Vancouver, BC

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Walk across the park in front of the station. There's a strip mall on the other side of the street that has an ATM. Use one of your own credit or debit cards: you'll get the best exchange rate that way. Before you leave on your trip, check to see which of your cards doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee (many of them don't), and don't forget to tell your card issuer that you'll be in Canada.

(You might want to change the title of this thread. There's a Vancouver, Washington, but AFAIK there's no Vancouver, California. :) What you want is Vancouver, BC, Canada!)
 
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Charlie: is the Money Exchange inside Pacific Central Station closed or are the exchange rates bad? ( the last time I was there last Feb. the dollars were @ par so I just used American currency)
 
Charlie: is the Money Exchange inside Pacific Central Station closed or are the exchange rates bad? ( the last time I was there last Feb. the dollars were @ par so I just used American currency)
Jim, I don't recall seeing it the last time they were there, so they may be closed. But they did have poor exchange rates in any case. And you won't want to use American currency at the moment, as the Canadian dollar is significantly lower than the American dollar.
 
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OK, Thanks. I wouldn't know how to change the thread title. $60 American gets me 75 Canadian as of now. I was hoping to find a bank. I wanted to get some crisp bills for collecting.
 
It's surprising how difficult it is to get hand-selected currency in Canada. Tellers don't seem to have cash drawers any more. If you ask them for cash, they'll tell you that you will get whatever comes out of their machine. (I found this out when trying to get some of the new C$10 bills with The Canadian on the back. I went to four banks before getting what I wanted.)

And you can change the thread title by editing your first post, then clicking the "Use Full Editor" button at the bottom.
 
I was hoping to find a bank.
You can go to Google maps and enter (the train station):

1150 Station St

Vancouver, BC V6A 4C7

Then in the upper left corner of the map you'll see something like "Search nearby" and when you enter 'banks' you'll get this:

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I was looking for this information as well. The bus terminal in Vancouver is also Pacific Central Station. I was planning to exchange money in the station, but not if the exchange rates are bad. Can anybody find the ATM on Google Street View and link it? Thanks.
 
I was looking for this information as well. The bus terminal in Vancouver is also Pacific Central Station. I was planning to exchange money in the station, but not if the exchange rates are bad. Can anybody find the ATM on Google Street View and link it? Thanks.
It's where the dots marked "Citizens Bank of Canada" and "Vancouver City Savings" (Vancity) are in the above image.
 
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I'm going for a business trip next week to Vancouver, BC. I'm going to take Amtrak Cascades 510 up north.

I'm wondering if there is any spots that I can watch/take pictures of Amtrak, VIA, or West Coast Express (WCE) trains.
 
Does anyone know where to get Canadian money after arriving on the train from Seattle?
I would recommend you check with your bank in the U.S. before departing. Before our trip last September, I asked Chase for $300 in Canadian currency. It was delivered within a week and they let me specify large or small bills (small, mostly, for taxis and tips and such). With a planned arrival (following Customs) about 11 pm, I wanted local currency in my pocket before I stepped off the train.
Edit To Add: The currency exchange in Pacific Central Station was still operating during our visit, but it was closed for our late-night arrival. It was open the next morning when we took the bus - ferry to Victoria, though.
 
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Keep in mind that Canada no longer has $1 and $2 Bills. (and the Pennies,are gone!)The Loonie and Toonie are coins which foriegn banks and ATMs don't carry.

I had no trouble using American Dollars in Canada until I could get to an ATM.Everywhere accepts them and Canadian service workers like the US Dollar because it is strong against the Loonie!
 
Keep in mind that Canada no longer has $1 and $2 Bills. (and the Pennies,are gone!)The Loonie and Toonie are coins which foriegn banks and ATMs don't carry.

