Vancouver Travel Forum

After getting the replies from my question before, I have done some research, and this is what I have so far.


We are planning a trip to Vancouver from 5/18 to 5/26, 8 days. It’s a unique combo, 2 ladies in their 50’s and 2 in their 30’s. After reading through all the messages from the board, this is what I came up with. I still need some help filling out the trip. Please take a look and see what else I can add to our trip.

We’re flying Alaska Airline to Vancouver. We rented a car for the days that we are there. The first few days we are staying at a friend’s home, but we have to leave on the 23rd, so I decided we could stay a night in Victoria.

5/18 Fly to Vancouver. Get there around lunch time. Maybe lunch at Richmond, and walk around
5/19 Capilano Bridge, Salmon Hatchery, and Grouse mountain for a hike?
5/20 Day trip to Whistler
5/21 Stanley Park and ??
5/22 ??
5/23 Car Ferry to Victoria. Butchard Garden, Royal Museum of BC. Staying at Magnolia Hotel
5/24 Morning to Sooke? Victoria back to Vancouver. Staying at Best Western Richmond
5/25 Relax, eat at Richmond. Flight back home.

Please give us some tips to fill out the 2 days. We’re not sure what to do since we are not familiar with Canada.

I have some questions:
Which ferry should I take to Victoria? I assume we are staying near Richmond, and downtown Vancouver.
What’s the best way to spend our 2 days in Victoria? I would like to add a whale watching trip. What is the latest time we can take the ferry back to Vancouver?
My friend wants to go to a museum in Vancouver that is in the middle of a bridge? It’s supposed to be really nice. Is that the Museum of Anthropology that I have been reading about?

Thank you!!

We have organised a day trip to Vancouver and booked through Pacific Coach Lines

http://www.pacificcoach.com/index.cfm

Leaves from Central Bus Depot in Downtown. They take care of the ferry as well. And we can choose what time to come back. Last ferry is around 9pm.

We booked a whale watching cruise with

http://www.5starwhales.com/

As for spare days, we have heard Granville Island is great with the markets, we plan to go there. And if we have time we would love to do some of the Seawall walks.

http://www.granvilleisland.com/en/public_market

http://www.blockwalk.ca/britishcolumbia/greatervancouver/vancouver/seawall/

Cheers
Col & Sue

As the previous post stated you should go to Granville Island. Some pictures are at this website. http://www.seegranvilleisland.com/. While on Vancouver Island and within Victoria you should plan on having a "high tea" at the Empress Hotel. Website is http://www.fairmont.com/empress. This was my first high tea and my wife's second. You should reserve ahead of time. The Museum of Anthropology is not in the middle of a bridge (as far as I know), my wife and I spend a couple of hours there. You may get lucky as we did and see a whale or two on the ferry ride between Vancouver and Victoria (keep your eyes open). Be sure to have lunch at Butchart Gardens and if it is warm enough be sure the eat outside, obviously the views are spectacular.

While in Vancouver, go to Granville Island and take a mini-ferry to Yaletown.

While on Vcr Island, I'd recommend against visiting Sooke. I know a lot of people talk about it but I think it's HIGHLY overrated. Just my 2 cents!

There are no museums on any bridges in Vancouver! But the Museum of Anthropology out at UBC campus is certainly worthy of a visit and I can highly recommend it.

For ferries to Victoria, from the Vancouver area, there is only one: BC Ferries. You'll have to find your way to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal which is about a 45 minute drive south of downtown Vancouver or 25 minute drive south of Richmond. Once you get on the ferry, it's an hour and 40 minute ride across to Vancouver Island. The ferry stops at the Swartz Bay ferry terminal, and then it's a 35 minute drive down the highway before you enter downtown Victoria.

