Insight
I want to preface this post with some thoughts to give you a perspective of my opinion. I don't think the following is a strike against Vancouver as much as it's a thumbs up for San Diego. Before we headed up to Vancouver everyone we talked to said nothing but great things about the city about how clean it is and young and new. I will agree with the part about the city being young because there are new buildings popping up everywhere in the city and most of the architecture is fairly new. I have to disagree with the thought about it being a clean city. We walked all over Vancouver and I think there was a lot of trash blowing around on the streets. We took Granville Street which is one of the main streets through the city and in certain parts there were vagrants, homeless people, newspapers, and trash everywhere. We went off of the the main streets as well and while it was better I still think there was a lot of trash around...maybe my expectations were a little high but I will argue with anyone now that brags about how clean the city seems to be. I will agree I did not see much graffiti but overall I just expected something different. The city is beautiful and its location is amazing right on the water with mountains surrounding it to the North and it was very green. Again maybe my expectations were a little high but coming from San Diego and everything I heard I guess I just expected a little more or maybe I should give San Diego the credit it deserves. There is something to be said about knowing a city and the "hot spots" for food, culture, nightlife etc. I think many places would have a hard time stacking up to San Diego but from what I heard I thought I was going to really fall in love with Vancouver. It is definitely a cool west coast city and there is a lot to offer and thankfully we had great weather with lots of sunshine and great temperatures but it just wasn't my favorite.
Similar to USA
We spent the weekend in Seattle with friends and Eva wanted to head back to BC where she was involved in an exchange program after high school. I had never been to Vancouver and have always heard great things about it so we decided to head up to spend a week north of the border. I would love to say that it felt like I was in another country but it seemed very similar to Seattle and the lower 48 for the most part. The speed limits were posted in KMH instead of MPH but other than that it was very similar. Almost every place took US dollars even the cab drivers took USD. In fact we never went to the ATM once and only used the change we received when paying to cover us for Canadian dollars when needed. Most of the servers would refer to it as "on par" when they would do an even exchange USD for CAD and occasionally we would have to give an extra dollar for something but it was easier than worrying about exchanging money and going to the ATM.
Travel
We took an 1130 bus out of Seattle and we were at the Canadian Border in 2 hours. The bus driver asked if we wanted to stop at the duty free store and we opted to skip it hoping it would make our journey quicker. Everything seemed to be going fine until the bus in front of ours was held up going through customs (they only allow one bus and its patrons to enter customs at a time) and it ended up taking us over an hour and half to get through customs and then another hour to Vancouver. I assume the train ride would have been quicker and more scenic but the train is not as frequent and only leaves early and late in the day. The bus ride home was much quicker with our border crossing only taking 20-25 minutes tops. The bus arrives and leaves from the main Amtrak station in both cities so ground transportation upon arrival to both Seattle and Vancouver is seamless.
BEWARE : I booked a ticket on the AMTRAK website thinking I was going to Vancouver BC and booked one to Vancouver Washington. I only found this out the night before we were to get on the train so be sure you look carefully when booking online. I was able to call and change the reservation and they take AAA but be sure you triple check before you purchase!
Lodging
We usually opt for the boutique hotels when we travel to try and get a good vibe for the city and Vancouver was no different. We stayed in the West End at The Burrard Hotel website which was a refurbished hotel that reminds me of something vintage out of the Palm Springs mid century modern retro era. Everything in downtown Vancouver is walkable and even though we tried to rent a car one day to head out of the city we ended up either walking or riding bikes all over the city. As far as the hotel is concerned. There was no breakfast included but a neat little cafe next door for breakfast and a Nespresso coffee maker in the room. I had only two major issues with the hotel with the first being the location while it's close to everything they are doing construction on all sides and the work starts early 730-800 so forget sleeping in late. Second was the fact they had no real air conditioners instead they had what I call a "swamp cooler" it's basically a large enclosed fan with a reservoir for water and if you want to "cool" it down you add ice! While it never got to be unbearable in the room temperature wise it just seemed to make it a little sticky or musty. I would still opt to stay here over the major brand name hotels but next time chances are I would look for something closer to Gastown which is where Eva and I kept finding ourselves in the evening when we were looking for something to do or eat.
