Celebration of Light

[PandasRUs]

We will be arriving in Vancouver around noon on July 22 and leaving on a cruise on July 24. We will have only 1 1/2 days to sight-see. I see that the Celebration of Light will be happening on July 23. From what I have read, it appears to be a major event and from that I assume the city will be quite busy. Due to that, we would appreciate some suggestions on how to best use our time, etc. I am not aware of the location of the fireworks, or viewing areas.

 

1 - We were planning on staying somewhat near Canada Place, within a mile or so. Would there be any viewing of the fireworks from any of the hotels? Or which would be in a less congested area.

2 - What would be some suggestions of sightseeing during the day? We would probably like to see the downtown attractions and Grouse Mountain. I'm not sure at this point if we would be heading out of the area.

 

Any other suggestions of dealing with a busy downtown area would be helpful.

 

Thanks

[Langley Cruisers]

To get you started, here is the link to the official website:

 

http://hondacelebrationoflight.com/ <--click here

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[PandasRUs]

Thank you for the site. I had done some research, but still don't know where the fireworks crowds will be. If we happen to see the fireworks, great. But mostly we want to know how to avoid the crowds and still be able to see the sights since we are in the area for a limited time.

 

Thanks

[Langley Cruisers]

The most crowded area will be the beach at English Bay, but all of downtown is congested on fireworks nights. The traffic is horrendous - took us 2 hours to get home one year. Since then, we don't go into Vancouver on those nights anymore (so, forgive me, but someone else will have to help you with logistics and make suggestions).

[xlxo]

Most of the firework crowds will be at the South and West of the downtown peninsula. If you avoid hotels West of Burrard and South of Georgia... you should be fine to avoid congestion.

 

Any hotel with room viewing to the fireworks will be booked and priced at a premium. Best to have an early dinner and walk the 20 or 30 minutes to English Bay for viewing. Sylvia is the most popular for fireworks viewing.

 

Canada Place will be busy after 11pm as many will walk there to ride the subways out of the core.

 

In general, tourist attractions and Hop-on services will NOT be affected by the Saturday fireworks show until 5pm to midnight. Best to have dinner reservations planned ahead of time on Saturday night.

[Cornishpastyman1]

We will be arriving in Vancouver around noon on July 22 and leaving on a cruise on July 24. We will have only 1 1/2 days to sight-see. I see that the Celebration of Light will be happening on July 23. From what I have read, it appears to be a major event and from that I assume the city will be quite busy. Due to that, we would appreciate some suggestions on how to best use our time, etc. I am not aware of the location of the fireworks, or viewing areas.

 

1 - We were planning on staying somewhat near Canada Place, within a mile or so. Would there be any viewing of the fireworks from any of the hotels? Or which would be in a less congested area.

2 - What would be some suggestions of sightseeing during the day? We would probably like to see the downtown attractions and Grouse Mountain. I'm not sure at this point if we would be heading out of the area.

 

Any other suggestions of dealing with a busy downtown area would be helpful.

 

Thanks

We went to it 2 years ago and just wandered down to English Bay (from our hotel at Canada Place). It's just under 2 miles so a 25 minute walk and we arrived about half an hour before the the start (10 pm ?). The show lasts about 25 minutes. It was spectacular.

 

As for sightseeing in the day, we did as in the other 2 videos. All the best, Tony

 

[YOUTUBE]CgeIzEewMhM[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]a-u1IcJ6VtM[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]typQucY7Yx4[/YOUTUBE]

[PandasRUs]

Thank you for the information. It sounds like it will be a busy area. I don't enjoy crowds, but can deal with it if I need to. We are going to be there to catch our cruise, so we can't change our plans.

 

If I understand correctly, we should be ok with sightseeing during the day. In the evening, we will need to expect crowds.

 

As far as hotels - before we realized the Celebration of Light would be that weekend, we were looking at the following hotels. Any comments on there 3 or suggestions for others.

Century Plaza Hotel

Blue Horizon

Days Inn Downtown

 

Thanks

[martincath]

Thank you for the information. It sounds like it will be a busy area. I don't enjoy crowds, but can deal with it if I need to. We are going to be there to catch our cruise, so we can't change our plans.

 

If I understand correctly, we should be ok with sightseeing during the day. In the evening, we will need to expect crowds.

 

As far as hotels - before we realized the Celebration of Light would be that weekend, we were looking at the following hotels. Any comments on there 3 or suggestions for others.

Century Plaza Hotel

Blue Horizon

Days Inn Downtown

 

Thanks

BH has in the past been an official partner hotel of the fireworks; they are one of the very few hotels tall enough that you would get at least partial views from your windows if they face the right direction. If they are again partnering in 2016, expect them to be VERY busy (although, since many downtown hotels have very high occupancy rates in peak cruise season anyway so don't discount them just because they'll be fuller-than-usual, but the rates for 'view' rooms high up might be higher than usual if they point toward English Bay)

 

Century Plaza is almost next-door to the main downtown hospital ambulance entrance. The hotel has done quite a bit of reno work in the last few years, including yet another new restaurant last year (now a pretty pricey Italianesque steakhouse, probably the best of the three different attempts in as many years), and also hosts a comedy club, so it's sometimes busy with non-resident crowds eating & drinking & laughing. I'd be inclined to bring earplugs unless you're a sound sleeper, as even really good windows don't keep out 100% of sirens passing by and the timing will be inherently random.

 

Days Inn is the lowest-rated of the three (2* vs 3*), though as with the others I've never stayed so won't comment on the rooms. Most convenient location, closest to the pier of them all and also a very easy walk into Gastown, and not much further to Chinatown, Yaletown 'hoods. Oldest building by a long shot, so expect smaller rooms, squeakier floors, worse noise-proofing - the usual kind of issues with an old building.

 

If these are the three on the table, I'd have little hesitation in choosing Blue Horizon for the best overall hotel experience.

 

Other suggestions - if your idea of a hotel is simply a clean, safe base to explore from it's hard not to recommend the YWCA which delivers in spades and is the cheapest hotel in downtown by a long shot (rates are fixed seasonally, so no peaks on specific weekends etc.)

[xlxo]

It sounds like it will be a busy area. I don't enjoy crowds, but can deal with it if I need to. We are going to be there to catch our cruise, so we can't change our plans.

 

If I understand correctly, we should be ok with sightseeing during the day. In the evening, we will need to expect crowds.

Yep... during the day traffic will not be a problem.... around 5pm traffic will flow into downtown and restaurants will be filling up. If you have a particular restaurant you want to explore.... call ahead for reservations.... especially those near English Bay. Best to be plan to be on foot Saturday night.... perhaps go check out "Fly Over Canada" before or after your dinner.