Vancouver: What should I do/see

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Beautiful City, I'm envious! Of course it depends on your interests but there is literally Everything to do in this City! I believe based on your Toronto post, that you're coming in on the Canadian which is usually Late so allow for this! Not sure if you're spending the night or flying out or going on to Seattle via Bus or Train or ???

I'd say buy a Day Pass for the Sky Train (elevated LightRail) located in front of Pacific Central Station, if staying check into your hotel and do a tour of the Greater Vancouver Area clear out to the Airport, ride the Commuter Ferry (Sea Bus)across English Bay to North Van, go to Stanley Park, the Central Park of Canada(nothing like fish and chips and a cold beer on a clearwarm day in the park!)

Vancouver can be pricey but there are literally thousands of places to eat, pubs etc Vancouver has a large Asian population so there is a large influence by the various cultures here with Chinese in the majority!

I also recommend Granville Island Market located West of Downtown under to the Burrard St Bridge in False Creek (Marinas and upscale housing )the food markets and eating joints and pubs are a Vancouver tradition!Kitslano is also the old hippie/artist area, now very trendy and pricey but worth a look along 4th Ave and English Bay!

Plenty of museums, shopping etc etc also,Vancouver is sort of a cross between San Francisco, Seattle and New York!

I suggest you Google based on your interests but whatever they are you'll wish you had more time to visit and will enjoy your visit to this jewel of a City!
 
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Definitely get a Daypass and ride the SkyTrain for great mountain viewing from the elevated structures. The trains are driverless so grab that “railfan” seat and you have that large front window (below) for viewing



Image042.jpg


http://infomaps.translink.ca/System_Maps/92/SkyTrainSystemMap.pdf

The Daypass is also good on the SeaBus Ferry to North Van.
 
The Daypass is good on all TransLink services, including buses. You can get all over Vancouver with it. Such as taking the 50-False Creek bus to Granville Island from Waterfront Station (terminal station for Skytrain, Canada Line trains and the SeaBus).

Granville (not Glanville) Island is south of downtown under the Granville Bridge, BTW.
 
Swadian Hardcore said:
What if you hop a ferry to Victoria and ride it back on the same day?
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Just bear in mind that the ferry runs from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay.

That means to go from Vancouver to Victoria you'll need to take Skytrain & and a bus from Vancouver to Tsawwassen (1 hour), the ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay (1 hour, 30 minutes) and another bus from Swartz Bay to Victoria (1 hour). Leaving yourself just 15 minutes between connections (which would be tight!) it's a 4 hour trip each way. It's doable as a day trip... you just probably wouldn't get more than a couple of hours "on the ground" in Victoria (but you will get to ride a lot of transit!)

EDIT: There's one other option... Pacific Coach Lines does offer direct motorcoach service from Vancouver to Victoria but costs $40 CAD one way versus $24.25 on transit.
 
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Based on experience I'd say that taking Pacific Coast Lines is worth the extra $$$! If money is no object you can take a Float Plane from Vancouver to Victoria!Fantastic View but Pricey! (Used to be $80 CDN)

If you're spending a few days in Vancouver you also might want to consider going up to Whistler or the Sunshine Coast which is as pristine a Coast as is left in North AAmerica! (North of Powell River @ Lund where the Road ends you can ride a ferry over to Gulf Islands or even Desolation Sound which is still just the way it was when Capt Vancouver discovered it for the White Man so long ago! (The Inuits, aka Indians, were already there!)
 
Ah well, how about a quick ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale or Bowen Island? I could ride Greyhound to Nanaimo for CAD$10 but I'm not interested in adding more intercity bus trips which cost more time and money. Just wanted a ferry ride. Don't want to visit Victoria anyway, I think Vanocuver is good enough for me.
 
If I had a spare day in Vancouver then a trip out on one of the whale watching trips would be my first choice.

I used whalesvancouver.com who are based on Granville Island so you can buy some lunch ant the amazing market there to take with you.

Had a fantastic 4 or 5 hour trip, chased 2 Orcas for an hour or so and got some stunning photos of the Orca, Bald Eagles and the amazing scenery.

