What a trip to Vancouver costs, worked out for your days and your party, with every price traced to where it comes from. And then the part most budgets skip: how to actually pay once you are there.
Food, getting around and sights in Vancouver come to CA$160–190 per person per day. Accommodation, flights and the airport transfer are on top.Prices reviewed: November 2026.
Days, people and how you like to travel decide almost everything. Flights are left out: they depend on where you start.
You still need, flights aside
CA$2,300–2,700
≈ $1,600 – $1,900 · rate of October 16, 2026
CA$160–190 per person per day · 7 days and 2 people
Expected
CA$2,300–2,700
Most trips land in here
Set aside
CA$2,700
With this you are unlikely to run short
Cushion, kept apart
CA$250
10% of the trip
FoodCA$1,400–1,700
Getting aroundCA$200–430
Airport, both waysCA$40–46
Sights and activitiesCA$360
Nights outCA$76–180
Lodging tax and odds and endsCA$96–120
Of that, in cash: CA$27–290
The cash share is our reading of how each kind of place takes payment, not a measurement. Your own bank may charge on top; this page cannot know that.
Accommodation is not in this figure. Add your price per night to include it.
Flights are not included.
You probably will not spend the cushion. Having it to hand covers a night you had not planned, a taxi, or a changed ticket.
Styles
What a day in Vancouver costs, by how you travel
Per person per day, two travelling, without accommodation, flights or the airport transfer. A style is not a figure: it is a way of eating, getting around and seeing things, and each one is spelled out below.
Budget
CA$120–150 per person per day
Local food, public transport, the odd paid sight.
FoodLocal and cheap
CA$85–100
Getting aroundPublic transport
CA$14–31
Sights and activitiesThe odd paid sight
CA$13
Sundries: luggage storage, laundry, water
CA$5.60–7.20
Mid-range
CA$160–190 per person per day
Set meals and the odd sit-down dinner, and one paid sight a day.
FoodMixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner
CA$96–120
Getting aroundPublic transport
CA$14–31
Sights and activitiesOne paid sight a day
CA$26
Nights outNow and then
CA$5.40–13.00
Sundries: luggage storage, laundry, water
CA$6.80–8.80
Comfort
CA$210–240 per person per day
The best food level we can price, a taxi when it helps, two paid sights a day.
FoodRestaurants most of the time
CA$120–140
Getting aroundPublic transport, and a taxi now and then
CA$17–34
Sights and activitiesTwo paid sights a day
CA$52
Nights outNow and then
CA$5.40–13.00
Sundries: luggage storage, laundry, water
CA$9.40–11.00
A style's total is not the sum of the extremes of its lines: nobody has a trip where everything comes out cheap, or everything dear. “Sundries” is an assumption of ours, 5% of food, transport and sights, not a measurement.
By length of trip
How much money for 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 days in Vancouver
Per person, two travelling together, without accommodation or flights. It is not the daily figure times the days: airport transfers are paid once, so they weigh less the longer you stay.
Days
Budget
Mid-range
Comfort
3
CA$390–460 CA$130–150 a day
CA$500–590 CA$170–200 a day
CA$670–760 CA$220–250 a day
5
CA$630–750 CA$130–150 a day
CA$800–950 CA$160–190 a day
CA$1,100–1,200 CA$220–250 a day
7
CA$880–1,000 CA$130–150 a day
CA$1,100–1,300 CA$160–190 a day
CA$1,500–1,700 CA$220–250 a day
10
CA$1,200–1,500 CA$120–150 a day
CA$1,600–1,900 CA$160–190 a day
CA$2,200–2,500 CA$220–250 a day
14
CA$1,700–2,100 CA$120–150 a day
CA$2,200–2,700 CA$160–190 a day
CA$3,000–3,400 CA$220–250 a day
Add your accommodation in the calculator above: it is the largest line and the one we cannot source yet.
Prices
What things cost in Vancouver
Eating and drinking: no official statistic measures what eating out costs here, so these are prices from the menu each place publishes on its own website, and each row says where it comes from. It is a sample, not an average: there are cheaper and dearer places, and tourist areas cost more.
