Vancouver Travel Forum

I am planning to visit Seattle and Vancouver in August. I have come up with the following possible places to visit in Vancouver. Please let me know which ones are worth visiting and how much time I will need to see each of them. If I omitted something, please also let me know.

1. Stanley Park
2. Vancouver Aquarium
3. HR MacMillan Space Centre
4. UBC Museum of Anthropology
5. Granville Island Market
6. Capillano Salmon Hatchery
7. Harbour Centre Tower
8. Vancouver Museum
9. Science World
10. Guided tours by land and water

I was thinking of staying at either the Pacific Palisades Hotel or Le Soleil Hotel & Suites. What do you think of these hotels? Are there certain restaurants you can recommend that are nice and not very expensive?

Thanks in advance for your help.

David

The HR Mamillan Space Centre is not well known to me, sorry.
The others are the staple of tours. I would skip the Harbour Centre for grouse Mountain to see the city from above, same trip the Hatchery and Capilano Suspension or Lynn Canyon.
I see you like baseball so you may want to go to a Vancouver Canadians game. Voted the best small ballpark in baseball. http://www.canadiansbaseball.com/schedules.php

Both hotels are fine. There are some good restaurants around both. By Soliel is Keg Cesars, New Cactus Club, Smiley O'neals(fake Irish Pub). Both under a block. Hy's is 1/2 ablock away if you like old style steak houses, look at my tip.
PP has dozens within a block on Robson St.

For us, every time we are in Vancouver we take the Sea Bus across the harbor. Our favorite Greek restaurant is only a block from the terminal(North Vancouver) and on weekends they have belly dancers :) Great Fun. The ride across the harbor is particularly nice in the evenings with the lights from the town glimmering on the water. The Sea Bus is primarily a rapid transit across the harbor and is all automated. Don't miss Gas Town as it is interesting and has many cheaper restaurants. Gas town is located on the city side of the harbor. Gas Town is also just a few blocks from the ferry terminal.
Mike

I would echo the earlier comment to skip the Harbour Centre and go to Grouse Mountain instead. You can combine it with a visit to the Salmon Hatchery. If you are fitness minded you could do the Grind Grind, but be prepared (see my page for more info http://www.briantaylor.ca/grind.html). The Space Centre and Vancouver Museum are going to be disappointing if you're used to big city (i.e. NY, DC) museums. Science World is good, especially with kids. When you visit Granville Island make sure to have fish and chips at Go Fish, at the Fisherman's Wharf just across from Granville Island. As for restaurants, try Banana Leaf (three locations) or Salathai (two locations), or for nice, but somewhat pricy seafood try Fish House in Stanley Park. Enjoy your trip!

I did Go Fish last week, fantastic except the weather. Couldn't avoid the day.

I find the Banana Leaf on W. Broadway to be the better of three. Brian have tried many? - Good suggestion.

Welcome to VT also

Here's my long response!

1. Stanley Park is the number 1 must see. Spend half the day here (including the Aquarium). If you can, rent a bike and ride around the entire park. Be sure to visit Third Beach - that's the most beautiful part of the park, in my opinion. It's a great stop for hot dogs or ice cream.

2. 2 hours at the Vancouver Aquarium is enough. It's super busy in August so get there early. You can also buy tickets ahead of time at the Tourism Vancouver tourist info center downtown. They sell tickets at a very small discount, but the good news is that you can bypass the lineup.

3. HR McMillan Space Centre is what locals call the Planetarium, as that's its old name. If you absolutely love space, then you can include a visit. It's split into 2 different parts: the planetarium (upstairs under the large white roof for lazer shows/presentations on the night sky), and the space centre downstairs (a small area with educational exhibits). I'd say it's more of a family-friendly place - lots of kids and parents. You might spend an hour here. I wouldn't necessarily make it a must see, however, if you're also going to visit the Vancouver Museum, then the McMillan Space Centre is actually attached to the same building, and you can buy a pass that allows you into the Vancouver Museum, the McMillan Space Centre, and the nearby Maritime Museum for a discount price.

4. UBC Museum of Anthropology - possibly the most impressive museum in Vancouver. A must see, especially to give context of the local indigenous cultures.

5. Granville Island Market is just one building among dozens on Granville Island. If you visit Granville Island, give yourself enough time and visit well before 7pm, as 7pm the market and shops close down. I'd say give yourself 3 hours here. Besides the wonderful market, there are so many really interesting shops on Granville Island that are unique to Vancouver like an artisan sake brewery, a great hat shop, a great cook book store, a South Asian fabric store, one of the best art supply shops in the city, a great surf shop, a store that only sells live crustacians and shellfish in industrial sized tanks, etc. It's a place you need time to explore and aimlessly wander to discover its secrets. Sounds cheesy, but it's true.

6. Capilano Salmon Hatchery. It's been ages since I visited. I think admission is free. I don't know if it's a must-see but interesting nonetheless. It's between Grouse Mountain and Capilano Suspension Bridge.

