USVI-On-Line

I will be in Vancouver for work in March and then again NEXT August. This March is a quick trip, August is much longer and at the end I plan to fly my family out to meet me and tack on some fun to the work.

I know NOTHING about this area. Any tips, landmarks, must sees, museums, restaurants (kid friendly or otherwise), would be welcome.

Also, I am thinking after 8 days in the city for work by the time my hubby and kids get there I would be happy to head out of the city to the surrounding areas. Are there any quaint areas nearby that would be worth a 3-4 night stay?

the area around whistler is GORGEOUS--and august is perfect for a visit there and a hike--also vancouver island is lovely, the city itself is a very cool place.--though it;s been years since i have been there--you should PM bubblybrenda--she is from vancouver and i bet she has lots of insight

Vancouver is that city we drive through on the way to Whistler!

It's so nice up there, love me some Canukians!

Flip- I think you'll really enjoy your time in Vancouver. I call it the NYC of the West... like another crossroads of the world. A lot of culture, diversity, great food, etc. Plus, they are gearing up for the 2010 Olympic games big time, so that's drawing a LOT of new sites.

Anyway, my best friend of 20 years lives there. I will send her your request and share whatever I get back.

Great thanks all! Whistler, I'll have to check that out.

OK in the city you must stroll or bike Stanley Park - 1000 beautiful acres with tons of easy paths sitting right on the edge of the city and harbor.
Another "must do" is take a water taxi to Granville Island right near the center of the city - great food markets and shops, outdoor eats, microbrews, etc.
Consider taking the ferry to Vancouver Island and doing an overnight at a B&B so you have time to take in the awesome Butchart Gardens and walk around Victoria's Inner Harbor and see the Parliment building light up at dusk. Or do a killer whale watching tour.
Great food to be had there - local halibut, Dungeness crab, and wild caught salmon (they'll tell you what river its from). Great local beers and Washington state wines too.

I've been to Vancouver twice, both times quite a while ago. I really liked it. It's pretty clean, casual and laid-back. In Vancouver we did most of our hanging out in Gastown and either ate there or in Chinatown which is next to Gastown (these are neighborhoods of the city). Vancouver's Chinatown is quite large.

I'll second jmq's recommendation to get to Stanley Park. On our last trip we were there for the Vancouver Folk Festival which happens in July and is a really well run event. We'd intended to get to Vancouver Island for a few days, but plans changed. We drove out to Hope, then headed up the Fraser River Valley, stopped whenever we felt like it and found a B&B. I like Canadian hospitality. My first time there was enroute to Burns Lake, which is way up in the province between Prince George and Prince Rupert. BC is spectacularly beautiful.

TA looks to have a somewhat active Vancouver forum.

I am so happy someone is interested in my home town. Let me jump in here.

You've already got a lot of great touristy-type info from the folks here on the board.

Lex: You've been through my real home-town of Quesnel (75 miles south of Prince George).

Stanley Park always impresses the pants off everyone. You can walk around the seawall or rent bikes (tandem bikes too) at a variety of shops close to the park entrance.

In March bring your rain gear or at the very least a sturdy umbrella will suffice. Walking without an umbrella in the rain just looks foolish to us westcoasters. Just today we saw sun for the 1st time after 19 days of straight fog. We have had only 6 1/2 hours of sunshine in January! March is our winter time and in the winter we are known for huge amounts of rain.

Our August weather is hit or miss. Some months it can rain every single day, other summers it's lovely. We have, however, been in the pattern of lovely August/Septembers of late.

Your kids will love the Aquarium. It's in Stanley Park. There are Killer Whales and the usual sea life as well as a tropical plant area with the creatures that like a hot, humid environment. You'll also see lots of artists in the park painting and sketching and selling their art.

Granville Island is a 10/10. It's a short 10 min ferry ride across False Creek from downtown Van. You can mosey about and have lunch and browse the shops and market. The market is artisan-style (bakeries, cheese, veggies, fish etc).

If the weather is nice I definitely recommend Grouse Mountain (in Aug). (www.grousemountain.com) It's a skyride (or if you're a fitness-inclined family you can hike up and bring the tram down). Lots to see and do up on the mountain top and from up there you'll see Mt. Baker in Wash. State and Vancouver Island and the entire city. Not worth the cost on a rainy day though because it's the view you go up there for. My favourite time of day to go up is around dinner time before it gets dark. You can dine up on the mountain and watch the lights come on all over the city and Vancouver Island.

I'd also recommend hopping on our mass transit "Skytrain" and just making the loop which takes just over an hour just so you get the lay of the land. You can also get off at Waterfront station and take the seabus across the harbour to Londsdale Quay. It's another public market similar to Granville Island (but much smaller). The train stops at every major shopping mall along its route.

One warning about our transit system: It sucks! If you don't have to be on it in rush hour then stay away unless you want to be squashed like a sardine and stand for your entire trip.

