Vancouver highlights? Begining of Alaskan cruise.

[sirarthur]

My DW and I will be taking the Veendam to Alaska on July 23 and will be staying in Vancouver for three days before boarding. We have been there before...taken the ferry to Victoria, had high tea at the empress and went to lovely Bushart Gardens. However we have not explored the city of Vancouver to any great extent...just Stanley Park. Does anyone have advice regarding interesting, perhaps not generally known, sites of interest and things to do? Also, any suggestions on commendable restaurants? We have enjoyed the Cannery in the past...any others?

[krewzin]

Hi sirarthur...you'll probably get a whole lot of information over on the Alaska forum. I just posted over there asking about Vancouver the other day and got a whole bunch of responses here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=366818

 

But the Vancouver Aquarium, Capilano Suspension Bridge, Gastown, Chinatown, Granville Island, Grouse Mountain and the Museum of Anthropology are a few places that come to mind.

 

And here's a fantastic site that lists everything possible, and briefly summarizes each: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/1b080/dc80f/4/

 

Hope this helps.

[Moonlight Beach]

We were in Vancouver a total of 7 days pre- and post-cruise in May - June. We went to Whistler, the Capilano suspension bridge, Grouse Mountain, UBC Museum of Anthropology, as well as Stanley Park, Vancouver Island, Gastown, Chinatown etc., etc. We had dinner at Seasons in the Park, which is located high on a hill in Queen Elizabeth Park. It's the highest point in the city.The view of Vancouver is incredible.

 

We even took the Sky Train just to see where it went. Got off at a few stops to look around, then back on. It's very easy to get around by bike, bus, Sky Train, and just plain walking.

[Atomica]

There's lots to see and do in Vancouver, and if you're here three days before, you should have time to do quite a bit!

 

Gastown is right near Canada Place, and is worth a walk down to see the Steam Clock and some of the shops down there. You can also take a SeaBus from the Seabus/Skytrain terminal near the pier over to North Vancouver's Lonsdale Quay for a different view of the Vancouver harbour.

 

Granville Island is a must-see. It is on the other end of downtown, away from Canada Place, so depending on where you are staying, you might want to take a bus or cab down there. Don't attempt to drive down there - parking is horrific.

 

Chinatown is also near by, and is the second-largest in North America, I believe. While it's within walking distance, it borders a couple of rough areas. Nothing really to worry about, but it is generally a good idea to avoid Hastings Street once you're east of Cambie.

 

One unique thing this year that my girlfriend and I have been having fun with these past weekends: there's all these decorated metal bears bolted to sidewalks every block or so called Spirit Bears. They're painted by artists who are sponsored by a company (Holland America has sponsored three), and at the end of the year they're autioned off for charity. There's a ton of them downtown, so a walk downtown to look at all the bears is a neat thing to do.

 

There's maps at the Tourism Vancouver info centre near Canada Place, or on the web:

http://www.spiritbearsinthecity.com/index.php?content=overview_vanc.html

 

Hope you enjoy your time here!

[BJane]

Many, many years ago we took our children on a driving trip from California to Canada. My favorite memory of Vancouver is of going to Queen Elizabeth Park on a Sunday afternoon when they were having a band concert. The park is a wonderful place with a great view of the city. To cap it off by being there on a beautiful day and listening to the band concert was just perfect.

[cruisequeen10]

I am going on the Zuiderdam to Alaska on July 8. I live so close to the cruise terminal that I can't stand it especially when the ships arrive for the Alaska season. I am down there almost every day to see the ships. We have a bus that looks like a trolley car (like in San Francisco) and it is a hop on and hop off bus that goes to many places in Vancouver. You don't have to get off, you can ride around the whole way. Then if something interests you, then you can get off and explore. www.vancouvertrolley.com is the website. It goes by many of the hotels in the downtown area and is very popular. We also have little ferry boats www.boatcruises.com that is little a sternwheeler that goes around the inner harbour (approx 1 1/2 hour). Many different things to do in Vancouver. It is hard to mention all of them. If you need more info you can contact me at cruisequeen10 at yahoo dot com.

[krewzin]

Curious how long it takes to get to Whistler?

 

I've gotten varying responses with times from 90 minutes to over 2 hours...is there hwy construction?

[sirarthur]

Thank you all for the wonderful information. It looks like our only problem will be that we only have three days! Krewzin, than you for the "Vancouver Pages by Carmanah" web site. It has a wealth of information!!!

 

It is people like all of you who make traveling such a pleasure.

[Atomica]

Curious how long it takes to get to Whistler?

 

I've gotten varying responses with times from 90 minutes to over 2 hours...is there hwy construction?

 

I'd set aside a good two hours for it - there is road construction for the 2010 Olympics going on. All it takes is that and one accident to snarl things up.

[kikiwik]

The three things that i would do is Go to the cap suspension bridge, drive thru stanley park or take one of the trolly tours and you have to go to granville island. You can take a little water taxi across to it if you'd like and you can also take a harbor tour once your there. I'd also suggest that you eat at a place called the macaroni grill on davie street and nicola it's down by english bay. It's get very good food.

[luvcruisn']

If you want to take the little ferry, called The False Creek Ferry, from downtown Vancouver to Granville Island, there is a dock behind the Vancouver Aquatic Centre, which is right under the Burrard bridge. Also there is a lovely beach - Sunset Beach - and seawall walk right beside the dock. On a sunny day it's lovely to walk along the seawall, it goes all the way to and around Stanley Park. There is also a nice restaurant with a view of the water located across the street from English Bay, which is just outside of Stanley Park.

[jjones]

Vancouver has three revolving restaurants - one in Harbour Centre right by Canada Place, one is Cloud 9 on the 42nd floor of the Empire Landmark Hotel close to downtown and I forget the third. If you can get reservations, these are wonderful high points for overlooking the city - and Cloud 9 has good food, also. I also recommend the hop-on hop-off bus tour. Another good restaurant is the Boat House (on the hop-on/hop-off route). Granville Island is full of wonderful shops, as is Gastown and Chinatown has the Ming Gardens, one public (free) one charges admission, right next door to each other. Stanley Park is beautiful (and BIG). Hope you have a terrific visit, Vancouver is a very nice town.