7. Harbour Centre. I actually quite like Harbour Centre and it gives you a good view of the city for orientation, moreso than Grouse in my opinion. Grouse has the spectacular panorama, but everything's too far away to properly orient yourself in terms of downtown. I think they sell discount tickets for Harbour Centre's Lookout at Tourism Vancouver. The bonus is that once you've bought your ticket there, you can go up and down that elevator over the span of the whole day and come back at evening. 45 minutes is probably how long you’d spend here.

8. Vancouver Museum is a fascinating little museum. The exhibits are always changing and it's usually a blend of exhibits pertaining to Vancouver's (relatively short) history in addition to exhibits on global themes/topics. This makes a great rainy day activity, especially if you visit here the same time you visit the space centre. Maybe spend 1-2 hours here.

9. Science World. I think it's overrated. The exhibits are aimed at young children and can be underwhelming to adults. If you just want to joke around and pretend to be a kid, however, it can be fun. It's just expensive for what you're getting, in my opinion - many of the exhibits haven't changed in 20 years. The OmniMax theatre, however, is incredible if you've never been to one before. However, I'd say skip Science World if you're short on time or if you're not visiting with kids.

10. Guided tours by land and water. What kind of tours? City tours? Hop on Hop off? Whale watching? I can make recommendations.

Some attractions I think you have missed:

Vancouver Maritime Museum. Since it appears you're into museums, you'd probably enjoy this. I pesonally find this museum more interesting than Science World, the Vancouver Museum, and the McMillan Space Centre. It's located next door to the latter two. It's home to the St.Roch - the RCMP vessel that sailed the Northwest Passage. You can tour the ship (they have guided tours), plus the information in other parts of the museum is fascinating (in my opinion). This museum is often overlooked, but I think it's fantastic if you like museums. Spend 2 hours here.

Grouse Mountain is great... assuming it's sunny! If it's raining, or cloudy, don't even bother, in my opinion. If you do plan to go, you can buy discounted tickets (I think you save about $4) from Tourism Vancouver's tourist info centre. 1-2 hours here.

Lynn Canyon is missing off your itinerary. It's easy to get to and it has a free suspension bridge plus beautiful rainforest trails. 2 hours here.

Thanks for the excellent tips. I look forward to my trip to Vancouver from August 16th-August 20th.

David

Hi We had 7 days in Vancouver last June/July, a fantastic place. We visited Stanley Park, Granville Island Market from your list and had a great time.

Some suggestions: Visit Grouse Mountain, it is a Must see, just take the ferry across to North Vancouver and the bus opposite the ferry terminal will take you up the mountain to the Gondola which takes you up to the top of the mountain. Entrance approx $35 but plenty to see and do, bears, eagles and show, lumberjack show, restaurants, fantasti view etc etc.

Take a day tour to Vancouver Island including the capital Victoria, and the world famous Buchart Gardens.

There are hundreds of other sights to see, I recommend you visit the Vancouver pages of members who have replied, you should find a fountain of information.

A for hotel, we stayed at the Blue Horizon and found it excellent, on Robson Street.

Good Luck,
Mike

I agree with all of the comments above, especially the museums not worth seeing, and those others that were highly rated.

And yes, many people unfortunately overlook the convenient seabus ferry from downtown to North Vancouver ... excellent views, the Lonsdale Quay market at its north end is nice, and the greek and fish restaurants referenced above are great.

You give no indication of your interests, age, or fitness ... so let me round things out a bit.

If you're in to sea kayaking, at Granville Island you can rent a kayak to paddle around the boats and sights.

The Grouse Mtn skyride has great view ... on a clear day or night only ... an alternative: drive to either Cypress Mountain Park (to the west of Grouse Mtn) or Seymour Provincial Park (to the east of Grouse Mtn) - both on the North Shore ... both have views (esp. Cypress) from the road and from viewpoints as good (or better) than that from Grouse Mtn ... and both (especially Seymour) get to sub-alpine area with nice hikes/walks ... and both far cheaper and would be my preference.

You didn't say how long you'd be in Vancouver, but I highly recommend a drive to Whistler ... 2 hrs ea way ... the view along Howe Sound is spectacular, as are the view of mountain peaks (on clear days). You can easily go up and back on one day, but a good option is go up mid-day one day and come back mid-day the next. Lots of (expensive) good hotels and restaurants ... a nice resort atmosphere ... could take the gondola to the top for spectacular mountain views and hike even further for even greater spectacular views.

And you could bike the seawall ... it used to be 7 miles long but I believe its been extended for longer ... from the north side of downtown ... along Burrard inlet, thence around Stanley Park, thence along False Creek (the south side of the downtown peninsula) east to the North Shore of False Creek redevelopment, thence to the east end of false creek, thence along its south shore to Granville island, thence west along streets as far as you want to go towards UBC.

At UBC there's the Museum of Anthropology ... not to be missed.

(and I don't know whether I should mention this, but along the beach at UBC, down the hill from the museum, there's Wreck Beach ... nude)