Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours stages walking tours and special events that celebrate Vancouver history. We tell the stories that don’t make it onto the tour buses, tales of crime, corruption, and sin. As notorious former mayor L.D. Taylor once said…”We’re a port city. This ain’t no Sunday School town!”
Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours has a team of eighteen guides – some of the nicest, most passionate, and most creative people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. Together, we’ve run well over a thousand walking tours, held special events in some of the city’s most famous venues like the Penthouse and the Commodore Ballroom, staged a sold-out Christmas play, and launched sister company Vancouver Mysteries.more...See more text
When Will Woods swapped his brief case for a fedora hat, and his corporate office for a street corner, all to lead a group of strangers through Vancouver's Gastown – he had no idea he’d just started what would become the city's most successful walking tour company.
“Guess I had my mid-life crisis early!” jokes Will, Forbidden Vancouver’s founder and chief storyteller, who ended his long career in business to launch the company in 2012.
Jokes aside, Will’s passion for history runs deep. “I’ve had an interest in history since I was in high school – I’d always dreamed of running a business that somehow involved history. Walking tours just seemed like the perfect fit,” says Will. Fast forward to today, and Forbidden Vancouver has grown from a one-man show to a fleet of twelve storytellers who offer captivating walks that are more like theatre experiences than conventional tours.