This highly popular green-thumbed oasis offers a strollable web of pathways weaving through specialized garden areas: the Rhododendron Walk blazes with color in spring, while the Korean Pavilion is a focal point for a fascinating Asian collection. Don't miss the hedge maze. If you're here from the start of December onwards, you'll also find one of the city's top Christmastime lures, complete with thousands of twinkling fairy lights and shimmering installations strung around the wintering plants.

A tranquil break from bustling Chinatown, this intimate garden reflects Taoist principles of balance and harmony. Entry includes an optional 45-minute guided tour, in which you'll learn about the symbolism behind the placement of the gnarled pine trees, winding covered pathways and ancient limestone formations. The adjacent Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park isn't quite as elaborate as its sister, but this free-entry spot is also a pleasant oasis with whispering grasses, a large fishpond and a small pagoda.

This magnificent 404-hectare park combines excellent attractions with a mystical natural aura. Strolling the nature trails and taking in the delightful rose and rhododendron gardens is like a visual spa treatment fringed by a 150,000-tree temperate rainforest.

The city's highest point, this 52-hectare park claims to house specimens of every tree native to Canada. Sports fields, manicured lawns and formal gardens keep the locals happy, and you'll likely also see wide-eyed couples posing for their wedding photos in particularly picturesque spots. This is a good place to view local birdlife: keep your eyes peeled for chickadees, hummingbirds and huge bald eagles whirling high overhead.

Cresting the hill in Queen Elizabeth Park, this domed conservatory is a delightful rainy-day warm-up. At Vancouver's best-value paid attraction, you'll find tropical trees and plants bristling with hundreds of free-flying, bright-plumaged birds. Listen for the noisy resident parrots but also keep your eyes peeled for rainbow-hued Gouldian finches, shimmering African superb starlings and maybe even a dramatic Lady Amherst pheasant, snaking through the undergrowth.

A former disused urban rail line that's in the process of being transformed by the city into a cool linear park, this 8.5km-long flora-fringed walking and cycling route is already paved and open to the public. Running south to the Fraser River, it's a popular and accessible nature-hugging weave where you can expect to spot birdlife, butterflies and lots of wildflowers. There are Mobi public-bike share stations en route if you fancy hopping in the saddle.

You'll find a huge array of rhododendrons, a fascinating apothecary plot, and a winter green space of off-season bloomers in this 28-hectare complex of themed gardens. Save time for the attraction's Greenheart TreeWalk, which elevates visitors up to 23 meters above the forest floor on guided ecotour.

Exemplifying Japanese horticultural philosophies, this is a delightfully tranquil green oasis of peaceful pathways, small traditional bridges and a large, moss-banked pond filled with plump koi carp. It's named after Dr. Inazo Nitobe, a scholar whose mug appears on Japan's ¥5000 bill. Consider a springtime visit for the florid cherry blossom displays and keep your eyes peeled for the occasional turtle basking in the sun.