Vancouver in 1 1/2 days??

We are arriving in Vancouver on Wednesday June 29th with our flight due in around 11:30-12noon. We are staying at the 4 Seasons Hotel for 2 nights. We will have the afternoon (after checking in and getting settled) and the evening on Wednesday and then all day on Thursday to see as much of Vancouver as we can. My wish list is: Canada Place, Fly over Canada, Vancouver Lookout, self walking tour of Gastown and Chinatown, Stanley Park (either shuttle bus or Carriage Tour) Capilano Bridge and Grouse Mountain. Is all this possible to do in 1 1/2 days or should I scale down considering we will have to eat sometime? Would appreciate any thoughts/ideas on a do-able itinerary. Thanks in advance.

Possible? Yes - remember you have embarkation morning too.

But it's going to make for pretty long days, even if you employ maximum efficiency of routing (e.g. combine Cap and Grouse without returning to downtown).

Definitely you should bump the Canada Place/Flyover to embarkation morning as you will literally be right there on site. If you're worried about lots of other folks doing the same thing, prebook your Flyover tickets for an extra buck or so each and you will be in and out in under an hour total. The exterior of CP, even if you read all the little plaques and play with the musical instruments is likely a half hour than an hour. You could even add the harbour centre Lookout before boarding - a good view of your ship is possible!

If weather is nice, which it should be at end of June, consider heading to Cap the day you arrive (after lunch - food options are minimal). Free shuttles run frequently until 5pm. From Cap, take a cab or public bus to Grouse - this stays open late in the evenings through summer, with some genuinely good food as well as more affordable fare, and sunset from the mountain is definitely something to be seen. I'd return by Seabus - another good opportunity for views of the city coming back over, and no need to worry about when the free shuttles stop. Only $2.75pp after 6:30pm, so dirt cheap too and the same ticket will get you on the bus down the mountain to Lonsdale Quay and then onto the Seabus (very hard to screw up too, ride to the end of the line on both bus and Seabus).

On your full day - well, Stanley park could eat ALL of that up if you really want do it justice. I wouldn't recommend carriages though - unless you rent (at great expense) a private carriage, it's not the romantic horse-drawn trip of Ye Olde Worlde or Disney movies, it's twenty people packed four abreast meaning the middle two see their seatmates more than the outside (or in the front row you have delightful views of horse butts pooping!) It's also too slow to actually see much of the park in that one hour loop.

Rent bikes, walk, or do the $10 summer Park Shuttle for minimal effort and maximal sightseeing. Realistically most folks can spend three hours in the park doing the highlights - totems, rose garden, beaver pond, Seawall, Prospect Point.

Lookout could also be fitted in between the park and Gastown readily - I believe they sell multi-entry tickets, so you could go up during the day and then return after dinner for sunset/nighttime views.

If you have enough energy, visiting Granville Island could be a good spot for the afternoon of your full day - lots of lunch options, from sandwiches to pretty high end locavore cuisine, and tons of quirky one-off shops selling all kinds of stuff for potential souvenirs. See some totem pole carvers at work, view some of our outdoor art, take a little ferry along False Creek to the far end (Athlete's village or Casino) and walk up into Chinatown from there.

Dinner in Gastown is probably the best option - lots of excellent restos and bars, plenty of sidewalk action from locals and fellow tourists.

If you have time I would suggest going on a water taxi across to Granville island. It is a wonderful place for lunch, scenery is so beautiful with all the boats coming and going. I would forgo Chinatown. Over the years it has become run down. It certainly not what it used to be. Grouse mountain, capilano suspension bridge, and Stanley park are all worth a visit.

We are arriving in Vancouver on Wednesday June 29th with our flight due in around 11:30-12noon. We are staying at the 4 Seasons Hotel for 2 nights. We will have the afternoon (after checking in and getting settled) and the evening on Wednesday and then all day on Thursday to see as much of Vancouver as we can. My wish list is: Canada Place, Fly over Canada, Vancouver Lookout, self walking tour of Gastown and Chinatown, Stanley Park (either shuttle bus or Carriage Tour) Capilano Bridge and Grouse Mountain. Is all this possible to do in 1 1/2 days or should I scale down considering we will have to eat sometime? Would appreciate any thoughts/ideas on a do-able itinerary. Thanks in advance.