I had no trouble using American Dollars in Canada until I could get to an ATM.Everywhere accepts them and Canadian service workers like the US Dollar because it is strong against the Loonie!
But many places screw you considerably by offering it as the same rate. Basically $1USD=$1CAD, which is a HUGE ripoff. Currently $1USD is roughly $1.34CAD, so for example, my mother lost an additional 34 cents value per dollar on that $40 sweatshirt she bought in Toronto. :angry2: Maaaa...That was $13.60 extra that cost you!
 
As long as we're on the topic of Vancouver and money is no object issue....

Place to stay: When we made our one-night stopover last September we stayed in a downtown hotel I found online, the Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel. It was a very nice high-rise hotel in the vicinity of the sports arena; a short cab ride (less than CAD10 including tip) from Pacific Central Station. We stayed in a luxurious two-bedroom suite with a queen bed in each bedroom, a sitting room with fully equipped kitchenette, and a single good-sized bathroom. I understand there are several smaller suites for smaller parties, but that the kitchenette is standard. The hotel offers a continental breakfast, but it's only complimentary if you book directly through the hotel...if you use a third-party online booking site, you will have to pay extra if you want the breakfast. We liked it well enough that we plan to return for three nights this September when we leave on our Alaska cruise, and by calling the hotel and speaking with the reservations desk directly we received a bit of a discount off the published rates. Recommended if you want to stay a few days in Vancouver.

Car Rental: If you rent a car from the airport, prepare to take a bath. A very cold bath. I was almost ready to pull the trigger on a 3-day Hertz rental from the airport which would have run CAD324 total (and the other companies were similar)...but when I got to checking around, and specifically the off-airport sites, I found that we could rent the same category car from the same company one block away from our cruise pier for USD89 total for the three days! Well, to save over $200, I think we can take a cab from the airport into town. Heck, I think we can afford to hire a limo!
 
If you can handle your luggage, I suggest you ride the Skybus from the Airport to downtown Vancouver.

Much cheaper and quicker due to the ever increasing traffic to/from the airport!
If it was just me, yes. But Mom is 75, Dad just turned 85, and we'll have luggage for a two-week cruise/tour. I think the money for a cab or limo is well spent.
 
If you arrive into Vancouver by train, whether the Canadian or the Cascades, you will arrive at Pacific Central Station, which was historically the western terminus of the Canadian National Railway.

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Pacific Central also contains the intercity bus terminal, located on the right side of the station. It is located a little east of the central part of the city. To get to Central Vancouver, you walk out the door, into the park, look left, and you will see the elevated Main St.-Science World station of the Vancouver Skytrain. There are ticket vending machines in the stations and you can buy a ticket for a single fare of C$3.15 or a Compass card for about C$5-6 and load it with as much cash as you need or you can buy a day pass for C$11.25. There are discounted fares for seniors and youth, but you have to get a special ("concession") Compass Card, and they are not for sale at the station. As I was there only for a couple of days, I didn't bother and just paid the adult fare. The day pass is good on pretty much everything, except the West Coast Express commuter train and the False Creek ferries to/from Granville Island.

Riding the Skytrain to the end of the line at Waterfront Station, you end up here.

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Waterfront station was the historic terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Given that the Canadian Pacific also operated a steamship line back in the day, it was a pretty convenient transfer from your train that arrived from eastern Canada to the steamship that was going to take you to China or Japan. Today, in addition to being the terminal of two of the Skytrain lines, it's also the terminal for the West Coast Express Commuter train and the Se Bus ferry to the north shore of the Burrard inlet. There's also a heliport right on the waterfront that provides service to Victoria, the provincial capital and a seaplane base a little father north along the shore that also provides scheduled flights to Victoria and other more remote locations in the province.

If you arrive at the airport (YVR), there's a Skytrain line that takes you right into the city with a C$5.00 over regular Skytrain fares.

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The Skytrain operates pretty much like a regular subway/metro, except that the trains are completely automated and they are very short. The Canada Line trains are only two cars long. The platforms are also very short, so they aren't going to start putting longer trains together until they make the decision to rebuild the station platforms. This is offset by the fact that the trains run frequently (2 - 6-minute headway) all day long.

