Vancouver Info if needed

[xlxo]

Hi! Our party of 6 will be in Vancouver for 2 days post cruise in august. I just heard that the Entertainment Book is offering great deals on last minute purchases, and I was wondering if anyone knows what attractions/restaurants/etc might be in there. Are there any offers in that book that are not offered everywhere else?

 

Also, we're torn as to whether to rent a car and get around that way, or the HOHO, etc. We have no personal knowledge of Vancouver and are grateful for all the advice here on CC.

We're all in our 60's and in reasonable shape. One couple will be leaving the first night and the rest staying a second. Is renting a car worth it, or is parking and traffic too much of a hassle?

 

We're also looking to stay at an airport hotel becasue downtown prices are huge and we have a 6 AM flight out. Are there any decent hotels there that are close to shuttle stops, restaurants, etc?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice and opinions.

I find the Entertainment book limits me on where I want to eat when travelling. I find myself rarely using it. I will say it's a form of advertising premium establishments that I would not normally go. With the reduced book prices for 2015, I can see why it is popular.

 

Car rental...

• what do you plan to do post cruise in Vancouver? What attractions do you want to go?
  
  • Day 1... Grouse Mountain, Capilano Suspension Bridge. Using the free shuttles... you don't need a car.
    
  • Day 2... Hop On service.... you don't need a car
    

  [*]find out what they are charging for parking downtown. $20? $30 a day? I like Richmond airport hotels for free or cheaper parking.

  [*]6am flight? For early flights.... you'll find the 25 minute downtown ride is not much different than the 8 minute drive from the airport hotels in a taxi. The airport shuttles sounds convenient, but they leave when you want to.... especially for the cheaper discount hotels.

Popular cheaper hotel options to explore....

• Blue Horizon (downtown and great restaurant options)
  
• Empire landmark (downtown and great restaurant options)
  
• Hampton Inn (downtown)
  
• Raddison Vancouver Airport (20 minute Canada Line ride to downtown)
  

[xlxo]

Wow. my mind is being boggled.. Since we're getting off a cruise ship in the AM, is there somewhere near Canada Place where we could buy the Daypass? I can see through your great links that the Daypass can be bought for subsequent days.

 

Since i have no concept of how far these things really are from each other, would it be an incredible waste of time to: get off cruise ship, go to nearest vendor to purchase Daypasses, go to hotel to drop luggage, go back to Vancouver to pick up HOHO or equivalent?

 

Is the HOHO even necessary if we have Daypasses?

To clarify....

• which hotel are you looking at? Downtown? Airport?
  
• which daypass are you referring to? HOHO daypass? Translink (public transit) daypass?
  

[xlxo]

Marriott -walk to the pier.

 

No, the hotel would be the Marriott Pinnacle on Hastings Street it and the Renascence across the street would be good choices however they are likely to be over $200/ night.

 

If the Marriott on Westminster is a good choice, I can reserve (and cancel without penalty) for $150 total, if that seems like a good rate. I suppose I could book and then watch rates.

 

Thanks,

Gina

fyi.... the Marriott on Westminser Hwy is a significant distance to the Canada Place pier. It's over 3hrs ONE WAY.

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Vancouver+Airport+Marriott+Hotel,+Westminster+Highway,+Richmond,+BC/Canada+Place,+Vancouver,+BC/@49.2296196,-123.1891015,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x54860acceb3a3d2f:0xa4ae9b99f4132a11!2m2!1d-123.140734!2d49.170302!1m5!1m1!1s0x5486719d24e2e021:0xb7057fe085c86109!2m2!1d-123.111121!2d49.288825!3e2

Edited June 4, 2015 by xlxo

[Putterdude]

fyi.... the Marriott on Westminser Hwy is a significant distance to the Canada Place pier. It's over 3hrs ONE WAY.