Day 1, June 29th

• noon airport arrival... 30 minutes for customs
  
• 1pm cab to hotel
  
• 1:30pm head to Stanley Park for the afternoon.
  
• Granville Island if you have time
  
• Head over to Fly Over Canada around 8:30pm. Last show is at 9pm
  

Day 2, June 30th

• Capilano Suspension Bridge
  
• Grouse Mountain
  
• Chinatown and Gastown
  

Day 3, July 1st

• Embarkation
  

We are arriving in Vancouver on Wednesday June 29th with our flight due in around 11:30-12noon. We are staying at the 4 Seasons Hotel for 2 nights. We will have the afternoon (after checking in and getting settled) and the evening on Wednesday and then all day on Thursday to see as much of Vancouver as we can. My wish list is: Canada Place, Fly over Canada, Vancouver Lookout, self walking tour of Gastown and Chinatown, Stanley Park (either shuttle bus or Carriage Tour) Capilano Bridge and Grouse Mountain. Is all this possible to do in 1 1/2 days or should I scale down considering we will have to eat sometime? Would appreciate any thoughts/ideas on a do-able itinerary. Thanks in advance.

You wish list is ambitious but can be done depending upon your personal stamina.

With your noon arrival time, its going to be 1:30 to 2:00 before you are settled in your hotel which is likely 4:00 your time. So an easy stroll down to Canada Place and take in the Fly Over Canada might be in order then over to the Vancouver Lookout followed by dinner.

Next morning I would probably take in the CSB and Grouse Mtnin the morning returning to the city in the early afternoon with a visit to Stanley Park, bearing in mind that the park comprises 1000 acres so you are not going to see it all, most Vancouverites haven't seen it all. You may care to go to Chinatown for dinner.

On the morning of embarkation, I would take my luggage down to Canada Place about 9:30 then go for my stroll in Gastown then head back to the pier for embarkation.

One hint would be to remain flexible and have a plan B if the weather is inclement. If the weather is not cooperating then you may care to drop Grouse Mtn., do the CSB, a HOHO ride around the park then head for Granville Island for part of the afternoon and maybe have dinner there.

My suggestion would be to stay in the downtown core the whole time.

Keep in mind that that weekend is Canada Day weekend and many people on the 30th will getting off work early to get a head start on the long weekend. Crossing the Lions Gate bridge on the way back from Grouse/Caplilano might eat up a lot of your limited time.

You're first day is going to be a long one as I'm assuming you are catching a connecting flight? By the time you get settled in it will be your dinner time. I would find a place that has a decent happy hour and then head over to the Fly over Canada.

Finish off with a few appetizers after and then head back to the hotel for the next day. If the weather is good head over to Granville Island in the morning and then Stanley Park for a leisurely afternoon.

We are arriving in Vancouver on Wednesday June 29th with our flight due in around 11:30-12noon. We are staying at the 4 Seasons Hotel for 2 nights. We will have the afternoon (after checking in and getting settled) and the evening on Wednesday and then all day on Thursday to see as much of Vancouver as we can. My wish list is: Canada Place, Fly over Canada, Vancouver Lookout, self walking tour of Gastown and Chinatown, Stanley Park (either shuttle bus or Carriage Tour) Capilano Bridge and Grouse Mountain. Is all this possible to do in 1 1/2 days or should I scale down considering we will have to eat sometime? Would appreciate any thoughts/ideas on a do-able itinerary. Thanks in advance.

In case it helps narrow down what you wish to do, this was where I went in a day. All the best, Tony

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Thank you to everyone for all your thoughts and suggestions. I will start to narrow down options. I still have time to decide and I think I will leave my options open and decide what to do according to the weather. No use going to Grouse Mountain if it is raining or foggy. Would really like to go to Capilano bridge though. Whatever we do I am really looking forward to visiting Vancouver and Victoria.