Far more interesting and exhilarating than just more 'dull' trains or buses!!
 
Train person said:
If I had a spare day in Vancouver then a trip out on one of the whale watching trips would be my first choice.

I used whalesvancouver.com who are based on Granville Island so you can buy some lunch ant the amazing market there to take with you.

Had a fantastic 4 or 5 hour trip, chased 2 Orcas for an hour or so and got some stunning photos of the Orca, Bald Eagles and the amazing scenery.

Far more interesting and exhilarating than just more 'dull' trains or buses!!
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Did you see any humpbacks or blue whales? What if you don't see any whales? Doesn't sound like a good option to me, just like how the Northern Lights tours sometimes fail to catch the aurora.
 
Swadian Hardcore said:
Train person said:
If I had a spare day in Vancouver then a trip out on one of the whale watching trips would be my first choice.

I used whalesvancouver.com who are based on Granville Island so you can buy some lunch ant the amazing market there to take with you.

Had a fantastic 4 or 5 hour trip, chased 2 Orcas for an hour or so and got some stunning photos of the Orca, Bald Eagles and the amazing scenery.

Far more interesting and exhilarating than just more 'dull' trains or buses!!
Click to expand...
Did you see any humpbacks or blue whales? What if you don't see any whales? Doesn't sound like a good option to me, just like how the Northern Lights tours sometimes fail to catch the aurora.
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Such is life, it's nature nothing's guaranteed. No humpbacks or blue, just Orca, and that was pretty special for this city boy.I think if you don't see any whales you get a gratis future trip, can't remember the exact details.

Still, it all worked out and it was a fantastic day, sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate....

I admit it doesn't compare with the intimate details of Greyhound seating but sometimes you need to push the envelope!
 
Train person said:
Swadian Hardcore said:
Train person said:
If I had a spare day in Vancouver then a trip out on one of the whale watching trips would be my first choice.

I used whalesvancouver.com who are based on Granville Island so you can buy some lunch ant the amazing market there to take with you.

Had a fantastic 4 or 5 hour trip, chased 2 Orcas for an hour or so and got some stunning photos of the Orca, Bald Eagles and the amazing scenery.

Far more interesting and exhilarating than just more 'dull' trains or buses!!
Click to expand...
Did you see any humpbacks or blue whales? What if you don't see any whales? Doesn't sound like a good option to me, just like how the Northern Lights tours sometimes fail to catch the aurora.
Click to expand...
Such is life, it's nature nothing's guaranteed. No humpbacks or blue, just Orca, and that was pretty special for this city boy.I think if you don't see any whales you get a gratis future trip, can't remember the exact details.

Still, it all worked out and it was a fantastic day, sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate....

I admit it doesn't compare with the intimate details of Greyhound seating but sometimes you need to push the envelope!
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I know, I'm not talking about Greyhound right now, I'm just talking about Vancouver. I really don't need to think too much about Greyhound right now, after all Ricky already told me what equipment they have in Vancouver and I know I have to book 21 days in advance without fear of overbooking, I got the System Timetable too, so really no fret on that. Don't really want to discuss Greyhound here.

How does Vancouver compare to Seattle? I see they got Skytrain, and Seattle just has a short Monorail route and a measly crowded CentralLink Light Rail. I'm always thought Seattle to be the haven of articulated buses, they got them everywhere. Seattle also has the Museum of Flight. While Vancouver has cool trackless trolleys, Skytrain, the SeaBus ferry, and lots of cool attractions. Seattle's main attraction is the Museum of Flight and that's about it, Pike's Place Market is just anothe tourist-trap Fisherman's Wharf.
 
Swadian Hardcore said:
How does Vancouver compare to Seattle? I see they got Skytrain, and Seattle just has a short Monorail route and a measly crowded CentralLink Light Rail. I'm always thought Seattle to be the haven of articulated buses, they got them everywhere. Seattle also has the Museum of Flight. While Vancouver has cool trackless trolleys, Skytrain, the SeaBus ferry, and lots of cool attractions. Seattle's main attraction is the Museum of Flight and that's about it, Pike's Place Market is just anothe tourist-trap Fisherman's Wharf.
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In terms of the scenery, the climate and attitudes of residents I think Seattle and Vancouver are very comparable. Chock it up to the fact that they are the two big "seaport cities" on the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

I really love living in Seattle and I loved visiting Vancouver. Both are really amazing cities... I wouldn't call one better than the other.

