Getting around Vancouver

[hsmcruise]

We will be in Vancouver in the beginning of June . We arrive at 11 pm from

New York on a Sunday night And will take a taxi to the Hyatt.

To get around should we book a 2 day pass on the hoho trolley, or just

Get a bus/ train pass. We would like to go to Stanley park, gaslight area,

Capilano bridge and Granville island. Our cruise leaves Wednesday .

We have also thought about booking a tour ( landseatour)

Thanks for your help. I read somewhere that there are free shuttles to capilano

Bridge but don't know if it's available in June .

[scottbee]

We will be in Vancouver in the beginning of June . We arrive at 11 pm from

New York on a Sunday night And will take a taxi to the Hyatt.

To get around should we book a 2 day pass on the hoho trolley, or just

Get a bus/ train pass. We would like to go to Stanley park, gaslight area,

Capilano bridge and Granville island. Our cruise leaves Wednesday .

We have also thought about booking a tour ( landseatour)

Thanks for your help. I read somewhere that there are free shuttles to capilano

Bridge but don't know if it's available in June .

 

I would probably just get tickets on the transit system. There's way more service than the HoHos (which only serve the downtown core), and allows an easy transfer between Grouse/Capilano (if you're not taking shuttles). Also, plenty of Vancouver attractions (QE Park, UBC Museums etc) are not accessible on the HoHos. Not to mention it's quite a bit cheaper.

[Urban trekker]

Yes the free shuttle will be operating in June and so will the one to Grouse Mountain.

 

Downtown Vancouver is quite compact and if can walk you can take in alot of the attractions.

 

Cheers!

 

Dennis

[martincath]

Unless you feel the commentary on the HOHO is something useful to you, I'd do as SB suggests and get day passes for transit. Two of those still saves you c. $20 per person (exact amount depends if you're Seniors, Adults, Kids or a mixture) compared to a 2-day HOHO pass - which effectively pays for your cab from the airport.

 

Nearest place to the Hyatt get a day pass will be the Skytrain station next door - the same fare allows use of buses and Seabus as well.

 

Granville Island is often easiest to get to using the separate-from-transit-system ferries though - the nearest transit (and HOHO) stop still involves a bit of a walk, while the Aquabus docks right next to the Public Market.

 

False Creek Ferries island stop is a little less convenient (by a hundred yards or so...) but they also go out to the Maritime Museum (which is in the same park as the Museum of Vancouver & Space Centre) so each company offers an advantage (and virtually identical pricing).

[hsmcruise]

great! thanks for the information. it is very helpful. We like to walk, so I'll be wearing my sneakers, and taking public transportation.

[martincath]

great! thanks for the information. it is very helpful. We like to walk, so I'll be wearing my sneakers, and taking public transportation.

Just a heads-up in case you did want to walk all the way - from the downtown core, walking to Granville Island involves either a long detour around False Creek or else walking over a bridge. The Granville Bridge looks the most direct, but involves a long walk past the island to then walk back again (limited access ramps) - it's also a very high, sometimes gusty walk and the side rails have relatively large gaps where they meet the pavement through which you can't help but see the water way below. My wife hates walking over this bridge, and I don't find it much fun myself (especially when a**hole cyclists ride on the sidewalk - NB: it's the sidewalk-riding that makes them a**holes, not the cycling!)

 

From your hotel to the Public Market is actually equidistant using the Burrard bridge instead - which is a much more interesting bridge (historic, nice stonework), better ocean-ward views, and has a separated bike lane so you'll only have fellow pedestrians as the cyclists don't need to worry about a**hole drivers mowing them down (again, the mowing-down part is what makes a given driver an a**hole!).

 

Just change the transport mode on the above route to Transit and you'll find the best bus stops to use (and if you uncheck the Avoid Ferries box in the Options it'll show you the most direct ferry docks too).

Edited March 3, 2014 by martincath
spelling

[Koali]

We bought the hoho passes when we were in Vancouver. We thought it would be a good deal since it hit our main attractions. We went to the second stop early in the morning and the buses were full. We waited for an hour and half before we decided to give up. The company refused to refund our money. We ended up walking 3 miles to the aquarium. We were fortunate enough to catch a bus back to our hotel. I would not recommend using hoho.

 

If you buy tickets to capilano at the visitor center, there is a slight discount. They will provide you a map on where to catch the free shuttle.

 

 

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[hsmcruise]

thanks Stephanie! I love the tips on cruise critic!

[martincath]

We bought the hoho passes when we were in Vancouver. We thought it would be a good deal since it hit our main attractions. We went to the second stop early in the morning and the buses were full. We waited for an hour and half before we decided to give up. The company refused to refund our money. We ended up walking 3 miles to the aquarium. We were fortunate enough to catch a bus back to our hotel. I would not recommend using hoho.

 

If you buy tickets to capilano at the visitor center, there is a slight discount. They will provide you a map on where to catch the free shuttle.

 

 

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There are several HOHOs in town - mind letting us know *which* of the several companies was the relevant one? At last count there were at least four still on Tripadvisor - Trolley, Big Bus, Big Pink, Fun City (the last one may have died after last season, their website is down...)

[Koali]

I think it was the Vancouver Trolley. The bus looked like a trolley. While waiting for the bus, I saw a lot of Big Pink buses.

[Putterdude]

I am a huge fan of HOHOs and use them as much as possible in cities that we visit. IMO the narration provided is very important to the quality of the excursion as sitting on a transit bus does nothing to teach me anything about the city and the sights I am seeing or visiting. Over the years I have often recommended the Vancouver Trolley, they were the pioneers of the HOHO business in Vancouver and provide live narration which I much prefer over canned narration.

[hsmcruise]

I agree about getting a narrative, otherwise u might not know what u are looking at. Fortunately smart phones can be helpful with this.

 

I'm not planning on walking to Granville island and will probably take the

Aqua bus.

 

Thanks for your replies

[martincath]

I think it was the Vancouver Trolley. The bus looked like a trolley. While waiting for the bus, I saw a lot of Big Pink buses.

That surprises me - we've had several 'fly by night' bus tour companies that offer too-good-to-be-true pricing than disappear after terrible reviews, but the trolley has been around a long time.

 

They also have 'floater' trolleys whose only purpose is to deal with situations like you describe - if there are people left waiting, the driver radios in to HQ and a floater trolley hightails it to that stop.

 

Having had personal experience of a failure in the Trolley system (our vehicle broke down quite spectacularly in Stanley Park, gearbox burned out with smoke pouring out of it) it was only 15 minutes before a replacement trolley showed up for us.

 

Not to say that you are wrong - I don't believe any other HOHOs operate vehicles that actually look anything like the trolleys so you're probably recalling it correctly - but I don't think your experience was representative of the norm. Still, it's all food for thought for the OP!

[Putterdude]

I am going to interject here to say that a few years back there were some complaints about having to wait some time at stops for Vancouver Trolley however I think in the main that this may have now been overcome. That is not to say that you may not be able to get on the trolley that you are standing at the end of the line waiting for, that can happen with all HOHOs but I really haven't read a complaint about excessive waits for some time now.

[Koali]

I hope that my experience was isolated. We might have hit the extremely busy hour. It was also raining. Eventually someone from the company came to our stop and said they only had 1 backup bus that day and it had already went out. I think he mentioned usually they have at least 3. We decided to just cut our losses after 3 full buses and do the walk.

 

Anyways catch the bus at canada place, it's the first stop for the Vancouver trolley and you'll likely have a better chance than we did.

 

 

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