If you don't have the time to arrange your own sightseeing tour, let the experts take you around Vancouver. They will escort you in a bus, trolley, double-decker bus, seaplane, helicopter, boat, ferry, taxi, vintage car, or horse-driven carriage. Please note that the 6% General Services Tax (GST) may be applied to the tour prices listed below.

Air Tours

Baxter Aviation Adventure Tours (1075 West Waterfront; tel. 800/661-5599 or 604/683-6525), operates daily floatplane flights from its downtown Vancouver terminal next to Canada Place cruise-ship terminal. Floatplanes are single-prop, six-seater planes that take off and land on water. The 20-minute "Vancouver Scenic" tour (C$95/US$81/£43 per person) flies over Stanley Park and all around the metro region, giving you an unparalleled bird's-eye view of the magnificent terrain; the 5-hour "Whistler Mountain Resort" tour (C$379/US$322/£171 per person for groups of four) includes a 3-hour stopover. Other tours will take you to Victoria, glacial lakes, and prime fly-fishing and whale-watching spots. The 6-hour "Victoria and Butchart Gardens" tour (C$419/US$346/£189 per person for a group of four) flies you across the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island, where you have a 4-hour stopover.

Harbour Air (tel. 800/665-0212 or 604/274-1277) is on Coal Harbour just west of the Canada Place Pier. Thirty-minute seaplane flights over downtown Vancouver, Stanley Park, and the North Shore are C$99 (US$84/£45) per person. Longer tours to alpine lakes, glaciers, and nearby islands, as well as regularly scheduled flights to Victoria, Nanaimo, and Prince Rupert, are also available.

From April through September, Helijet Charters (tel. 800/987-4354 or 604/270-1484), offers a variety of daily tours that depart from their terminal next to Canada Place and their helipad on top of Grouse Mountain. The "Coastal Scenic Tour" is a 20-minute tour of the city, Stanley Park, and North Shore mountains for C$159 (US$135/£72) per person.

Boat Tours

Harbour Cruises, Harbour Ferries, no. 1, north foot of Denman Street (tel. 604/688-7246), will take you on a 2 1/2-hour Sunset Dinner Cruise, including a buffet meal and onboard entertainment; cost for adults, seniors, and students is C$70 (US$59/£32), C$60 (US$51/£27) for children 2 to 11. The cruise leaves at 7pm May through October. The 4-hour Indian Arm Luncheon Cruise (May-Sept) includes a salmon or chicken lunch, with departure at 11am. Cost for adults, seniors, and children is C$62 (US$52/£28).

Harbour Cruises also conducts a 75-minute narrated Harbour Tour aboard the MPV Constitution, an authentic 19th-century stern-wheeler with a smokestack. Tours depart at 11:30am, 1pm, and 2:30pm daily from early May to late September and once a day at 2:30pm mid-April through early May and late September through October (dates vary yearly). Fares are C$25 (US$21/£11) for adults, C$21 (US$18/£10) for seniors and youths 12 to 17, C$10 (US$8/£4.50) for children 5 to 11, and free for children under 5. This tour allows you to see harbor facilities and gets you out onto Burrard Inlet, but the narration, read from a script, is rather dull and unengaging.

Accent Cruises, 1676 Duranleau St. (tel. 800/993-6257 or 604/688-8072), offers a 2 1/2-hour Sunset Cruise departing Granville Island weekends May through October at 5:45pm. Cost for adults is C$60 (US$51/£27) with dinner, C$25 (US$21/£11) for the cruise only.

Paddlewheeler River Adventures, New Westminster Quay, New Westminster (tel. 604/525-4465), operates Fraser River tours from New Westminster aboard the 19th-century vessel SS Native. The company offers a 3-hour Dine and Dance cruise Saturday evenings at 7pm, and a Family Dine and Dance cruise on Sunday at 5pm. Ticket prices are C$30 (US$25/£13) for adults, C$27 (US$23/£13) seniors, C$15 (US$13/£7) for children 6 to 12; food and beverages can be purchased on board. More interesting but not regularly scheduled are lunch cruises and day trips to historic Fort Langley; call or visit the website for dates.