Touring the City
Downtown Vancouver is divided up into smaller areas much like any large city and most of the time we moved from one part to another without really knowing but only having a general idea of where we were. As I mentioned we were staying in the West End which I would consider the gay neighborhood full of restaurants, shops and bars. It seems as though there is construction all over the city and the numerous building projects in the works show it does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. We checked in and headed out for some Sushi and to enjoy the fresh air and see a few sites and pick up some breakfast food from a local "whole foods" type grocery store. We always like to pick up some snacks to have handy and a we found a couple bottles of local wine to keep in our room for those afternoon relaxing moments after a long day.
Tuesday we woke up early and I called down to reserve a couple bicycle's from the hotel even though they were available when I called there was only one left by the time Eva made it down to sign them out. Our goal for the day was to ride the bikes around and through Stanley Park. There was a bike rental shop close to our hotel and I rented a bike for half a day for $30 CAD and we were off to tour the park and the city. I will say this...Eva's bike was very similar to the classic three speed bikes you see in Amsterdam. Those bikes look very cool and serve a purpose for city riding but after I took my turn on one a few days later I can't see how she rode that thing all over Stanley Park. As a matter of fact I am surprised she made it 4 blocks with the hills in the city of Vancouver. Vancouver is a very VERY bike friendly city and there are bike lanes everywhere (some with barricades) as protection from the vehicular traffic. One of the neat things that worked out for us was our proximity to the English Bay and bike path that goes all the way around downtown Vancouver including Stanley Park. The weather was perfect and they sea breeze was refreshing with the tankers lined up in the harbor we could see the mountains of North and West Vancouver in the distance making it picture perfect. We zigzagged all over Stanley Park which is enormous in size and has bike trails around and through it with a few beaches and some historical sites perched in different spots. We spent most of the day seeing different things stopping to take photos and to check out totem poles and admiring the jaw dropping beauty.
Chinatown
We also ventured into Chinatown and the main intersection of Hastings and Main was one of the wildest places I have ever seen! I found out later it was the poorest area in North America which was a surprise but after seeing it I could not argue. I am not trying to scare anyone or give the city a complete black eye but that intersection reminded me of what LA must have been like in the 1980's it was as close to skid row as I've seen. In the middle of the afternoon we saw drug deals, people arguing over broken items, and we even saw someone doing cocaine on the sidewalk right in front of us! It was hands down the craziest of crazy that I have seen. Later we found out that you should enter china town a street over and stay away from that intersection but wow I mean this was only a block away and it seemed so sketchy. We also learned that Vancouver is the only city in Canada that does not freeze and it attracts citizens from all over the country that don't like the cold.
Wednesday
We headed out Wednesday morning to check out Capilano Suspension Bridge website which is just North of downtown. They have free trolley's that run from all over town to the park and with the AAA discount it cost us $33 CAD a piece to get in and tour the park. It's a great experience so close to town and so deep into nature. They have a suspension bridge that runs high above a creek as well as some treetop tours that have walkways that run through tree tops and a sky walk that pushes you farther over the edge. It's beautiful and even though I am scared of heights I wasn't that bad! I recommend going and checking the area out if you want to escape the city for a half day. It does not take much more than a couple hours to see everything and the free trolley runs back and forth to the city every 30 mins. In the afternoon we headed back into town but I would recommend heading from Capilano to Grouse Mountain website (I think you even get a coupon for a couple dollars off with your receipt from Capilano). There maybe a shuttle that runs between the two parks because they are fairly close together and it's the one thing I regret not doing on our trip. They have an aerial tram that runs to the top or you can opt to climb up and take the tram back to the bottom. At the top they have lumberjacks, wolves, and a restaurant overlooking all of Vancouver.