Whistler is nice BUT it is very, very expensive. Lots of activities in Whistler in summer and winter. It's lovely if you want to see huge mountains with snow (even in the summer time). It's about a 90 minute car drive from Vancouver. Or, you can take the train to Whistler for a day trip. (www.whistlermountaineer.com)

A ferry trip to Victoria is nice too but an overnight stay is definitely recommended. The inner harbour area of Victoria where our Parliament bldgs are is very popular with tourists as are Buchart Gardens.

If you don't have time for a ferry ride to the Island (as we call Vancouver Island) then a day trip to Bowen Island is very nice. There is a nice little lake to hike around (within walking distance of the ferry) and you can have lunch. No car required for that day trip.

Our popular stretch of beaches are Kits, Lacarno, Spanish Banks (one beach basically runs into the other). However, we are not known for lovely sand and water here but it is the ocean and we take what we can get.

Yaletown is very trendy for shopping. Totally reminds me of NYC. It's within walking distance of downtown. The Westend (around Stanley Park) is lovely too. Lots of shops and restaurants. Gastown is very touristy. China town is an adventure. We have the largest China town north of San Fran. The shopping areas of South Granville, W. 4th and W. 10th are very popular.

We are a very multi-cultural city and you will most likely notice that within your first 10 minutes of landing at the airport.

Don't know the ages of your kids but Science World is fun for "kids" of all ages (even my age!).

Restaurants: I couldn't even begin to fill you in on those. Van. is world-renowned for our love of great food. You will enjoy REAL Chinese food here (not the North American version); we have some of the best Sushi chefs in the world. If I have my facts correct, I believe Vancouver is considered to have as good of sushi here as in some of Japan's finest restaurants. I can definitely give you recommendations for Japanese or Chinese if those interest you. Seafood is definitely our specialty, especically salmon.

We have Little India which is a 10 block stretch of Indian shops and restaurants (around 49th & Main).

If you want to feel like you're in Hong Kong without actually flying to Hong Kong, spend some time in Richmond (which is where your plane will land).

Capilano suspension bridge is a big tourist mecca. (www.capbridge.com) You'll pass by it going to Grouse Mountain.

Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver is one of my favourite places. West Vancouver's Ambleside beach and its shops are nice too.

Quaint areas that would be worth a 3-4 night stay. So many little islands with B & B's around here. Hard to pick one. If you have the $$ and the time a trip to Ucluelet and Tofino is definitely worth the time spent to get there. (www.tofino-bc.com) Huge waves. Lots of surfers and nature lovers. It would require a car rental and a ferry ride.

Harrison Hot Springs in August is very nice. You could stay there for a night. (Car required)

Where abouts are you working while in Vancouver? Staying in the vicinity of your work location?

The one very negative about downtown Vancouver is the panhandlers. They are on every street corner and I have not seen anything as bad in any other city I've ever travelled to. There's no escaping them however so as a local we're used to seeing them everywhere.

Anyways, I've inundated you. If you have any questions or are wondering about anything you read about feel free to PM me. I'd be happy to help you out.

~Brenda~

Thank you all - GREAT info. I am going to get to planning!

Wow! bubblybrenda, you sure know Vancouver!! Nice to hear a Vancouverite admit that it rains a lot there ... ha ha.

I was going to say that Whistler is great, but very expensive and definitely not "quaint". Stanley Park and the seawall are a must. Granville Island is really cool and has lots of great shops and restaurants. Also, we went up to Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast to visit friends just over a year ago and it was beautiful. Take the ferry out of Horseshoe Bay (West Van) up to Gibson's. You could spend a night or 2 in Gibson's and then 1 or 2 in Sechelt. I'd say both places qualify as "quaint". Good luck and enjoy the "Wet Coast".

My work will be near the convention center. Not sure which hotel yet. The first 7 nights I will be locked in the convention center working 12-14 hour days. So dinner ideas (we tend to like moderate to nice while on travel) near the convention center or a quick taxi ride away would be great.

When the family joins me I am thinking I will be OVER being in the city and we'll head to one of the other locations mentioned. The kids will be 8 and 3.5 then so they should be pretty easy go lucky but they love to be active and the water. We've been blessed with great travelers.

We had a harbor front room at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver and it was a blast watching the seaplanes and the tides and the joggers and their cute little dogs on the walkway.

We took a short drive to Lynn Canyon, hiked over the suspension bridge and back into the woods, very pretty there. There's a creek and little waterfalls and pretty cyan water and rocks you can scramble on and lots of warning signs telling you not to fall and die.


Here's my elder daughter and her husband on the trail.

ifloat wrote:There's a creek and little waterfalls and pretty cyan water and rocks you can scramble on and lots of warning signs telling you not to fall and die.

Sounds great. Good thing I bought those keens afterall

I was thinking, eh Vancouver (tis no STJ), well sure if I must. But now that I've gotten more info I am getting pretty excited!

We were in Vancouver for 3 days before an Alaska cruise and we LOVED the area..

Our rain is our demise here but other than that, it doesn't matter what country in the world you are from, everyone says that Vancouver truly is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. (Hard to feel that way when it can rain for weeks on end - did I tell you we only had 6 1/2 hours of sunshine in the first 3 weeks of January)?

If the sun is shining you will fall in love with this city.