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Most of the transit system consists of buses and trolleybuses ("trackless trolleys" to this hoagie-mouth from Philly) In fact, the only place in North America where I've ever seen more trolleybuses in operation than Vancouver is in its southern neighbor, Seattle. Compared to Baltimore, there seem to be more buses than run more frequently. When I went to pick up my laundry, I was very happy to find that the crosstown bus I needed to ride operated on 15-minute headways on a Sunday evening.

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A view of the Seabus ferry that connects Waterfront Station with the North Shore neighborhoods (or should that be "neighbourhoods?") Note the North Shore Mountains in the background and the big yellow pile of sulfur by the harbor waiting to be loaded on ships.

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One of the False Creek ferries that connect the south side of central Vancouver with Granville Island.

More posts with pictures to follow.
 
If you arrive into Vancouver by train, whether the Canadian or the Cascades, you will arrive at Pacific Central Station, which was historically the western terminus of the Canadian National Railway.

View attachment 35210

View attachment 35212

Pacific Central also contains the intercity bus terminal, located on the right side of the station. It is located a little east of the central part of the city. To get to Central Vancouver, you walk out the door, into the park, look left, and you will see the elevated Main St.-Science World station of the Vancouver Skytrain. There are ticket vending machines in the stations and you can buy a ticket for a single fare of C$3.15 or a Compass card for about C$5-6 and load it with as much cash as you need or you can buy a day pass for C$11.25. There are discounted fares for seniors and youth, but you have to get a special ("concession") Compass Card, and they are not for sale at the station. As I was there only for a couple of days, I didn't bother and just paid the adult fare. The day pass is good on pretty much everything, except the West Coast Express commuter train and the False Creek ferries to/from Granville Island.

Riding the Skytrain to the end of the line at Waterfront Station, you end up here.

View attachment 35213

Waterfront station was the historic terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Given that the Canadian Pacific also operated a steamship line back in the day, it was a pretty convenient transfer from your train that arrived from eastern Canada to the steamship that was going to take you to China or Japan. Today, in addition to being the terminal of two of the Skytrain lines, it's also the terminal for the West Coast Express Commuter train and the Se Bus ferry to the north shore of the Burrard inlet. There's also a heliport right on the waterfront that provides service to Victoria, the provincial capital and a seaplane base a little father north along the shore that also provides scheduled flights to Victoria and other more remote locations in the province.

If you arrive at the airport (YVR), there's a Skytrain line that takes you right into the city with a C$5.00 over regular Skytrain fares.

View attachment 35215

The Skytrain operates pretty much like a regular subway/metro, except that the trains are completely automated and they are very short. The Canada Line trains are only two cars long. The platforms are also very short, so they aren't going to start putting longer trains together until they make the decision to rebuild the station platforms. This is offset by the fact that the trains run frequently (2 - 6-minute headway) all day long.

View attachment 35214

Most of the transit system consists of buses and trolleybuses ("trackless trolleys" to this hoagie-mouth from Philly) In fact, the only place in North America where I've ever seen more trolleybuses in operation than Vancouver is in its southern neighbor, Seattle. Compared to Baltimore, there seem to be more buses than run more frequently. When I went to pick up my laundry, I was very happy to find that the crosstown bus I needed to ride operated on 15-minute headways on a Sunday evening.

View attachment 35216

A view of the Seabus ferry that connects Waterfront Station with the North Shore neighborhoods (or should that be "neighbourhoods?") Note the North Shore Mountains in the background and the big yellow pile of sulfur by the harbor waiting to be loaded on ships.

View attachment 35218

One of the False Creek ferries that connect the south side of central Vancouver with Granville Island.

