Walking Car-Free Whistler Village: The Village Stroll, Olympic Plaza & Upper Village

Designed in the late 1970s by landscape architect Eldon Beck so that pedestrians would never have to cross a street of car traffic, Whistler Village is built around a winding, 1.8-kilometre stone-paved pedestrian spine called the Village Stroll. Cars are routed around the outer perimeter road and into underground car parks beneath the hotels, while street level is a continuous car-free boulevard of timber chalets, fire-pit patios and public squares.

1. Walking the Main 'Village Stroll' from South to North (30 Mins Flat)

1. Skier's Plaza (Mountain Square, Gondola Base): start at the southern foot of the mountain where the Whistler Village Gondola, Fitzsimmons Express and Excalibur Gondola meet. In winter, skiers glide to the heated patios of the Garibaldi Lift Co. (GLC) and Longhorn Saloon; in summer, mountain bikers roll off the trails of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park right beside your coffee table.
2. Village Square & Village Common: follow the flagstone Village Stroll north past alpine outfitters, chocolate shops (Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory) and pubs into Village Square, passing under the pedestrian bridge over Village Gate Boulevard into Village North (Marketplace) for Purebread Bakery, Fresh St. Market grocery store and the BC Liquor Store.
3. Whistler Olympic Plaza & The 2010 Olympic Rings: at the northern end of the Stroll opens Whistler Olympic Plaza, built as the Medals Plaza for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Take your photo in front of the white Olympic Rings and Paralympic Agitos framed by Blackcomb Mountain, let children play in the timber playground, and catch a free outdoor concert by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra or touring bands on the Great Lawn on summer weekend evenings (from late November to March, the plaza freezes into an outdoor ice-skating rink with low-cost skate hire).

2. Crossing Fitzsimmons Creek to the Upper Village (Blackcomb Base, 5 Mins' Walk)

From Skier's Plaza or Olympic Plaza, follow the paved path across the covered wooden footbridge over Fitzsimmons Creek (passing the Audain Art Museum) into the Upper Village. Anchored by the Fairmont Chateau Whistler and the Blackcomb Gondola, the Upper Village hosts the Whistler Farmers' Market every Sunday from May to October from late morning to mid-afternoon with over 90 Okanagan fruit growers, distillers and artisans.