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Vancouver+Airport+Marriott+Hotel,+Westminster+Highway,+Richmond,+BC/Canada+Place,+Vancouver,+BC/@49.2296196,-123.1891015,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x54860acceb3a3d2f:0xa4ae9b99f4132a11!2m2!1d-123.140734!2d49.170302!1m5!1m1!1s0x5486719d24e2e021:0xb7057fe085c86109!2m2!1d-123.111121!2d49.288825!3e2

 

No need to quote me in your post I am a native Vancouverite of some 70 years and know exactly where the Marriotts are.

[Birdnutty]

To clarify....

• which hotel are you looking at? Downtown? Airport?
  
• which daypass are you referring to? HOHO daypass? Translink (public transit) daypass?
  

We were thinking airport hotels because of price. It would be nice to stay downtown, but when we are going, downtown hotels are sometimes more than double price than the equivalent or even sister hotels near the airport.

 

Nothing has been booked yet. This is why we're doing all the research now to try to figure out the best course of action. But we're getting closer now and don't want to run out of time.

 

As Putterdude mentioned and gave a link for, the translink Daypass. We were considering HOHO for getting around, but needed a way to get to the HOHO stop. We're looking for a way to conveniently get from our airport hotel back to downtown without spending the whole day in the process and not breaking the bank. We live near NYC - we know what a confusing nightmare that can be to an out-of -towner, so we automatically assume other cities are similar.

 

I know the Entertainment book is limiting, but for a bunch who don't know the area and are not foodies, it's a bargain if the restaurants in there are easy to find and convenient to our route. And for the rest of today, all their books are only $9.99 plus a 30% discount with the code. At that price, even a lunch at McDonalds would pay it back.

[wack001]

Great city, spent 3 days prior to my cruise, try and stay downtown, stayed at Blue Horizon... Superb.

If you are active, we did the 5hrs bike tour, the only way to see the city.

aquarium is top notch...

Many hidden gems in eating.

cruisinbob

[Birdnutty]

I agree with Putterdude about the Canada Line surcharge concerns.

 

The Quality is not one of my preferred hotels to get to downtown attractions. It's simplier to walk to the Brighouse station or bus those two stops than to use the shuttle. Also do some research on that shuttle on how often it runs. I would instead choose the Raddison Vancouver airport that has the Canada Line station across the street (Aberdeen) for a little more.

 

Is there anywhere I can look to see what shuttles exist? The only shuttles I am sure of are the ones that airport hotels offer to take customers to and from the airport. Many references on CC are made to free shuttles, but it's hard to know which is run by who, and goes where, from where and when. :confused::confused:

[Putterdude]

Wow. my mind is being boggled.. Since we're getting off a cruise ship in the AM, is there somewhere near Canada Place where we could buy the Daypass? I can see through your great links that the Daypass can be bought for subsequent days.

 

Since i have no concept of how far these things really are from each other, would it be an incredible waste of time to: get off cruise ship, go to nearest vendor to purchase Daypasses, go to hotel to drop luggage, go back to Vancouver to pick up HOHO or equivalent?

 

Is the HOHO even necessary if we have Daypasses?

 

I think you confusion stems from an earlier post when a poster suggested you go to your hotel and then have the shuttle driver take you to YVR to take the Canada Line back into the city .... which was not the best advice.

 

If you get off the ship and feel you have the energy to take a HOHO or another excursion then you have the option of leaving your luggage at Canada Place with the Priority Luggage people there until 4 pm (for a fee) or even have them transfer your luggage out to YVR. Another option is take the luggage to the Pan Pacific hotel which forms part of Canada Place or the Fairmont Waterfront hotel immediately across the street and give the bell desk a nice tip to hold your luggage in their lock up....then you are free to tour.

 

If it's a day pass you want there are 2 shops close to Canada Place that sells them, Station News in Waterfront Station 3 blocks away or Gateway New at 200 Burrard again about 2 blocks away. While transit will get you around, you do need to remember that it is transit no a tour so unless you have a guide book on your lap you gain very little from the experience.