After heading back into the city we headed down to Granville Island website to grab some lunch from the public market. This market reminds me a lot of Pikes Place Market in Seattle but has more shops and stores co-located so you can shop as well as eat on this man made island and enjoy some damn good samples! They have a food court but Eva and I opted for some home made pate, pickles and hand made sausage. It was great and loved the atmosphere and the feel of the place. Granville Island is a short (5 min) water taxi from the SW side of Vancouver. The island is nothing more than an extension of the peninsula that makes up the greater Vancouver area. After lunch Eva and took a long walk and headed farther away from the city into Kitslano which some of the locals refer to as "Kits" I highly recommend this area and loved the walk down 4th Ave. it's full of trendy boutiques, shops, restaurants and such. In my opinion it is a very hip and trendy part of town and if I lived in Vancouver I would probably live in that area. We walked down a good ways and then headed North back towards Kitslano Beach and pool as well as the nice walk around the peninsula adjacent to the water front. We stopped and grabbed awesome fish and chips snack right on the water called GO FISH urban spoon reviews it was a great little fish shack with tables outside and awesome fresh fish.
Thursday
We made rental car reservations to take a day trip out of the city and see some of the surrounding areas. We wanted to take the 2 hour drive up to Whislter and see the what the buzz was all about outside the city! Without going into to much detail when we arrived to pick up the rental car we learned there was a work stoppage or "strike" going on and it was going to delay our pick up until around lunch time. This was our last full day and we did not want to spend the majority of it on the road with little to see so we decided to stay in Vancouver and we went to the Vancouver Lookout website with 360 degree views above the city. They don't advertise it but AAA discount is given if you show them your card! We wanted to grab some lunch so we ventured back into Chinatown (going a new and improved route) and went for some awesome Vietnamese food at a place called Phnom Phen yelp review and I had some of the best chicken wings in my life at that place! Go before noon or after 2 p.m. or expect to wait in line. After lunch we headed down to the Classical Chinese garden nearby. There are parts you can pay for and others that are free...we opted for the free tour and then headed back towards the hotel to pick up a couple of free bikes and tour Yaletown which extends the opposite direction of Stanley Park and runs along the water on the SW side of the city. The area is beautiful and had alot of open grassy areas to lay out and relax and soak up the sunshine. What a great way to end our time in a great city!
Overall we made the most of our time in the city and loved almost every bit of it. You take the bad with the good and hopefully learn something along the way not just about others but about yourself as well....
Notes
Pourhouse - website - located in Gastown just SE of the Steamclock on Water Street. They have a 1920's theme with craft cocktails and a great atmosphere (paid $35 CAD for two cocktails including tip)
Chill Winston - website - located in Gastown with a large outdoor seating area great for people watching!
Guilt and Co. - website - loacted below Chill Winston and has a very cool underground vibe. We went on a Tuesday and they had an awesome Burlesque show with a great atmosphere and cocktails. Look at the calendar and give the place a try if they have Burlesque going it's awesome!
Revel Room - website - located in Gastown started by a guy back a few years ago from San Francisco with a cool vibe and a New Orleans feel to it. They had great live music with harmonica and rhythm for your soul. We loved this place and they had good snacks and drinks! The owner sang a few songs and did and awesome job...we loved it here!
The Sardine Can - website - a great Tapas bar also located in Gastown. A great place to get a snack when you're hungry or dinner either one...thumbs up on this small but tasty place!
Salt Tasting Room - website - we did not eat here but just ran out of time. We went inside and checked it out and looked cool with wine pairings with different meats, condiments and cheese options.
