Top Holiday Photo Spots in Vancouver for Beautiful Pictures

If you’re looking for the perfect places to take your holiday photos, here they are!

It’s that time of year when the city sparkles for the holiday season. Christmas may be canceled this year, but you wouldn’t know it to walk around downtown. Within just a few blocks radius there are multiple photo spots for you to snap some great festive pictures.

Vancouver offers many great places for pictures. This year I’ve decided to only focus on outdoor locations for the best holiday photo spots in Vancouver.

Top spots in Vancouver for beautiful holiday pictures

1. Red Christmas Bauble Ornaments

Located at Park Place Tower, these giant red Christmas ornaments make the perfect place for your festive pictures by day or night. If you stand facing South then you will be able to get the picturesque Fairmont Hotel Vancouver in the background of your photos. If, like me, you visit at night then it’s not visible. But the gorgeously lit trees make for an equally nice photograph.

Holiday photo spot red Christmas baubles — I like the look of a sideways shot with me leaning against the bauble, but be warned that they do move a little so be careful if you decide to lean on one as well.

2. Walk-through Christmas Tree

This unique 50-foot Christmas tree is located at Bental Centre, Tower 4. Its unique archway means that you can walk underneath it, capturing super fun photos! This offers you a variety of photography options and not just the standard ‘standing in front of a giant Christmas tree’ look. I love this tree because it’s different.

Holiday photo spot walk-through Xmas tree — First we tried some shots underneath the tree, making it look like I was under a decorated walkway

The bright lights of the tree made this action shot slightly blurry, but I still like the way it turned out. For an iPhone shot, it’s not bad!

3. Grouse Mountain Light Walk

While the annual Peak of Christmas event isn’t in full swing, there are still lots of things happening at Grouse Mountain this holiday season. The light walk is a gorgeous stroll through the snow and trees. It begins at the ice skating rink and is marked by the light tunnel seen below. It was snowing the night I went, making it even more beautiful. I wore winter boots, but you can rent snowshoes if you prefer.

Holiday photo spot Grouse Mountain light walk — I love the look of a winter hat and fur collar against the white snow and sparkling lights.

4. Walk-through Christmas Ornament

This annual photo-op is one of the more popular ones in Vancouver. Located by Nordstrom’s and right beside the Canada Line skytrain station it is a convenient stop for many. If you happen to be there with your plus-one, there is mistletoe handing inside it for that Christmas kiss. I have seen photos of people standing inside it, with the entire ornament visible, but because you can walk all the way through, you can also take ones from the inside. This makes it look like you are inside a fully-lit ornament. Very cool!

Holiday photo spot walk-through ornament — The stunning walk-through Christmas oranment with mistletoe

5. Giant Christmas Tree

The epitome of large trees, this year’s Christmas tree is 76 feet tall. Located at the Art Gallery Plaza, no list of holiday photo spots in Vancouver would be complete without this one. For the best pictures, stand with the Art Gallery behind you. This way you are able to also capture the three mini trees and lights in the windows at Hotel Georgia.

Holiday photo spot large Xmas tree — I love this collection of brightly-lit trees, and the green lights inside the windows of Hotel Georgia in the shape of a tree as well.

6. Capilano Suspension Bridge

As mentioned in my post Awesome Winter Adventures in Vancouver, the Canyon Lights are stunning, and therefore a must-see. While they have limited hours this year, running from 11 am – 6 pm, there is still ample time to get your evening pictures. With the sun setting around 4 pm you could time it to be there for both daytime and evening pictures, which would be ideal. We arrived at 5 pm and had an hour and a half to walk the entire park and take pictures of everything with the night lights on.

Holiday photo spot Capilano suspension bridge — The brightly-lit treetop walk was my favourite attraction

And there you have it, my top 6 holiday photo spots in Vancouver. I didn’t mention the Miracle Christmas pop-up bar since I’m not sure if it’ll be back next year, but if it is, I recommend it as well. Which one is your favourite? I’d love to know if you visited any of these, or if you have another fave. Share in the comments below!

If you’ve found this post and it’s not the holiday season, never fear, check out the best Instagrammable spots in Vancouver that are year-round.