More posts with pictures to follow.
Nice pics Joe,they remind me of when I lived in Vancouver for a year. ( in Kitslano, the old Hippy Neighborhood West of False Creek)😎
 
The central part of Vancouver is a peninsula bounded by False Creek and the Burrard inlet/Vancouver Harbour, both of which empty into the Strait of Georgia. This peninsula is basically a ridge, which gives the city a slight resemblance to San Fransisco, though the hills aren't quite as steep.

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On the North Shore of Vancouver Harbour are the North Shore Mountains, the peaks of which reach heights of 4,000 -6,000 feet (or 1,200 - 1,800 meters), which is pretty impressive when you consider that the base of the mountains are at sea level. By the 12th pof November when I arrived, the higher elevations were already well covered with snow.


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The passage through the Burrard Inlet from the harbor into the Strait of Georgia is called the Lions's Gate (after two mountain peaks called the Lions) and even has a smaller version of the Golden Gate Bridge (called the Lion's Gate Bridge) spanning the gap.

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On the other side of the peninsula, the north shore of False Creek is lined with high rise apartment houses.

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Despite the latitude and the snow on the mountains, palmetto type trees can live here.

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On the south shore of False Creek is Granville Island, a former waterfront industrial area now repurposed a a public market, artisan shops and restaurants.

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Back on the north side of False Creek, in a neighborhood called Yaletown is a visitor center with Number 374, the Locomotive that pulled the first Canadian Pacific train from Montreal into Vancouver in 1887.

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I spent my full day in town walking the Stanley Park, then riding a trolleybus back downtown and taking the Skytrain to Richmond, the so-called "Golden Village," and sort of suburban Chinatown.

Stanley Park is the tip of central Vancouver's peninsula, containing a mix of the native temperate rainforest and landscaped open areas. It's named for Lord Stanley, who was Governor-General of Canada at the time the park was dedicated. Lord Stanley is also known for creating the Stanley Cup, the championship trophy for NHL hockey. I didn't walk the whole seawall but walked from my hotel near Coal Harbour out to the Brockton Point light, then checked out a collection of totem poles (mostly replicas, as the originals have wither been repatriated or moved to museums) and walked through the park to the trolleybus loop to ride back into town.

The Seawall is one of the most civilized hiker-biker paths I've been on, as it has separate rights of way for the cyclists and the walkers.
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Coal Harbour

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The totem poles.
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The Lion's Gate from Brockton Point

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Walking through the Pacific Northwest forest on my way to the trolleybus loop.

Riding the trolleybus back into the city, a lady got on with many many bags of cans and bottle and such. I couldn't figure whether she was just an eccentric who was enthusiastic for recycling or a homeless person hoping to make ends meet by redeeming these at a recycling center (assuming that Vancouver has places that redeem cans and bottles for cash.) But it might also explain why the city seemed pretty clean and not infested with litter on the streets.
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Back in town, I hopped on the Canada Line and rode down to Richmond, a suburban expanse south of the Fraser River. The line south from downtown is all underground until you get to Marine Drive. You cross the Fraser River on a high bridge with a nice view, and after the Bridgeport station, a branch line heads off to the airport. I got off at Aberdeen, site of the Aberdeen Center, one of many Asian-themed shopping malls in the area.

The food court alone is worth the trip -- every kind of Asian cuisine you can think of.

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I ended up having Tonkatsu, fried meat (pork or chicken) cutlets. They even had authentic Japanese plastic food models to help guide your choice.

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Of course, like all malls, they had a videogame arcade, but where else can you find a videogame that involves traditional Japanese drumming?

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All in all, I was pretty impressed with Vancouver. Of course, I was only there a day and a half, as my departure was at 6:35 AM, which meant I was out of my hotel at an ungodly hour, but had no trouble getting a Lyft ride to Pacific Central Station. I think I could spend a few more days there seeing stuff without having to rent a car. One thing that was highly recommended to me was the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, which is supposed to have the best collection of artifacts from the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately for me, it was closed during my visit because they were making seismic retrofits to the building. I guess I'll need to comeback and revisit the city sometime in the future.
 
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