What
Price
Source
Eating and drinking
Coffee, Sophie's Cosmic Café
CA$4.15
From the sourceNov 2026
Breakfast: two eggs any style, Sophie's Cosmic Café
CA$19.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Classic breakfast: two eggs and one meat, Sophie's Cosmic Café
CA$20.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Beef burger, Sophie's Cosmic Café
CA$22.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Cheeseburger with fries or greens, Yaletown Brewing
CA$25.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Chop House Burger, Joe Fortes
CA$28.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Weekday lunch plate of the day, Joe Fortes
CA$19.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Cod fish and chips, Yaletown Brewing
CA$30.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Ling cod fish and chips, Joe Fortes
CA$32.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Wild salmon with jasmine rice, Yaletown Brewing
CA$35.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Draught beer, 16 oz, Sophie's Cosmic Café
CA$7.50
From the sourceNov 2026
House beer, 16 oz, Yaletown Brewing
CA$9.50
From the sourceNov 2026
Glass of wine, 6 oz, Sophie's Cosmic Café
CA$11.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Glass of merlot, 6 oz, Yaletown Brewing
CA$12.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Getting around
TransLink, one zone, contactless (on buses at any time; on the whole network evenings and weekends)
CA$3.50
From the sourceNov 2026
TransLink, two zones, contactless (weekday daytime)
CA$5.10
From the sourceNov 2026
TransLink day pass, all zones
CA$12.55
From the sourceNov 2026
Taxi, 4 km by day, not counting waiting time
CA$12.37
From the sourceNov 2026
Canada Line train, airport to the city centre: one- or two-zone fare plus the $6.50 airport AddFare (evenings and weekends – weekday daytime)
CA$10.00–11.60
From the sourceNov 2026
Taxi, airport to the city centre (Canada Place), flat fare per car, GST included
CA$42.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Sights
Museum of Anthropology at UBC, adult
CA$26.00
From the sourceNov 2026
Menu prices here exclude tax and tip: the budget adds the 5% sales tax to everything, plus a 12%–18% tip on what you eat or drink sitting down, the range the tourism office gives. The tip is a custom, not a measured price. Alcoholic drinks are taxed at 15% instead.
From the source means we read it where it is set: the operator, the bank, the city or the statistics office. Reported means a guide or the press says so and we have not seen the original. Where sources disagree we show both figures and leave the price out of every sum.
What each food level is made of
A food level is not a number we chose. It is two lists of dishes from the table above, a cheap day and a dear one, and the price is the sum.
Local and cheap
From Breakfast: two eggs any style, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Coffee, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Weekday lunch plate of the day, Joe Fortes + Beef burger, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Draught beer, 16 oz, Sophie's Cosmic Café (CA$71.65 on the menu; CA$84.58 with tax and tip) to Classic breakfast: two eggs and one meat, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Coffee, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Beef burger, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Cheeseburger with fries or greens, Yaletown Brewing + House beer, 16 oz, Yaletown Brewing (CA$80.65 on the menu; CA$100 with tax and tip).
Mixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner
From Breakfast: two eggs any style, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Coffee, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Weekday lunch plate of the day, Joe Fortes + Cod fish and chips, Yaletown Brewing + House beer, 16 oz, Yaletown Brewing (CA$81.65 on the menu; CA$96.48 with tax and tip) to Classic breakfast: two eggs and one meat, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Coffee, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Chop House Burger, Joe Fortes + Wild salmon with jasmine rice, Yaletown Brewing + House beer, 16 oz, Yaletown Brewing (CA$96.65 on the menu; CA$120 with tax and tip).
Restaurants most of the time
From Classic breakfast: two eggs and one meat, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Coffee, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Cod fish and chips, Yaletown Brewing + Wild salmon with jasmine rice, Yaletown Brewing + Glass of merlot, 6 oz, Yaletown Brewing (CA$101 on the menu; CA$120 with tax and tip) to Classic breakfast: two eggs and one meat, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Coffee, Sophie's Cosmic Café + Ling cod fish and chips, Joe Fortes + Wild salmon with jasmine rice, Yaletown Brewing + Glass of merlot, 6 oz, Yaletown Brewing × 2 (CA$115 on the menu; CA$144 with tax and tip).
Getting around
Which ticket pays off
A pass is only cheaper past a certain number of rides. This is that number, worked out from the published fares.
1-day pass at CA$12.55: it pays off from 4 rides a day at CA$3.50 each.
A pass only counts on the lines it covers. Check which ones before you buy.
Accommodation
What the night costs, and the tax on top
There is no open source of hotel prices, and we have not sampled this city yet. So the calculator asks you for the price you have seen instead of printing one that looks plausible.
Each line is a subtraction done with the prices on this page. No tricks: just the sum.
What saves
Eating “Mixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner” instead of “Restaurants most of the time”: CA$23–24 less per person per day.
Eating “Local and cheap” instead of “Mixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner”: CA$12–20 less per person per day.
“Beef burger, Sophie's Cosmic Café” (CA$22.00) instead of “Chop House Burger, Joe Fortes” (CA$28.00): CA$6.00 less each time.
“Draught beer, 16 oz, Sophie's Cosmic Café” (CA$7.50) instead of “House beer, 16 oz, Yaletown Brewing” (CA$9.50): CA$2.00 less each time.
What does not
The 1-day pass (CA$12.55) on fewer than 4 rides of CA$3.50 a day: it costs more than paying for each ticket.
Paying
Payments and tipping in Canada
What holds for the whole country: where a card is enough, where to change money, and whether to tip.
Where a card is enough
Only the places a source speaks about. Where it says nothing, neither do we.
Where
How you pay
Small shops
Card From the source
In 2025, 90% of consumer spending in the country was not paid in cash.
From the source means we read it where it is set: the operator, the bank, the city or the statistics office. Reported means a guide or the press says so and we have not seen the original. Where sources disagree we show both figures and leave the price out of every sum.
Where to change money
The cheapest route is usually an ATM and a card that does not charge for converting; whether yours does is up to your bank. These are the places that change cash.
Airports
Tipping
Restaurants
Customary
If something goes wrong
The numbers and where to go, as the official source publishes them.
How much money do you need for a week in Vancouver?
For seven days, CA$1,100–1,300 per person on the “Mid-range” style with two travelling. Accommodation and flights are not included. The airport transfer, there and back, is included.
How much money do you need for 3 days in Vancouver?
For 3 days, CA$500–590 per person on the “Mid-range” style with two travelling. Accommodation and flights are not included. The airport transfer, there and back, is included.
What is a realistic daily budget in Vancouver?
Per person per day, without accommodation or flights: CA$120–150 on the “Budget” style, CA$160–190 on the “Mid-range” style, and CA$210–240 on the “Comfort” style.
Can you travel to Vancouver on a budget?
The cheapest style we work out is “Budget”: CA$120–150 per person per day, without accommodation or flights. Local food, public transport, the odd paid sight.
How much does food cost in Vancouver?
From CA$85 per person per day (“Local and cheap”) to CA$140 (“Restaurants most of the time”). The price table has what each dish costs.
How much does transport cost in Vancouver?
A ride on public transport costs CA$3.50–5.10. “Taxi, 4 km by day, not counting waiting time”: CA$12.37. The 1-day pass costs CA$12.55 and pays off from 4 rides a day at CA$3.50 each.
Is there a lodging tax in Vancouver?
Yes: 19.175% of the room price.
How much cash should you carry in Vancouver?
For a week on the “Mid-range” style, about CA$14–150 per person, two travelling. It is our reading of how each kind of place takes payment, not a measurement.
Is it better to use cash or card in Vancouver?
By card: small shops.
Do you tip in Vancouver?
Restaurants: customary.
Sources
Where every figure comes from
Each price on this page carries its source. These are all of them. Prices reviewed: November 2026.
This page tells you how much to take. The app keeps count of what you spend.
Joru works out the budget of your itinerary day by day and sets it against what you actually spend, by category and with the exchange rate. On your phone, with no account.
