One Day In Vancouver (Help)

[Billabongi]

Hey everyone,

 

If you only had 1 day in Vancouver (9ish getting off boat till sometime that night) what would you do? Where would you go, where would you eat?

 

I am looking at a grouse mountain/capilano bridge tour which sounds absolutely awesome but it takes up 6 hours which doesnt leave us much (city) time, so I come to you for guidance.

[Drummond Creek]

Hey everyone,

 

If you only had 1 day in Vancouver (9ish getting off boat till sometime that night) what would you do? Where would you go, where would you eat?

 

I am looking at a grouse mountain/capilano bridge tour which sounds absolutely awesome but it takes up 6 hours which doesnt leave us much (city) time, so I come to you for guidance.

really depends what you are into. Nature, beach, water, skiing, golf, shopping??? Very easy to get a taste of all kinds of things.

[Billabongi]

really depends what you are into. Nature, beach, water, skiing, golf, shopping??? Very easy to get a taste of all kinds of things.

 

Nature, animals, history, shopping.... We live in florida so the water/beach isnt too important. Would snow be on grouse mountain in may or would it be summer activities?

[Urban trekker]

In normal years there would still be some snow on Grouse and in the accessible back country - this year because of El Nino the situation is changing. After new record November snowfalls and cool temps in December - January is turning out to be a disaster - heavy warm rains has washed away a good amount of the snow and there are bare spots on some of the ski runs. They can still get a fair amount of the white stuff if we have a cool spring.

 

As for summer activities - if you are referring to the logging show and birds of prey they probably won't be up and running.

 

I wouldn't book the Grouse part of the excursion until you arrive in Vancouver - on a clear sunny day it is the place to be as the views but there isn't a lot to see on cloudy days and the hiking would probably be marginal.

 

Here's a link to Grouse's summer activities page:

 

http://www.grousemountain.com/Summer/summer-activities/

 

You can always check out the current conditions by going to the mountain report - they will keep that updated until the ski season is over sometime in April.

 

FYI - if you are not aware NBC will be broadcasting their Morning show for three days during the Olympics in February from the top of Grouse Mountain. Don't know the exact dates but it will be between Feb 12 - 28, 2010

 

Some of the broadcast equipment has already made it way up the mountain.

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Drummond Creek]

Still can't figure out why NBC picked that location. Keeping in mind they need to go on the air at 7 eastern so 4 pacific. There will be no sun for the entire show. As you say it can often be cloudy, foggy on Grouse so who knows if they will get any kind of shot of night time Vancouver. Very odd choice of location. Agree Dennis, best to leave Grouse until you get to Vancouver and then decide.

 

Unlike Dennis I don't live in Vancouver but I'm there very often. But I don't see it through the eyes of a local. (I get to spend a full month there for the Olympics though). The great thing about Vancouver is you don't need to venture far from downtown to be in nature. Stanley Park is right downtown and is the best urban park in the world. There are so many natural treasures to behold. The shopping is fantastic. Lots of interesting places from a great Chinatown to Gastown to Granville. In some ways Vancouver is a bit like San Francisco in the way the neighbourhoods are located in a concentrated footprint. The history isn't a real attraction other than the native history. I can promise if you spend the day just exploring Vancouver itself, you won't be bored. Grouse can be fun but it will eat up a lot of your time.

 

Watch the Olympics and you will see lots of what Vancouver has to offer. It is about as far away from Florida as you can imagine.

[Billabongi]

Thanks everyone!

[Urban trekker]

DrummondCreek - if you are in Vancouver for a month are you a volunteer or just for the fun - I am slated to be a volunteer for the Paralympics - still my get a regular games role but it will be at Whistler.

 

I wouldn't put it past Grouse to have offered the mountain to NBC - the advertisement - even if they get one good day would be worth countless $$$ of free publicity.

 

I am sure that much of the show will be spend featuring Vancouver and that they will have taped lots of footage on clear days - probably do a feature on the new wind turbine on the mountain as part of a green story.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Drummond Creek]

I'm working for the Canadian broadcast group. I'll be spending the entire time between the Terminal City Hotel and the Broadast Centre. Won't see much more than the two block in between.

 

Enjoy the volunteer experience. It is wonderful to be involved with the games in any way. I carried the torch earlier when it went through Toronto and it was a blast.

[Urban trekker]

Enjoy the Games and the City is fast becoming an Olympic billboard - people seem to be warming to the Games but the naysayers are determined to try and spoil it for the athletes, visiting delegations and the 25,000 volunteers.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[wenkroy2]

Hey everyone,

 

If you only had 1 day in Vancouver (9ish getting off boat till sometime that night) what would you do? Where would you go, where would you eat?

 

I am looking at a grouse mountain/capilano bridge tour which sounds absolutely awesome but it takes up 6 hours which doesnt leave us much (city) time, so I come to you for guidance.