Bus Tours

Gray Line of Vancouver, 255 E. 1st Ave. (tel. 800/667-0882 or 604/879-3363), offers a wide array of tour options. The "Deluxe City Tour" is a 4-hour excursion through Stanley Park, Gastown, Chinatown, Canada Place, Queen Elizabeth Park, Robson Street, Granville Island, Shaughnessy, and English Bay Beach. Offered year-round, the tour is C$62 (US$53/£28) for adults, C$56 (US$48/£26) for seniors and students, and C$42 (US$36/£19) for children 2 to 11. Departing at 8:45am (and 1:30pm in summer), the bus picks you up from downtown hotels approximately 30 minutes before departure. The daily "Mountains and Vistas Tour" takes you up to Grouse Mountain and the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Departing at 1:30pm, it costs C$93 (US$79/£42) for adults, C$84 (US$71/£38) for seniors and students, and C$62 (US$53/£28) for children 6 to 11, including admission and the SkyRide funicular up to Grouse Mountain Resort. Other options are day, overnight, multinight, and helicopter tours of Vancouver, Victoria, and Whistler, and dinner cruises. Gray Line also runs a fleet of double-decker buses on a "hop-on, hop-off" sightseeing loop around the city (C$35/US$30/£16 adults; C$19/US$16/£9 children); buses depart from Canada Place daily between 8:30am and 6pm.

Vancouver Trolley Company, 875 Terminal Ave., Vancouver (tel. 888/451-5581 or 604/801-5515), operates gas-powered trolleys on a route through downtown, Chinatown, the West End, and Stanley Park. Between 9am and 6pm in summer (4:30pm in winter), passengers can get on and off at any of the 23 stops, explore, and catch another scheduled trolley. Onboard, drivers provide detailed commentary. Purchase tickets from the driver for C$33 (US$28/£16) for adults and C$19 (US$16/£9) for children 4 to 12 (or at the Gastown ticket booth at 157 Water St.).

First Nations Tours

The Tsleil-Waututh Nation of North Vancouver offers a number of cultural and ecotours that provide an introduction to both First Nations culture and the stunning Indian Arm fjord. Their company, Takaya Tours, 3093 Ghum-Lye Dr., North Vancouver (tel. 604/940-7410), offers a bevy of outdoor tours such as tours in traditional northwest canoes, plant nature walks, and full moon paddles, at prices running from C$25 to C$140 (US$21-US$119/£12-£63).

Specialty Tours

AAA Horse & Carriage Ltd., Stanley Park (tel. 604/681-5115), carries on a century-old tradition of horse-drawn carriage rides through Stanley Park. Tours depart every 20 minutes mid-March through October from the lower aquarium parking lot on Park Drive near the Georgia Street park entrance. Tours last an hour and cover portions of the park that many locals have never seen. Rates are C$25 (US$21/£11) for adults, C$24 (US$21/£11) for seniors and students, C$15 (US$12/£7) for children 3 to 12.

Playing off Vancouver's growing reputation as a culinary tourism destination, Chef and Chauffeur, 103-4900 Cartier St. (tel. 604/267-1000), has launched several tours of the Fraser Valley, located an hour east of the city. Participants start the day with coffee, fresh orange juice and cinnamon buns while their guide maps out the day's adventures. The tours, in a luxury SUV, visit a variety of wineries, farms, bakeries, and cheese makers. Optional dinner add-ons are available with a choice of remaining in the Fraser Valley or dining back in the city. Day tours range from C$395 to C$695 (US$336-US$591/£178-£313).

Early Motion Tours, 1-1380 Thurlow St. (tel. 604/687-5088), offers private sightseeing tours around Vancouver aboard a restored 1930 Model A Ford Phaeton convertible that holds up to four passengers plus the driver. Reservations are required. Limousine rates apply: C$100 (US$85/£45) per hour for up to four people with a 1-hour minimum. The office is open daily from 7:30am to 8pm.

Walking Tours

Walkabout Historic Vancouver (tel. 604/720-0006) offers 2-hour walking tours through Vancouver and Granville Island historic sites, complete with guides dressed as 19th-century schoolmarms. Tours depart daily at 10am and 2pm February through November, and by request during other months. Tours are wheelchair accessible. The cost is C$25 (US$21/£12) per person.

During the summer months (June-Aug), the Architectural Institute of B.C. (tel. 604/638-8588, ext. 306) offers a number of architectural walking tours of downtown Vancouver neighborhoods, including Chinatown, for only C$5 (US$4/£2.50) per person. The 2-hour tours run Tuesday through Saturday and depart at 1pm from the AIBC Architecture Centre, 440 Cambie St. Call or visit the website for details and to book.

The Vancouver Centennial Police Museum offers an entertaining "Sins of the City" walking tour.

Or, devise your own walking tour with brochures from the Tourism Vancouver Touristinfo Centre at 200 Burrard St..