For the most part Vancouver is a pretty safe city. The downtown area and tourist areas are generally quite safe, but like most cities there are always spots to avoid. Below is a list of safe, not so safe tourist sights.

Safe

• Stanley Park (parking lot car break-ins, don’t leave bags out in open)
• Canada Place
• Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Center
• Sunset Beach
• Chinatown
• Gastown
• Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden
• BC Place
• Yaletown
• Granville Island
• Robson & Burrard Street shopping
• Pacific Centre Mall

Not Safe

• Main St. & E. Hastings street (homeless, drug addicts, addiction center, mental illness center)
• Avoid the city of Surrey (most dangerous city in the Greater Vancouver Area) , if you are heading outside of Vancouver (gangs, violent crimes, robbery, shootings).

Like most metropolitan cities in the world there are homeless people that pan for money from people on the street, also there is purse snatchers…according to Vancouver police this happens 2-3 times a week, so hold or hide them purses.

Practice common sense safety precautions like look out for suspicious group of men (gangs), put your purse or wallet not accessible by pick-pockets and purse snatchers. Keep belongings in car hidden.

Make sure you know your driving route before putting car in gear, you don’t want to pull over somewhere where you can be robbed on the street (Surrey, BC). Go to gas station / restaurant or place of business if you need directions.