignettes came from interviews, catalogues, police reports, and more to create an unbiased, real-life, gritty - sometimes heart-wrenching - wholly powerful presentation. Can't wait to do the Stanley Park and Scandals tours, next!

Stuart! Wonderful Tour! Thank you from San Francisco! We did not realize we were staying in the oldest hotel in Vancouver, how harrowing the fire, how horrid the small pox....blacksmiths, loggers, Bertie, the greed of the railroad! Thank you for helping us begin to scratch the surface of this city. Donni and Jay

We did the "Really Gay History Tour" with our tour guide Glenn. This was one of the most educational and entertaining tours we have ever done! Glenn was super personable and incredibly knowledgeable. We would like to sincerely thank him for providing one of the best tours we have experienced. Thanks Glenn! ACM Advisors

We thoroughly enjoyed our spooky, rainy Lost Souls walking tour of Gastown. As a group of Vancouverites, we learned much about our fair (and not-so-fair!) city. Our guide, Janet, was a hoot, staying in character throughout. She embellished her stories with enough humour and pathos that they carried us away--highly recommended.

We did the tour today with Rob, he is wonderful. The tour is incredibly informative and fun. He is inclusive and educational. Definitely worth the 2 hours!!!

We had such a good time taking the Hidden History and Sweet Treats Tour with Rob as our guide. He was entertaining, informative and educational. He made sure that we could all both see him and hear him at all times. The sweet treats were a bright red cherry on top of a really good time. I would take any of the tours offered by Vancouver Walking Tours because this one, the only one I've ever taken, was so excellent. Keep up the good work!

Fun tour of historic Gastown with Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours yesterday. Enjoyed it a lot.

My brother and I did the Hidden History and Sweet Treats tour. It was fun, informative, and yummy. Last year I did the Lost Souls of Gastown tour and it was fun, informative, creepy, and a sad. I highly recommend both tours.

It excellent tour and interesting story that you would never have guessed. As local, I didn't know what some of dark and interesting story about Stanley's park. I am interested try out other tour. I have great time with our tour guide Glenn with two n.

Amazing evening with Stuart on the Lost Souls of Gastown, Vancouver, walking tour. He was friendly, great in character and informative. Definitely worth signing up for his tour!!

I attended the Lost Souls Forbidden tour during the Vancouver Tourism Passport event and thoroughly enjoyed it! It was so interesting to learn about the history of Gastown and retrace the steps with our host Rowen Jang. The host was so in character it truly felt like I was one of the local citizens dating back in the Victorian era. Highly recommend to those who are curious about the Gastown history or even those who enjoy taking a stroll around the area!

When we arrived in Vancouver I set us up to join the Forbidden Vancouver Tour. I like to learn about cities from the people who live there. We met up at Cathedral park and had Rowan as our guide. He was a wonderful story teller, sharing the rich history of his city, as well as his own family history woven through the threads. Like many PNW cities, people first descended on the area as a result of the Gold Rush, and the stories are legendary. I enjoyed walking and the stopping to hear a story. Rowan encouraged participation, so we all had the opportunity to guess, correctly or otherwise, and it was fun as well has funny. There were some thought prevoking elements of the history, from prohibition, opium dens, gender inequality, and racism. All shared with a mix of gravity reality and humor. Not an easy task. I would definitely join another Forbidden your.

We enjoyed our tour with Tim as our guide. Learning about historic Vancouver was a treat and hearing about the back stories about prohibition and Chinatown was fascinating. We found about the tour on Trip Advisor and it is one of the top tours. Definitely worth it if you're in town.

I did the Really Gay History Tour with Glenn and I'm so happy that I did. If you are even just slightly considering this tour, do not hesitate and buy your tickets now! Glenn is not only knowledgeable about LGBTQIA and two-spirited history in Vancouver, he is fervently passionate about it. His storytelling is engaging and entertaining and you will find yourself laughing with him as well as shedding tears with him. This tour was truly a highlight of my time in Vancouver .

Excellent research and story telling! Racheal was great! Highly recommend. Looking forward to try the other tours- lost souls in Gastown is worth it

The tour was great, Samantha was a good story teller, clear voice, enjoyable story.

Sandra/Sarah was an amazing guide, highly recommend this fun tour. Learned a lot about this historic area.

Fantastic tour, our guide, Emmett Hamly was engaging and very immersed in his character. it made the tour quite enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone in Vancouver!

REALLY good tour! Nevada was our tour guide she was very knowledgeable about the city history! Definitely do it again!