I want to preface this post with some thoughts to give you a perspective of my opinion. I don't think the following is a strike against Vancouver as much as it's a thumbs up for San Diego. Before we headed up to Vancouver everyone we talked to said nothing but great things about the city about how clean it is and young and new. I will agree with the part about the city being young because there are new buildings popping up everywhere in the city and most of the architecture is fairly new. I have to disagree with the thought about it being a clean city. We walked all over Vancouver and I think there was a lot of trash blowing around on the streets. We took Granville Street which is one of the main streets through the city and in certain parts there were vagrants, homeless people, newspapers, and trash everywhere. We went off of the the main streets as well and while it was better I still think there was a lot of trash around...maybe my expectations were a little high but I will argue with anyone now that brags about how clean the city seems to be. I will agree I did not see much graffiti but overall I just expected something different. The city is beautiful and its location is amazing right on the water with mountains surrounding it to the North and it was very green. Again maybe my expectations were a little high but coming from San Diego and everything I heard I guess I just expected a little more or maybe I should give San Diego the credit it deserves. There is something to be said about knowing a city and the "hot spots" for food, culture, nightlife etc. I think many places would have a hard time stacking up to San Diego but from what I heard I thought I was going to really fall in love with Vancouver. It is definitely a cool west coast city and there is a lot to offer and thankfully we had great weather with lots of sunshine and great temperatures but it just wasn't my favorite.
Similar to USA
We spent the weekend in Seattle with friends and Eva wanted to head back to BC where she was involved in an exchange program after high school. I had never been to Vancouver and have always heard great things about it so we decided to head up to spend a week north of the border. I would love to say that it felt like I was in another country but it seemed very similar to Seattle and the lower 48 for the most part. The speed limits were posted in KMH instead of MPH but other than that it was very similar. Almost every place took US dollars even the cab drivers took USD. In fact we never went to the ATM once and only used the change we received when paying to cover us for Canadian dollars when needed. Most of the servers would refer to it as "on par" when they would do an even exchange USD for CAD and occasionally we would have to give an extra dollar for something but it was easier than worrying about exchanging money and going to the ATM.
Travel
We took an 1130 bus out of Seattle and we were at the Canadian Border in 2 hours. The bus driver asked if we wanted to stop at the duty free store and we opted to skip it hoping it would make our journey quicker. Everything seemed to be going fine until the bus in front of ours was held up going through customs (they only allow one bus and its patrons to enter customs at a time) and it ended up taking us over an hour and half to get through customs and then another hour to Vancouver. I assume the train ride would have been quicker and more scenic but the train is not as frequent and only leaves early and late in the day. The bus ride home was much quicker with our border crossing only taking 20-25 minutes tops. The bus arrives and leaves from the main Amtrak station in both cities so ground transportation upon arrival to both Seattle and Vancouver is seamless.
BEWARE : I booked a ticket on the AMTRAK website thinking I was going to Vancouver BC and booked one to Vancouver Washington. I only found this out the night before we were to get on the train so be sure you look carefully when booking online. I was able to call and change the reservation and they take AAA but be sure you triple check before you purchase!
Lodging
We usually opt for the boutique hotels when we travel to try and get a good vibe for the city and Vancouver was no different. We stayed in the West End at The Burrard Hotel website which was a refurbished hotel that reminds me of something vintage out of the Palm Springs mid century modern retro era. Everything in downtown Vancouver is walkable and even though we tried to rent a car one day to head out of the city we ended up either walking or riding bikes all over the city. As far as the hotel is concerned. There was no breakfast included but a neat little cafe next door for breakfast and a Nespresso coffee maker in the room. I had only two major issues with the hotel with the first being the location while it's close to everything they are doing construction on all sides and the work starts early 730-800 so forget sleeping in late. Second was the fact they had no real air conditioners instead they had what I call a "swamp cooler" it's basically a large enclosed fan with a reservoir for water and if you want to "cool" it down you add ice! While it never got to be unbearable in the room temperature wise it just seemed to make it a little sticky or musty. I would still opt to stay here over the major brand name hotels but next time chances are I would look for something closer to Gastown which is where Eva and I kept finding ourselves in the evening when we were looking for something to do or eat.
