The Vancouver Lookout at the Harbour Centre Tower is impossible to miss. It's the not only the tallest building in Vancouver, but in all of British Columbia. It stands at 581 feet and offers breathtaking 360-degree views of Vancouver and the North Shore.

When you first walk into the building, there's an elevator that takes you to the top deck observatory. It is a glass elevator that goes up the side of the building so you can see the ascent. Once at the top deck, you'll walk into a room with 360-degree windows. There is a tour that operates once you get to the top, and it is very informative and helpful, but for those who choose not to take the tour, there are information placards everywhere filled with facts on what you see out the particular window you're looking through. For those who want to sip on a cappuccino while looking out over the city, there's even a cafe on the floor serving a variety of drinks and snacks.

Harbour Centre, on the ground level, consists of a food court and Simon Fraser University and, towards the top, a rotating restaurant (closed 3 to 5pm) and observation deck.

There's no admission to go to the restaurant, or else viewing times and admission rates are $10 for adult and hours vary for the season, the shortest times being 9am to 9pm during the winter. There are discounts available from free tourist guides. The admission is good for the day, so you may come back again to view the skyline at twilight. Come here on a clear day if your stay is long enough so that you may take full advantage of the view, as the cashier Vincent suggested. Take a quick 40-second glass elevator ride up to the top for a 360-degree view of the city, and a cafe is there for drinks and snacks. Fatport Wi-fi is available.

Phone: (604) 689-0421

Top Revolving Restaurant, Phone: (604) 669-2220

Email: info@vancouverlookout.com

Coming from Toronto, the tower was a little bit of a disappointment . . . but it's hard to rival the CN Tower.

The view is nice . . . you can see all of downtown Vancouver (False Creek, Stanley Park, Gastown).

If you want to go back twice, you can see Vancouver by day and by night . . . your ticket will be valid all day. Don't forget to check their website, you might be able to get a discount.

Was it worth the $10? I'll leave it up to you to decide . . . Will I do it again? Probably not.

I didn't wait around for the guided tour, so I may have missed something spectacular, but there are self-guiding panels along the windows at the top; they were interesting enough.

There is a restaurant at the top of the tower, I didn't try it, because I was on a budget, so no comment there.

Overall, it was OK. If you like to see cities from tall buildings, I would recommend it . . . otherwise, pass.

One cool thing is the view of Stanley Park from above. That made it worthwhile for me.

Entrance is through the shopping mall level and the elevator whisks up to the lookout floor. As you might expect the tower gives great views of the city and across the bay to the mountains on a clear day. You can walk full circuit around the viewing floor and there are little information and building identification boards that help you get your bearings in Vancouver. This is actually pretty helpful as there aren’t many landmarks downtown to steer your way by.

Apart from this, it's a tower, go up and visit it if you want a good view of the city.