Went on the Lost Souls of Gastown tour with Alison: amazing performer, great singer (!), and a fabulous story. This particular tour was done in character as someone from the period, with historical fiction interspersed with ripped-from-the-headlines stories. A fun early evening activity, and great for near Halloween: trips down back alleys and historical stories that haunt you a bit.

Speakeasies, behind hidden doors with no signage, are a "thing" these days but did you ever stop to wonder their origin? Hell no. You just wanted a a drink. Forbidden Vancouver leads a little 2-hour "Prohibition City" walking tour that sprinkles just the right amount of historical facts (about the city, the colorful folks who shaped it, and booze) into a gentle stroll through some of the older and seedier (though by no means the seediest) parts of Vancouver. The tour is led by an actor, playing a part but saying that makes it sound cheesy and it's not. It's interesting, informative, and above all, amusing and fun. Our tour group, of about 16 people (1/2 locals), were smiling throughout. The tour provides the right amount of facts, woven into an interesting and engaging story and involves the group in a way that rewards paying attention. And, importantly, the tour ends before you grow bored or tired of standing or listening. It's right in every regard. You can advance book Forbidden Vancouver tours online for $22 Canadian (less for seniors and students). You can also take your chances and book on tour day; Vancouver's Tickets Tonight site was selling same day tickets for 1/2 price while I was there (which is a steal). That the tour ends in Gastown, where you'll likely feel ready to throw back a double in honor of those who drank before you, is fitting. Forbidden Vancouver also offers another well regarded tour, The Lost Souls of Gastown. It says a lot that I'd consider taking this tour on a future trip.

We did the "Prohibition City" walking tour and loved it. I pride myself on knowing Vancouver history, and have even won some photo contests with pictures of the very buildings explored on this tour,.. but clearly I didn't now as much as I thought. The first few stops highlighted beautiful buildings I've probably walked by all my life,.. and never noticed. Also,.. prohibition is something that happened in the US and made Canadians a ton of money by selling them booze, right? Wrong, we had out own right here in BC,... who knew?! Our guide was the owner of the tour company and he truly has crafted something special here. He stays in character for the duration and makes it quite interactive by making you be an old time Vancouver reporter (but not in an uncomfy way). It was light, and fun, and Will was an excellent presenter with a passion for the city. Will told us that he was a former employee of a major accounting firm and then made a life choice to start this company and take acting lessons (something I didn't have the guts to do when faced with the same choice),.. that alone makes this awesome, but it is awesome all on its own regardless. I do think this particular tour was probably best enjoyed more by locals than if you came from another city and didn't know anything about Vancouver at all.

We went to the PENTHOUSE last night for the tour and dinner. We really enjoyed ourselves and the meal at the end was excellent. Thank you to Danny for opening up his 'family home' to us. The 3 hosts were very entertaining. We would certainly recommend this tour and found it to be good value. We will do the Gastown one next! Cathy & Randy

Unexpected highlight of our Vancouver visit, and merits one of my rare 5-stars. Much better than a similar walking tour I had taken in a different large city. My wife and I did the Prohibition City tour. There were a total of 14 people in the group, from around the world. Our guide, Amman, was brilliant, knowledgeable, and seemed to really enjoy his work. He kept us engaged for the entire time of the almost 2 hour tour. He played his role and us well, making us feel as if our comments were original and truly valuable. His use of large glossy black and white photos of key historic personalities and early street scenes added to the atmosphere. We learned much, including about the saloon culture, the two tallest (in their time) buildings in the British Empire, and the 1970's era riot related to marijuana. Highly recommended.

We were a small group that gathered outside the Vancouver Aquarium as we got to meet and greet Roxanne, a knowledgable historian from the great state of Minnesota! Living in Canada she really got to know the place and took us on a nature walk of sorts through Stanley Park, telling tales of the original First Nations peoples, and how they got a bum deal from the Europeans. I liked how she pulled out a photo from her bag to further emphasize her tale. I got to wondering how much stuff she got on there! Liked the walk, quite refreshing on a nippy November day in Vancouver before the rains came. Great views, interesting history such as the 9:00 firing of a cannon, the history of the bridge connecting West Vancouver and how it almost didn't happen, and my friend asking her questions about flora and fauna (which surprised myself and the tour guide a bit, I'd wager!). Great tour, would do it again. Thanks Roxanne and the company that puts these tours together.

This was an excellent tour! We went with Ammon and he had so much deep information and pictures about the forbidden history of Vancouver and told stories in such an engaging manner that by The. End of the tour I felt like a local. This was way better than the usual tour guide talking about dull facts. Interesting and enlightening highly recommended. Let's tourists connect deeply with the historic underbelly of the City! Loved this tour!!!