Touring the City
Downtown Vancouver is divided up into smaller areas much like any large city and most of the time we moved from one part to another without really knowing but only having a general idea of where we were. As I mentioned we were staying in the West End which I would consider the gay neighborhood full of restaurants, shops and bars. It seems as though there is construction all over the city and the numerous building projects in the works show it does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. We checked in and headed out for some Sushi and to enjoy the fresh air and see a few sites and pick up some breakfast food from a local "whole foods" type grocery store. We always like to pick up some snacks to have handy and a we found a couple bottles of local wine to keep in our room for those afternoon relaxing moments after a long day.
Tuesday we woke up early and I called down to reserve a couple bicycle's from the hotel even though they were available when I called there was only one left by the time Eva made it down to sign them out. Our goal for the day was to ride the bikes around and through Stanley Park. There was a bike rental shop close to our hotel and I rented a bike for half a day for $30 CAD and we were off to tour the park and the city. I will say this...Eva's bike was very similar to the classic three speed bikes you see in Amsterdam. Those bikes look very cool and serve a purpose for city riding but after I took my turn on one a few days later I can't see how she rode that thing all over Stanley Park. As a matter of fact I am surprised she made it 4 blocks with the hills in the city of Vancouver. Vancouver is a very VERY bike friendly city and there are bike lanes everywhere (some with barricades) as protection from the vehicular traffic. One of the neat things that worked out for us was our proximity to the English Bay and bike path that goes all the way around downtown Vancouver including Stanley Park. The weather was perfect and they sea breeze was refreshing with the tankers lined up in the harbor we could see the mountains of North and West Vancouver in the distance making it picture perfect. We zigzagged all over Stanley Park which is enormous in size and has bike trails around and through it with a few beaches and some historical sites perched in different spots. We spent most of the day seeing different things stopping to take photos and to check out totem poles and admiring the jaw dropping beauty.
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| Stanley Park |
Chinatown
We also ventured into Chinatown and the main intersection of Hastings and Main was one of the wildest places I have ever seen! I found out later it was the poorest area in North America which was a surprise but after seeing it I could not argue. I am not trying to scare anyone or give the city a complete black eye but that intersection reminded me of what LA must have been like in the 1980's it was as close to skid row as I've seen. In the middle of the afternoon we saw drug deals, people arguing over broken items, and we even saw someone doing cocaine on the sidewalk right in front of us! It was hands down the craziest of crazy that I have seen. Later we found out that you should enter china town a street over and stay away from that intersection but wow I mean this was only a block away and it seemed so sketchy. We also learned that Vancouver is the only city in Canada that does not freeze and it attracts citizens from all over the country that don't like the cold.
Wednesday
We headed out Wednesday morning to check out Capilano Suspension Bridge website which is just North of downtown. They have free trolley's that run from all over town to the park and with the AAA discount it cost us $33 CAD a piece to get in and tour the park. It's a great experience so close to town and so deep into nature. They have a suspension bridge that runs high above a creek as well as some treetop tours that have walkways that run through tree tops and a sky walk that pushes you farther over the edge. It's beautiful and even though I am scared of heights I wasn't that bad! I recommend going and checking the area out if you want to escape the city for a half day. It does not take much more than a couple hours to see everything and the free trolley runs back and forth to the city every 30 mins. In the afternoon we headed back into town but I would recommend heading from Capilano to Grouse Mountain website (I think you even get a coupon for a couple dollars off with your receipt from Capilano). There maybe a shuttle that runs between the two parks because they are fairly close together and it's the one thing I regret not doing on our trip. They have an aerial tram that runs to the top or you can opt to climb up and take the tram back to the bottom. At the top they have lumberjacks, wolves, and a restaurant overlooking all of Vancouver.