I think the last ferry from Swartz Bay back to Tsawwassen is at 9pm or 10pm. Check out the schedules: www.bcferries.com

A few things to consider in Vancouver:

Go to Granville Island (South end of Granville Bridge)- lots of things to see/do/eat there .. Emily Carr art school and museum, large farmers market, theatre (plays, nor movies), art studios, etc. - a lively place frequented by locals and tourists
From there you can walk as far as you want on the part and promenade along the south shore of False Creek.

You can go to Yaletown and the north shore of False Creek (boutique-like stores in old remodeled warehouses cheeck-by-jowl with brand new high rise residential area - on the SE quadrant of the peninsula that contains downtown)

You can walk or bicycle along the sealall (actually, a wide paved promenade) along Burrard Inlet on the north side of downtown, around stanley pary, continuing along the north shore of False Creek.

If it were me I'd not go to Whistler for the day ... rather, I'd drive up mid-day, spend the night, and drive back mid-morning. Much more relaxing and able to take in the sights. Be sure to take the gondola ride to the mountain top for the views.

Leave one of the later days open to just do what seems interesting when you're there.

We love Vancouver ... used to live there, now live in Seattle, hope to go back ... great place to visit

P.S. to the above

I couldn't imagine what anyone would be talking about re a museum in the middle of a bridge ... but I just had a thought:
Granville Island is in the middle of False Creek, UNDER Granville Bridge. And its full of art/craft studios, the Emily Carr Art School, its museum, etc. Maybe that's what the reference was to. Any yes, I'd definitely go there.

But I'd also make sure to go to the Uuseum of Anthropology at the University of B.C. - great collection of North Coast Native art as well as others from the Pacific Rim!! While out there you may want to go to the Japanesse Garden also at UBC

I would also suggest an overnight at Whistler. It's a very pleasant place, but there is a lot of on-going road construction at certain times, so the driving time may be a bit longer than you might suspect.

In Vancouver, there's also a nice Maritime Museum, with intriguing displays showing the maritime history of the area. Have a great time!

I was getting excited about my trip, and after checking the weather online, I am afraid it will be a bad trip.

It shows that it will be having rain showers the whole next week when we are there!

What can we do in the rain?? I'm worried about the hiking that we have planned.

If I remember correctly on our trip out there 4 years ago about the same time, it was overcast with periodic light showers for the 3 days we were there. Although we only went on a short hike to one of the bridges our other days were combined with both outdoor and indoor activities. Granville Island, Ferry ride over to Victoria and Butchart Gardens, Stanley Park and their totem poles. The Anthopology Museum. Don't worry too much about the bad weather, just wear a layer of clothes to deal with the days. Like Seattle, they also have great little restaurants to eat in and many non-Starbuck coffee shops. Enjoy!!

The weather in Vancouver is not predicted to be bad next week … it should be quite pleasant and fairly mild – the sort of weather a light jacket or sweater would do (though do be prepared for the odd shower)

According to Accucast, the forecast is:
Sun 5/18 –Sunny, lo 53, hi 69
Mon 5/19 – Partly Sunny, lo 51, Hi 71
Tue 5/20 - cloudy, lo 53, hi 64
Wen 5/21 – cloudy, possible shower – lo 52, hi 63
Thu 5/22 – breezy with some sun, lo 50, hi 64
Fri 5/23 – partly sunnny, lo 58, hi 71
Sa 5/24 – sunny, lo 57, hi 73
Su 5/25 - clouds & sun, lo 57, hi 71

But weather in the NW is very fickle and hard to predict… it can easily change. So if needed, be flexible in your plans, adjust to the weather if need be.

There is still snow left in the mountains on Vancouver’s North Shore. So if you hike very high, you will come across snow on the trails. But the low level hikes should be great. If you want a nice 3 hour outing, West Vancouver’s Lighthouse Park is one of the best.

One word about rain. In many parts of the country rain means *RAIN* as in heavy downpour.
Not in Vancouver and Seattle.
Here, especially this time of year, most rainy days will just have periods of drizzle, not downpours, and they are likely to be intermittent rather than all day.