Vancouver Review

[am2]

We (me, DH, DS10, DD8, and my parents both 65) spent a few days in Vancouver after our HAL cruise earlier this month and I thought I'd post a review since I so much enjoyed gathering info from everyone on here!

We arrived at Canada Place and my parents took a cab and our luggage to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Vancouver Downtown, while the rest of us walked to check out the city. It was a pleasant walk, until the area right before the hotel, which seemed a bit sketchy. Check in went smoothly and the hotel was okay.

We walked across the street and waited for the HOHO trolley. We hadn't purchased tickets because the family option with the 2nd day free wasn't available online, but a manager had sent me an email telling the ticket agent to allow me to purchase it onboard. There wasn't a ticket agent on the trolley, so the driver just let us ride anyway and said we could pay "later." Took the trolley to Granville Island and loved the ride and commentary by driver Michael.

Walked around Granville Island, had lunch at Tony's (YUMMY oysters), bought Nainamo Bars in the market and sat outside to eat them, then headed back to the trolley. This time there was a ticket agent on board, so we purchased tickets then continued the tour back to our hotel. Michael was our driver again and we enjoyed seeing more of Vancouver.

Rested at the hotel then took the trolley back to Gastown. Had dinner at Incendio's Pizza- oh my goodness, the pizza was yummy! We shopped a bit then my parents and kids took a taxi to the hotel while DH and I walked back. Decided to walk down Granville St and discovered that it's quite lively on Saturday nights. Not really our thing, so we walked a street over away from the crowds.

Next day we walked to Cafe Artigiano for breakfast- strong lattes and decent muffins. Then we caught the "red line" trolley to Stanley Park. Got off at the aquarium and had a fantastic visit. Sunday morning was fairly quiet but by lunchtime it was packed. We enjoyed the "training" session for the dolphins and the beluga whale show. An outstanding aquarium- lots to see and do but not so large to be overwhelming. We ate lunch there- tuna salad sandwiches were pretty good. We left about 3pm and walked the sea wall a ways. The kids played in the sand near the lighthouse point, not exactly a beach but far less crowded! We walked by the totem pole area then caught the trolley back to the hotel. As it was finally warm and sunny on a weekend, at least half of Vancouver must have been at the beaches we passed!

We grabbed dinner at the American Cheesesteak Co. near the hotel. Kids don’t like cheesesteak, so DH ran to get them Subway. We sat outside and when our food arrived, the server told us she would allow it since the kids were already eating, but that they don’t allow outside food. Not sure if that’s standard in Vancouver, but it’s silly. I told the waitress that if we’d known that, we wouldn’t be eating there (our kids were VERY understanding about eating on this trip, didn’t complain about eating fish & chips multiple times). Cheesesteaks were delicious- pricey but so good. DH and I also shared a salad that was outstanding.

Next day we walked to Joe’s Grille on Davies St and had yummy blueberry pancakes for breakfast. We said goodbye to my parents and we took a cab to the Hampton Inn by the airport because our flight the next day was at 6:15am. That was a scary can ride- driver was FLYING down the streets and seemed mad about something. We were able to check in early and the hotel was very bright and clean.

We took a bus (that was an adventure, hotel had told us buses took credit cards but they only took Canadian change, which we didn’t have) to Steveston and had fish & chips at Pajo’s. It was good, but I don’t think it was quite as good as the fish & chips we had in Ketchikan and Skagway. We walked through town then had ice cream at Timothy’s- oh my, that’s some of the best ice cream ever! We walked to the visitor center and they called us a cab. That cab driver was much more pleasant.

Next morning we were up at 3:30am, hotel had breakfast packed for us, and we caught the shuttle to the airport. We were a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to see the beautiful parts of the airport that we saw when we arrived. We grabbed some Tim Horton’s (why do people like that place? It was icky) then headed home.

We really enjoyed Vancouver, but we did notice MANY people smoking. Is that because they’re not allowed to smoke inside so they all smoke outside? It was great being able to eat outside without smoke, but everywhere we walked there were smokers. And they didn’t look like travelers, they looked like locals. We were under the impression that it’s a very healthy city, but it didn’t seem that way. It was also very dirty, lots of trash on the streets. Don’t know if it was just the areas we were in, but that surprised us. Seemed dirtier and smokier than other big cities we’ve visited. Otherwise, it was beautiful. My parents commented that they’d love to live there, until they found out how much housing costs, that is!

Turned into a commentary more than a review, but maybe it will help someone. Thanks for reading!

[Putterdude]

Thanks for taking to time to do a review, it's always interesting to see our city through the eyes of a visitor.

Tim Horton's Horton's is a bit of a Canadian icon....not sure why just like I don't know why Dunkin Donuts is so popular. Personally speaking I don't like Tim's coffee but I do enjoy some of the lunches they serve up.

Smoking, I suspect that a lot of the smoking you saw was a result of the not being able to smoke in public buildings and to some extent by recent immigrants to Canada.

Your comment re cleanliness has surprised me. Vancouver is constantly praised by visitors about its cleanliness and the joke among locals is that the streets are constantly being washed. What you saw is what you saw but be assured it is not the norm.

Once again thanks again for your review and I am glad you had a good time.

[Urban trekker]

If the OP is talking about the litter on the streets especially in the area around their hotel and the entertainmernt district which is Granville St at lot of it is scattered free newspapers who despite what our mayor says are left behind by the many homeless people who sleep and frequent that area - that area is also home to several of the cities mental health services and while they are basically harmless many of them will scatter things like newspapers and don't pick up litter. Most litter collection in the downtown core is contracted to the business improvement association who hire many of the same street people to clean the streets with mixed results.

 

As some of you know I live in the area and I see this every day.

 

Glad that you did enjoy your visit overall and thanks for the commentary and your views on our city.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis