How do you spend a day on West Vancouver's Marine Drive between Ambleside and Horseshoe Bay?

Which stops line Marine Drive, and what does each one cost?

Stop	Along Marine Drive	On the 250 from Georgia at Richards	Go for	What it costs	The catch
Ambleside	0 km, at 13th Street	20 minutes to Park Royal at weekday middays, then Ambleside's stops	The beach and the seawalk	Pay parking at Ambleside Park all year	The lots fill fast in good weather
Dundarave	About 2.3 km	30 minutes to 25th Street	The pier and a long lunch	The Beach House lunch prix fixe, $36	Some 250 trips end here
Lighthouse Park	Beacon Lane, about 8 km	Trips signed Horseshoe Bay pass the turn-off	Old-growth forest and the Point Atkinson light	Free to walk in; parking $5.08 an hour	The small lot fills on fine days
Horseshoe Bay	About 15 km	54 minutes on trips signed Horseshoe Bay	Fish and chips and the ferries	One piece of cod and chips at Troll's, $22	Troll's closes for good on 31 December 2027
Whytecliff Park	About 2 km on foot past the terminal	Ride to the ferry terminal and walk	Diving and Howe Sound views	Free to enter; parking $5.08 an hour	The District shuts the lots when they fill

Where should the morning start in Ambleside?

Begin at Ambleside Park at the foot of 13th Street, where the sand looks across the water to Stanley Park and the downtown towers. The washrooms beside the concession open every day from 7 am to 10 pm, and the Boat Shed concession serves daily. From the bottom of 18th Street the Centennial Seawalk runs 1.7 km along the shore to Dundarave Park. Dogs walk it on a leash of two metres or less, two to a person, and a fenced path between 19th and 24th streets lets them run. West Van keeps dogs off its beaches all year.

Walk up 15th Street afterwards for Patisserie Le Pont, where Makoto Yamaguchi makes bite-sized eclairs in flavours like houjicha and matcha. It suits anyone who likes French pastry with Japanese tea, and its puff pastry is ready by around 10 am. Check its Instagram before you make a special trip, because the newest dated post we found on its site was from November 2023. Every eclair on its allergen list contains nuts.

On a summer Sunday the Ambleside Farmers Market fills the park from 9 am to 2 pm, and in 2026 it ran from 17 May to 13 September. Winter brings the Gatherwell beach sauna instead, which its operator says opens at Ambleside in mid-December. Bring two towels, because Gatherwell supplies none. On a wet day, walk up 17th Street to the West Vancouver Art Museum, open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm with admission by donation.

Where do you eat in Ambleside and Dundarave?

Book dinner in Ambleside, where two Italian rooms sit a block from the beach, and give Dundarave the long lunch beside its pier.

• Fred's Ambleside on Bellevue Avenue suits an early evening after the seawalk. Its aperitivo hour runs every day from 3 to 5 pm, when pastas drop to $15 and a glass of house wine costs $8, and walk-ins are welcome. The sandwich list stops at 3 pm, so a lunch visit has to land before then.
• Carmelo's at 1448 Marine Drive suits a relaxed family dinner. Its wood-fired pizzas run from the $22 margherita to the $26 funghi, and dinner runs every night from 5 to 9 pm. Until 29 October 2026 the pizza station shuts on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so pick another night if pizza is why you came.
• The Beach House at the foot of 25th Street fills a building that went up in 1912, right beside Dundarave Pier. The prix fixe costs $36 at lunch and $60 at dinner, and oysters cost $3.50 each on Tuesdays. Tables for four or fewer get a two-hour seating, and a group of five or more books by phone on 604-922-1414.
• Temper Chocolate & Pastry at 2409 Marine Drive sits right on the road, which makes it the coffee stop for cyclists. A butter croissant costs $4.95 and the kouign amann $3.95 on its 2026 menu. It shuts at 5 pm and all day on Mondays.

If the evening runs late, Cactus Club Cafe Park Royal in the Village at Park Royal stays open to 11 pm from Sunday to Thursday and to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Its happy hour runs from 2 to 5 pm and again from 9 pm to close.

When is Lighthouse Park worth getting off the bus?

On a winter weekday morning, when the lot has room. The Dominion government set aside 185 acres of forest behind the light station in 1881, and the District now counts about 75 hectares and calls the forest one of the remaining old-growth stands in the Lower Mainland. The trails are short, and some are rough enough that the District asks for good walking shoes or boots. Use the portable toilets in the lot before you set off, since there are none on the trails.

Contractor W.H. Rourke built the present Point Atkinson tower in 1912 from reinforced concrete. It rises 18.3 metres on six sides, and Parks Canada lists it as a national historic site. The light station grounds stay closed to the public, so follow the trail map to the viewpoint that looks across to the tower. The park opens from 7 am to 10 pm, and its pay parking runs over the same hours. Dogs may run off leash on the trails except Birdsong Path. On the 250, only the trips signed Horseshoe Bay pass the Beacon Lane turn-off.

What waits at the end of the road in Horseshoe Bay?

Lunch and a ferry. Troll's Restaurant at 6408 Bay Street has fried fish since Joe and Dorothy Troll opened it in 1946, and it suits anyone with an hour before a sailing. One piece of cod and chips costs $22 on the 2026 menu and two pieces of halibut $45, and breakfast starts at 8 am. The Troll family closes the restaurant on 31 December 2027, when its lease ends, and West Vancouver council approved a hotel for the corner in 2026. Phone 604-921-7755 before an evening visit, because closing time follows the foot traffic.

Sewell's Marina across the street has worked the bay since Dan Sewell Sr. arrived for the salmon fishing in the 1920s, and its Lookout coffee shop doubles as a tourist information desk. Ferries leave the terminal for Bowen Island, Langdale on the Sunshine Coast and Departure Bay in Nanaimo. Anyone driving onto a Departure Bay sailing has to book and pay ahead, since BC Ferries no longer sells drive-up fares on that route. For an early boat, the Horseshoe Bay Motel on Royal Avenue sits a minute's walk from the terminal, with rooms for two from $168 a night in 2026 before tax.

Walk about 2 km west if you have the afternoon. Whytecliff Park looks over Howe Sound to Whyte Island, and the water off it is a Saltwater Marine Protected Area where divers come for the rockfish and lingcod. The café in the park opens daily from 11 am to 7 pm. Dogs may run off leash in the part of the park east of Marine Drive.

How do you get home from Horseshoe Bay?

Take the 257 express, which reaches downtown by the highway in 39 minutes at weekday middays. On the timetable effective 7 September 2026 the last 257 leaves the terminal at 12:20 am on weeknights, 11:20 pm on Saturdays and 11:30 pm on Sundays. BC Ferries warns that transit may not be running when a late sailing lands, and a taxi stand waits at the terminal.

Cyclists can ride the Marine Drive route out and back, about 15 km each way by our measurement, sharing the road with cars and the 250. Each bus carries two bikes on its front rack. An e-bike goes on the rack only if it weighs under 25 kg and you take the battery aboard with you, by TransLink's rules.

West Van bans open fires and beach fires all year, and charcoal barbecues in its parks and on its beaches. Pack picnic food away in the parks, because BC's Wildlife Act makes it an offence to feed or attract dangerous wildlife such as bears and cougars.

Quick answers

How long does the 250 bus take from downtown Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay?

The 250 signed Horseshoe Bay takes 54 minutes from Georgia at Richards to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal at weekday middays, every 30 minutes, on TransLink's timetable effective 7 September 2026. The 257 express takes 39 minutes from Dunsmuir at Cambie by the highway.

How much does parking cost at Lighthouse Park and Whytecliff Park?

West Vancouver charges $5.08 an hour, taxes included, to park at Lighthouse Park and Whytecliff Park from 7 am to 10 pm every day of the year. The District offers no day rate at either park.

How long is the seawalk from Ambleside to Dundarave?

The Centennial Seawalk runs 1.7 km from the bottom of 18th Street in Ambleside to Dundarave Park in West Vancouver. Leashed dogs may walk it on a lead of two metres or less.

When does Troll's in Horseshoe Bay close?

Troll's Restaurant in Horseshoe Bay closes for good on 31 December 2027, when its lease ends. Until then it opens daily from 8 am to 7 pm.