8/14/17 My wife and I did the Prohibition walking tour of forbidden Vancouver with Glenn Tkach and had a wonderful time. While he imparted a lot of information in a short period time the presentation never seemed forced or memorized. He made us feel very comfortable, charmed and entertained throughout the tour. As a rule I love tours and have done many in my travels and this is right at the top of the list.

the amount of historical research and effort to craft the script is beyond the scope of a simple touristic tour. Hiring a professional performer who knows the area history and actually loves what she is doing was walking the extra mile. I am grateful for your hard work. It as really a s special event that i will always remember. And thanks for the recommendations and the free booklet

This was absolutely one of the best tours I have been on. You will not regret going. I attended The Lost Souls of Gastown by Janet. She was captivating and a great storyteller as she told the history of Vancouver. We ended up in Gastown with some food recommendations. They mentioned they are a new company hence the few reviews.

Looking for a different way to learn more about Vancouver's history? My wife and I had a great time in the Lost Souls of Gastown tour. It definitely took us out of the beaten path and opened our eyes to some interesting facts about the city and its past. We had the pleasure of being guided by Will Woods, the founder of Forbidden Vancouver, who definitely put his heart and soul into the whole tour. The mix of facts and fiction definitely makes it all more captivating, even on colder nights, and we had our eyes and ears wide open all the way until the end! If you are the tipping type, don't forget to bring some cash. ;)

I went on the Gastown tour and Forbidden tour. Rowen and Tracy were my guides. Both were knowledgeable and passionate about what they do. It was the perfect mix of education, kitsch, humor, theatrics, and gore. I love dark history so these tours were a must for me and the time flew by. I learned a lot from both of them, and now have a more detailed description of small pox which I will go on and share with friends lol. I work part time as an agent and will recommend them anytime I do an Alaska booking or Canadian Rockies one (contact me!). I only wish I would have been able to have done the Stanley Park tour but the line at customs was much longer than anticipated so I sadly missed it. 100% recommend and would easily do other tours offered by them.

I recently took the brand new "Art Deco and Chocolate Tasting Tour" with an amazing storyteller, Tim Everett. I live in Vancouver and have been here for almost 30 years - and there were so many cool details of many of the city's iconic buildings that I didn't know about and never really took the time to stop and examine before. This tour was a lot of fun and Tim really stepped up to the plate in delivering the stories - along with some pictures to help and a wee bit of acting. Well done, Forbidden Vancouver! I will go on more tours for sure.

Tim was a great guide for the Forbidden Vancouver Tour. He was entertaining and really seemed to enjoy his work. We highly recommend it. Go early in your stay for a good intro to the city. If staying in Yaletown or nearby, it is very walkable. Avoid the traffic and parking if possible.

I attended the Forbidden Vancouver Tour as part of a birthday gift and it was an absolute treat! Our guide for the evening was Aman Johal and he had us captivated from start to finish. I felt incredibly safe despite walking around Vancouver including some alleyways on a dark and rainy night. Aman is a great story teller and had all the answers to the questions we had along the way. Although he had mentioned if he didn't know the answers he would be happy to take it away and find out. He clearly loves delving into and sharing the city's very interesting history. I would 100% recommend this tour and am looking forward to trying some of the others too.

Erikks was our tour guide and she really brought the stories to life. She never broke character during the tour and she was open to all questions.

First time visiting Vancouver. Beautiful city and parks. We decided to try the Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tour. The previous night we walked around Gastown and admired the architecture of the older buildings. Our tour was lead/narrated by a very well versed guide named Aman. He was very informative and his delivery was excellent. His comedic timing and choice of phrasing was spot on. I learned things I didn't know I wanted to learn. A very colorful city history told by a very colorful tour guide. Thanks Aman. P.S. - To Aman's wife, he did mention he loves you very much, even though he forget to put you in his bio.

My boyfriend and I saw a group of people walking around with a guide all dressed in Victorian era outfit, and thought it would be something fun and different for us to do. I wanted to go on the tour as a gift for my boyfriend but unfortunately the group tour was unavailable until March. Thankfully Forbidden Vancouver offered a private tour, and although it was a very last minute request, Will (the founder of the company) was so accommodating and arranged a tour for us right away. My boyfriend and I have been living in Vancouver for 10+ years, but we learned so much about the city from Will. Will was informative and fun, and he gave us a truly memorable experience, as he promised on his bio! Thank you so much for a great time guys :)

I've gone on lots of these tours and they always ask at then end to give them 5-star reviews which my opinion skews what should be the actual average. This tour had a bit more walking, more lecture, and less interesting sightseeing than comparable tours I've done in other cities. We enjoyed it, but most the places we stopped were unremarkable and the lecture time at each stop was a tad too long. I'd recommend it as an economical way to get a feel for a good part of the city and stretch your legs while learning a thing or two, but manage your expectations beyond that unless you are a big history buff.