But there are some things that make them different...

Vancouver feels very "cosmopolitan". It's the countries 8th largest city and the 3rd largest metropolitan area... and feels very much like a "big city". By comparison Seattle is the 22nd largest city in the US and the 15th largest metropolitan area... and feels rather isolated from the rest of the US (which isn't a bad thing!) But in reality Seattle is a bigger city (620,778 people vs. 603,502 people) and a bigger metropolitan area (3,500,026 people vs. 2,313,328 people.)

Vancouver's downtown looks and feels much more impressive than Seattle's because it's so geographically constrained. They have been forced to build up instead of out. It feels like there are multi-story office buildings and condos as far as the eye can see. But the downtown is actually quite small (and therefore rather walkable).

When it comes to tourist attractions...

Seattle's Pike Place Market (no "s") and Vancouver's Granville Island Market are two different takes on the same concept... a large market on the waterfront. Pike Place Market is rather "gritty" in a charming way... the walkways are narrow, slanted and lined with loud, animated vendors (they throw fish for heavens sake!). The Granville Island Market is quintessentially Canadian... everything is neat, orderly and quiet.

But what both markets have in common is they are packed with incredible products. I recommend a visit to both.

(As an aside, I hate when people call Pike Place Market a "tourist-trap". If all you do is go to Starbucks and see the fish throwers... it is. But there is SO MUCH MORE to the market... if you care to look around. I also disagree with the Fisherman's Wharf characterization... mostly because I associate that with San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, which is a "tourist-trap".)

Seattle's monorail may not be particularly useful, but it's awesome, totally retro and a Seattle landmark... plus it takes you from Downtown to the cities biggest tourist attraction, the Seattle Center (home of the Space Needle, EMP and the Pacific Science Center).

In terms of transportation...

Skytrain is really impressive. At times the system is so frequent you see one train pulling into the end of the platform as the other train departs at the front. But I wasn't really impressed of its coverage of downtown. It only makes a few stops... and it can be a long walk or bus ride to the other side of the island to reach many destinations.

Seattle's Link Light Rail is nice and done well... but it's clearly just the start of a larger system. It's great for going from downtown to the airport... but not much else. But what really makes it unique is the "transit tunnel" in downtown. The stops are close enough together that it makes it easy to get around downtown and it's cool to watch the hybrid buses and trains use the same tunnel.

I wasn't that impressed by the SeaBus. It's run like clockwork but it's just a short ferry ride across the bay... nothing special. I prefer the trip on the Washington State Ferries from Seattle to Bainbridge Island.

Seattle also has an extensive system of trackless trolleys (we call them trolleybuses) and you're right we love articulated buses.
 
Nice comparison! I've lived in both cities and overall I prefer Vancouver even if it is very expensive to live there!

My main thought about Seattle is that its wonderful on a Sunny warm day but not so great on a dreary, gray Winter Day!!( and Starbucks?? Say it isn't so, tons of better places in Seattle!)

To me the deciding factor in Vancouver's favor is Stanley Park, one of the jewels of the world!
 
Well, when I lived in Seattle, Pike Place definitely looked like a tourist trap to me. The fish were not very frash and overpriced. That's what I remember. Things changed?

If talking about Washington State Ferries, that would be more comparable to BC Ferries, and then they're similar.

For rainfall, it didn't rain much when I lived in Seattle, yes there were many more rainy days compared to Reno, but not that bad compared to Philadelphia.

Seattle probably has more useful transit system than Vancouver, but the jumble of agencies gets me confused. What I really don't understand is why Vancouver doesn't build east toward Coquitlam and Langley. Seattle does have those cool artic suburban buses (Sound Transit Express), never seen anything like them anywehre else. Sounds like a much better idea than New York's Big D suburban buses.