 

Hello Billabongi:

 

I would assume you are coming from the water, which most likely will docked at Canada Place (which also connected to Pan Pacific Hotel). Outside of the hotel, there should be a BigBus (hop on/off) available by then, take a tour of the city.

 

If you prefer walking, hang to the left, (as you facing Waterfront Hotel), walk down to Godova Street will lead to "Gas Town", at the end you will meet Main Street, turn right a few block, there is China Town. Have some Chinese food there, or visit the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Garden (Pender /Carrol Street).

 

Shopping will be back to Robson Street and Pacific Centre.

 

You can buy a Metro day pass (Skytrain), one of the station is just near the Pan Pacific.

 

Stanley Park is is not too far from the terminal, you can visit the Vancouver Aquarium there.

 

If you are coming from the Airport, you can take the Canada Line (Metro) from the Airport to downtown, (I think is C$5.50, am not sure if the day pass work with the airport section).

 

 

Any way, enjoy your stay in Vancouver.

[Urban trekker]

Yes the day pass will work at the Airport station. It is only single fares brought at the Airport stations that have the surcharge which was part of the original plan when the route was extended to the airport

 

You are giving a general set of directions to get from Gastown to Chinatown - I can assure you that even I wouldn't want to go as far as Main street - that is the cesspool called the Downtown Eastside - the poorest postal code in Canada.

 

Generally I recommend taking either Abbot or Carrall St to get from one to the other - even then you will still see some of the problems but while unsightly and perhaps somewhat intimidating is still generally safe. The correct street is called Cordova

 

Enjoy your visit and don't hesitate to ask the questions - there are a number of us locals only to happy to help.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[KarenMF]

This info is very helpful. I will also have a day to spend in the city and I'm trying to decide what to do. I will be taking the 5:45 train to Seattle after getting off a cruise ship. I have been to Vancouver once a few years ago and I'm excited to go back and see more.

 

Does public transportation go from Canada Place to Stanley Park? The aquarium sounds nice.

 

What other sightseeing things should I do? I probably shouldn't go shopping since I will have spent too much on the cruise LOL but if there is still Olympic merchandise around I'd be tempted to get something :)

[wenkroy2]

There is NO direct transportation to Stanley Park other than taxi. But it is only approx 30 min walk along the sea wall (the street from outside of the Convention Centre,).

 

If the weather is good:

 

Out the Terminal, walk along Burrard, and turn right at Pender Street, Pender will rejoin with Georgia Street. You can't miss the entry to the Park.

 

http://maps.google.ca/maps?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=stanley+park+vancouver&fb=1&gl=ca&hq=stanley+park&hnear=vancouver&cid=0,0,10795448821294945016&ei=cJhdS4HjNY7MsgPdmMGTAw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQnwIwAA

 

 

The hop on/off Big Bus may be stop at the Park, and you can rejoin the bus after visit the aquarium.

 

Enjoy your stay in Vancouver

[Urban trekker]

If you are going to walk up to Pender you can then hop on the #19 Bus which will take you into the Park not that far from the Aquarium but I agree with the previous poster - the walk along the waterfront is well worth it.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[DoubleB]

Would it be safe to walk from the Amtrak station toward Chinatown? Will the shuttle in Stanley Park still be running on Sept 20th? I read somewhere that it's only available in the summer.

[Urban trekker]

"Would it be safe to walk from the Amtrak station toward Chinatown"

 

Most people would say no as you have to walk through the seedier part of the City - it is more a rude awakening to the problems of homelessness, drug addiction, mental challenges than a physical threat to life and limb BUT there is a way - its a little bit longer walk - much more scenic and safe and is also a dedicated bike route so here goes.

 

Leaving the Amtrak Station - look west and you will see the Main Street Skytain station and behind it the big globe that is Science World - head for it - you will then see the seawall going in both directions - turn right and head for our dome stadium and GM place - before you reach that you should see a bike path sign saying Carrall Street - turn right - the City has made this a greenway to connect False Creek, Chinatown and Gastown to each other.

Turn right onto Carrall and in two short blocks you will be in Chinatown - you will see a few street people but nothing to worry about.

 

Will post a link but right now I am having trouble accessing the City of Vancouver's web site.

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Urban trekker]

Here's a link to the Carrall street greenway project.

 

http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/streets/greenways/city/carrall/greenway.htm

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[scottbee]

Would it be safe to walk from the Amtrak station toward Chinatown? Will the shuttle in Stanley Park still be running on Sept 20th? I read somewhere that it's only available in the summer.

 

At night I probably wouldn't do it, during the day, yeah it's fine. Unfortunately the area just North and East of the rail station is one of Canada's most depressed neighbourhoods, drugs, people living on the street etc.

 

That being said, if you're heading to Stanley Park, and Amtrak all in the same day, buy a one-day transit ticket, and Skytrain runs from downtown to the train station (across the St from it), pretty straightforward.