Despite the rain really enjoyed Theo's enthusiastic and knowledgeable Forbidden Vancouver tour. He was glad to answer questions ranging far and wide and left me with more I want to learn. Recommended.

My wife and I saw the Penthouse Tour as we had a great experience with Forbidden Vancouver before. This one however was not what we expected from what was advertised. We thought it would be a tour full of crimes and mysteries (possibly paranormal as it was near Halloween) of the Penthouse (similar to the Lost Souls of Gastown - which was great). As it turned out, it was tour that essentially promoted the current owner's new book and the his family that owns the establishment. Felt the marketing was misleading and falsely advertised. The stories of "revelry, crime and sin" were greatly exaggerated. Due to this we did not feel it was worth the money as we paid $60 per person! It included a spaghetti dinner, but did not make up for it. As a final note, much of the references were way too old for us to appreciate. Does not feel relevant for people under 30 unless you are a great Vancity History buff.

A wonderful story and walk around a colourful part of Vancouver. History and entertainment! Allison was very entertaining!

We had tons of fun learning about Vancouver on the Historic walk with Will. He was so captivating and entertaining that we didn't even mind the rain :) I highly recommend going on one of their tours with friends or colleagues. Thanks for being a great tour guide, Will!!

We did the Lost Souls of Gastown tour with Rowan. It was a Friday evening and the weather was great. Expect some foot traffic on Water St., but nothing too crazy. Rowan did a wonderful job with his character. We actually learned quite a bit. No spoilers, but Hackman is an ass. We would definitely do more walking tours with them.

I have had nothing but amazingly positive experiences with Forbidden Vancouver. Bestie and I have done three tours with them so far: Lost Souls of Gastown, Prohibition City, and Penthouse. We did Lost Souls of Gastown on Halloween, and even though it was raining we had an amazing time. Our guide, was fun, polite, and definitely built up a great vibe in the group. The tour was absolutely fascinating, filling out my somewhat vague historical knowledge with juicy details, and spine-tingling stories. Will stayed in character for the whole tour, and had everyone's rapt attention throughout. We visited places I've walked by a hundred times and never noticed, and went down dark alleys I definitely wouldn't have been through on my own - that on its own was more than worth the money! The tour was a gentle walk which ended in Gastown, so we were in prime position to continue our Hallowe'en evening - although we were both so impressed we ended up walking in silence for a while, just absorbing all the information, and letting the goosebumps settle down! Prohibition City was much more interactive and light-hearted. At the start of the tour you're handed a notebook and pencil and the guide (in hilarious character) speaks to you as fellow journalists, and asks your name - bestie and I had great fun coming up with something suitably ridiculous, naturally. Ayla? NO! Call me, Sparkle Von Doom! The tour had oodles of great information, and fun questions and quizzes too - bestie even won a prize! Definitely worth it! Penthouse was the least impressive, perhaps because when we went it was lead by one of the owners rather than a Forbidden Vancouver employee. There was less titillating information than expected (understandable seeing as the guy was talking about his family), but it was cool to see the upstairs and some of the historical artefacts, as well as learning a bit about the history of the place (which is fascinating!) We went on one of the first tours so I imagine it'll be tighter now. Seriously, these guys do the best tours! You'll learn, you'll laugh, you'll feel humbled at how little you knew about your city!

I'm a history teacher, so I have pretty high standards for these sort of tours, and I have to say they did quite a good job with the "Lost Souls of Gastown" tour. A few things you should know: * You spend the full 90-minute tour following around one person who's dressed up in period clothing and tours you around historic downtown Vancouver, staying in character for the entire tour. While I thought our actor was quite good, there were a few times where he was a little awkward, almost breaking character or having trouble answering questions. That said, for most of the tour, my friend and I were both quite engrossed. * The character "George" is fictitious, but everything in his life is super-accurate, and every character he describes is a real person. They use photos and other primary sources well to bring the story to life. * You don't have to be a history buff like me to enjoy this; in fact, they really go out of their way to craft an engaging, spicy narrative. Great storytelling. * Without giving any spoilers, just know that there are some "adult" elements (I'd say it's good for 12 and up). Also, the final 2 "scenes" are pretty poignant... All in all, we learned a lot and enjoyed ourselves, too - definitely worth 1.5 hours and $15-20 of your time!