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| Sky Walk |
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| Capilano Bridge makes you feel small |
After heading back into the city we headed down to Granville Island website to grab some lunch from the public market. This market reminds me a lot of Pikes Place Market in Seattle but has more shops and stores co-located so you can shop as well as eat on this man made island and enjoy some damn good samples! They have a food court but Eva and I opted for some home made pate, pickles and hand made sausage. It was great and loved the atmosphere and the feel of the place. Granville Island is a short (5 min) water taxi from the SW side of Vancouver. The island is nothing more than an extension of the peninsula that makes up the greater Vancouver area. After lunch Eva and took a long walk and headed farther away from the city into Kitslano which some of the locals refer to as "Kits" I highly recommend this area and loved the walk down 4th Ave. it's full of trendy boutiques, shops, restaurants and such. In my opinion it is a very hip and trendy part of town and if I lived in Vancouver I would probably live in that area. We walked down a good ways and then headed North back towards Kitslano Beach and pool as well as the nice walk around the peninsula adjacent to the water front. We stopped and grabbed awesome fish and chips snack right on the water called GO FISH urban spoon reviews it was a great little fish shack with tables outside and awesome fresh fish.
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| Our Lunch...Yummy! |
Thursday
We made rental car reservations to take a day trip out of the city and see some of the surrounding areas. We wanted to take the 2 hour drive up to Whislter and see the what the buzz was all about outside the city! Without going into to much detail when we arrived to pick up the rental car we learned there was a work stoppage or "strike" going on and it was going to delay our pick up until around lunch time. This was our last full day and we did not want to spend the majority of it on the road with little to see so we decided to stay in Vancouver and we went to the Vancouver Lookout website with 360 degree views above the city. They don't advertise it but AAA discount is given if you show them your card! We wanted to grab some lunch so we ventured back into Chinatown (going a new and improved route) and went for some awesome Vietnamese food at a place called Phnom Phen yelp review and I had some of the best chicken wings in my life at that place! Go before noon or after 2 p.m. or expect to wait in line. After lunch we headed down to the Classical Chinese garden nearby. There are parts you can pay for and others that are free...we opted for the free tour and then headed back towards the hotel to pick up a couple of free bikes and tour Yaletown which extends the opposite direction of Stanley Park and runs along the water on the SW side of the city. The area is beautiful and had alot of open grassy areas to lay out and relax and soak up the sunshine. What a great way to end our time in a great city!
Overall we made the most of our time in the city and loved almost every bit of it. You take the bad with the good and hopefully learn something along the way not just about others but about yourself as well....
Notes
- If we had it to do over again chances are we would stay closer to Gastown because that is where we found ourselves most of the time when we wanted to go out and eat or do something in the evening. There are some cool places to go shopping on Robson Street.
- Download the Trip Advisor City Guide for Vancouver. There is a city Guide App for the smart phone and then you can pick what city you want and download the app for that city and use it while off line. It will come in handy because you don't need to be online to read reviews and get ideas as you tour around and you can use the Map to find places close to your location
- I did not see to many people with cosmetic surgery which was refreshing!
- Cutoff jean shorts seemed to be the big style in Vancouver...hmm?
- Very bike friendly city and may be a reason why there were so many people with large (muscular) quadriceps
- More homeless and a bit dirtier than I expected
Points of Interest (JW's Recommendation's)
Chill Winston - website - located in Gastown with a large outdoor seating area great for people watching!
Guilt and Co. - website - loacted below Chill Winston and has a very cool underground vibe. We went on a Tuesday and they had an awesome Burlesque show with a great atmosphere and cocktails. Look at the calendar and give the place a try if they have Burlesque going it's awesome!
Revel Room - website - located in Gastown started by a guy back a few years ago from San Francisco with a cool vibe and a New Orleans feel to it. They had great live music with harmonica and rhythm for your soul. We loved this place and they had good snacks and drinks! The owner sang a few songs and did and awesome job...we loved it here!
The Sardine Can - website - a great Tapas bar also located in Gastown. A great place to get a snack when you're hungry or dinner either one...thumbs up on this small but tasty place!
Salt Tasting Room - website - we did not eat here but just ran out of time. We went inside and checked it out and looked cool with wine pairings with different meats, condiments and cheese options.
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