Vancouver, BC and the surrounding area

[kemaji]

DH and I are planning our summer vacation and one of the destinations we want to get to is Vancouver. We're planning a road trip from Seattle to Vancouver. I've been to Seattle before, but not Vancouver, so I'd love to get some suggestions on things to do and inexpensive places to stay in and around the area. I'd also love suggestions on restaurants, as this is where I like to splurge.

Thanks!

[Southlooper]

There is so much to do in Vancouver!

Highlights in the city:
Downtown people watching
Granville Island
Stanley Park
Capalano Suspension Bridge
The Gardens

Steveston is a nice charming fishing village outside the city (atleast the last time I was there 14 years ago, I can imagine it is now a suburb.)

Take the ferry to Victoria/Vancouver island. The ferry trip itself is wonderful. Victoria is a the capitol of BC and is very charming.

[andy's di]

Vancouver is fabulous!

Depending on what interests you and if you are up for some driving there are so many things to do!

If you have a couple of days I would definitely recommend a day trip to Whistler - it's about 90 minutes from Downtown Vancouver and the drive is absolutely spectacular! You can stop at Shannon Falls just outside Squamish (about 40 minutes south of Whistler) and do a small (15 minute) walk to get up close to the falls, or you could hike the Chief (about 90 minutes one way).

In Whistler there is tons of shopping and great restaurants - if you like sushi I cannot say enough about Sushi Village, everything there is soooo good and they make the best Sake Margaritas!

If you stay the night Elements on Main Street has an amazing Brunch.

If you're planning on staying just within Vancouver, Lynn Canyon (http://www.lynncanyonparkguide.bc.ca/aboutPark.html) in North Vancouver has a pretty cool suspension bridge plus some great hiking trails and a small swimming area in the river - the best thing is it's FREE!

The Capilano Suspension Bridge (http://www.capbridge.com) is bigger and higher than the one in Lynn Canyon and you do get some interactive displays and the TreeTops adventure AFAIK the admission is approx $25 - you could spend about 2 hours there and you'll have seen everything.

The seawall at Stanley Park is always a great place to walk, bike, inline skate - they are hoping that it will be all repaired by the summer from the wind storms that we had this winter.

For restaurants there is limitless possibilities - I have heard that Vancouver has the most restaurants per capita than any other city in Canada!

I can make some recommendations:

If you like French there is Feenie's (http://www.feenies.com) and Lumiere (http://www.lumiere.ca) on Broadway - both are owned by Chef Robert Feenie - he won on Iron Chef America and you can order his winning dishes.

If you like meat and lots of it you have to get to the Afghan Horseman (http://www.afghanhorsemen.com) (also on Broadway) they have the best kabobs and these amazing potato cakes - yum!

For the best burgers in town you should check out Moderne Burger (http://www.moderneburger.com)

As I think of more I'll post more...

Di

[Adaya]

I'm in Vancouver now for the 1st time, and I love it! So from a visitor's perspective, what everyone has said is right one.

Capilano Bridge was great. I never knew walking across a suspension bridge would be so fun. The treetop adventure was fun too. It was raining a bit, but it didn't stop us. :)

We walked around Stanley Park today. Some parts are closed off due to damage from a storm back in November, but we covered a lot it. It's so beautiful and you can really see some great things if you get on some of the trails. We saw Beaver Lake which was pretty cool too. But it's kinda off the beaten path.

We've been trying to get up to Grouse Mountain, but the weather has been a bit rainy and SUPER foggy. So maybe tomorrow. If we do, I'll come back and post about it. I hear it's really cool up there.

Had some great Chinese food at Hon's House of Chinese on Robson Street and got in some good shopping, particularly at Lush, on Robson as well.