On the map, Skytrain does go to Pacific Central and the Airport, albeit with two different kinds of equipment. Pacific Central sounds like a great idea to me, it's combined VIA Rail, Amtrak, Greyhound, Greyhound BoltBus, and Pacific Coast train and bus services under one roof, with Greyhound and VIA Rail Matainence Centers right around the corner, and Rocky Mountaineer isn't far away either. Not to mention that park right in front.

So as far as transport goes, I think Vancouver might get a edge over Seattle, everything else seems about the same but Seattle is a bit cheaper.

Thoughts?
 
Agree on the points about Seattle. I enjoy visiting there. I will be there in late June for a couple of days; I can taste that dungeness omelet at Lowell's in Pike Place Market now! :lol: I enjoy the ambiance in Pike Place; I'm a typical male so don't have the shopping gene ;) but I could spend hours browsing the shops there. Whenever I go to Seattle, I have a standing order from my mother to bring her back something delicious. :lol: And I agree about the weather. It may be gray and dreary there a majority of the time, but if it is a clear sunny day, Seattle is spectacular. And rainfall there is less than just about any place east of the Mississippi. That's because what rain falls in Seattle is mainly a gentle rain; very few if any torrential downpours from thunderstorms as can happen in the midwest or east.

I've never been to Vancouver but would like to go there some day. I got step #1 accomplished by getting an enhanced driver's license a few months ago. The whole process turned out to be an incredible hassle but will well be worth it, I'm sure.
 
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How long ago did you live in Seattle? I have found nothing but amazing food at Pike Place Market. I don't know where in the US you would be able to purchase much fresher fish.

I was really impressed with Pacific Central Station. It has been well preserved, it has a nice level of services offered compared to King Street Station in Seattle. But really the intercity bus operations (Greyhound, Pacific Coach Lines and BoltBus) provide the level traffic needed to support those operations. In terms of train traffic there's just the Cascades twice a day and the Canadian 3 days per week. (It's ironic that Amtrak runs more trains in this part of Canada than VIA does). Those trains alone wouldn't provide enough customers be enough to keep the small shops inside the station in business.

Also interesting that in both Seattle and Vancouver there's easy access to light rail from the train station... but neither station has a direct connection to a light rail station. It's a short easy walk from Pacific Central Station to Main Street–Science World Station in Vancouver and it's an easy walk from King Street Station to International District/Chinatown Station in Seattle.
 
Seattle? When I left, the Ginas hadn't moved in yet! So you know, ten years ago. There were still Wide Aces, Ameriboxes, Little D's, and Big D's in Seattle when I left. :giggle:

Yeah, Pacific Central has a lot more buses than trains, but that's OK, at least it still has trains, and it has a huge number of buses. Besides, VIA can't really expand themselves much out of Vancouver, a SD train to Kamloops would be far too slow via the Fraser Canyon. Their only option would a train to Whistler, which already has the Whistler Mountaineer anyway, 'cause the Prince George direction can't support a train, only a bus. Of coruse if VIA had tons of money they could make the Canadian daily and restore the old status quo with the Super Continental, and they have enough Budds to get it done, but you know LD trains never do that great on money.
 
I'm a frequent visitor to Seattle. Like C&O RR, the OP, and many of you wonderful posters, I want to visit Vancouver sometime, but never done it yet.

The info already posted about Seattle is spot on (Pike Place market is a "tourist trap" - and also full of really good fresh food and seafood - but if you want better price go to uwajimaya in the ID)

Does anyone have more info on good retail seafood in Vancouver? or places to eat?

tia.

edit >> add

the scenery and the good public transit is in the guidebooks -

anybody know about cheap lodging and good places to eat?
 
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Cannonball, are you going to Vancouver as well? I found some great hotel deal on Priceline Express Deals, but don't book it if you're riding LD trains. It's a short hop from Seattle on the Greyhound so I can book the Express Deals without fear of cancellation.

Don't know good places to eat, of course.

Don't depend on the guidebooks for transit, I always prefer to use PDF timetables and system maps.
 

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