 

There are some tours that begin from Canada Place that have been mentioned earlier and they are excellent operators. The other option is a HOHO and they operate from in front of Canada Place. My fave is the Vancouver Trolley which has live narration. You could do a HOHO, claim your luggage and then head out to YVR or your hotel on the Canada Line from Waterfront Station for $4 each or take a cab for about $35.

[Putterdude]

Is there anywhere I can look to see what shuttles exist? The only shuttles I am sure of are the ones that airport hotels offer to take customers to and from the airport. Many references on CC are made to free shuttles, but it's hard to know which is run by who, and goes where, from where and when. :confused::confused:

 

Most hotels out by the airport operate their own shuttle (or contract the service out) to and from the hotel and YVR. To my knowledge no airport hotel operates a shuttle to downtown Vancouver. To get to downtown Vancouver it's either by cab or by Canada Line which is essentially a subway line that runs from the airport to downtown within 3 blocks of Canada Place. Out near the airport the line operates above grade.

[martincath]

Wow. my mind is being boggled.. Since we're getting off a cruise ship in the AM, is there somewhere near Canada Place where we could buy the Daypass?

 

Yes - 7-Elevens, London Drugs and various other convenience stores sell them. Here's a Google map with them all.

 

Since i have no concept of how far these things really are from each other, would it be an incredible waste of time to: get off cruise ship, go to nearest vendor to purchase Daypasses, go to hotel to drop luggage, go back to Vancouver to pick up HOHO or equivalent?

 

Wasted time? Yes. Incredible amounts? No - but budget losing about 90minutes from your first day to get out to an airport hotel and back on transit. If you're even vaguely considering taking a cab, stop right now and book a downtown hotel instead (there are ALWAYS 3* downtown hotels available for less than an equivalent airport hotel plus cabfare to & from). Likewise deciding to pay for luggage storage for the day eats into your airport hotel savings amount.

Is the HOHO even necessary if we have Daypasses?

To get around town? Heck no - HOHOs are highly inefficient as they follow one direction only, so to backtrack even one stop means doing the whole loop again. However, I do feel that a HOHO makes for a great introduction to a new city; they certainly take in all the Big Hit tourist sites around downtown, and as PD mentioned above right now Viator is offering a really good discount on the Vancouver Trolley (which goes to more places than any of the other HOHOs). Current route maps are here.

 

I see a few more questions popped up while I was typing!

 

Shuttles - there are no free shuttles anywhere except Hotels and the Grouse Mountain/Capilano shuttles, which have basically no stops except at the attraction, Canada Place (and a couple of hotel pickup/dropoffs for the Cap shuttle). You cannot use these for practical getting around town.

 

Minor exception - the Hampton downtown and a couple of other hotels do have one free shuttle which will drop you off somewhere downtown. But, since there's a hotel full of other guests the odds of it going where you want quickly are slim - and downtown Vancouver is really, REALLY compact! Seriously - a cab fare from anywhere downtown to anywhere else downtown that goes much over $10 means the cabbie just fleeced you. Hotels with 'free' shuttles usually cost more than one without plus a couple of transit daypasses... TANSTAAFLand all that.

 

Entertainment Book - we bought one when we first moved, tried out some restos (without exception the ones in the book are inherently poor value, overpriced for their quality level compared to other places, which is precisely why they pay to be included in 'deals' like the EB...) and visited the various attractions. We bought another next year and used attraction passes only, because we had visitors staying with us. Never bothered since as every edition has fewer attractions and more restrictions. As PD wisely mentioned, check for excluded dates - the few remaining big attractions, like Science World, often forbid using the passes during high season (any school vacation or holiday weekend basically), Still, you can probably find a few things to do that effectively save you $10-20 a pop, so if the book is on sale for under $40 I'd be confident you can save enough to pay for it and actually save some cash even without dining out on it.

 

You also asked above about which hotels folks recommend - as a local living downtown I obviously don't tend to actually stay in our hotels much, but I can certainly comment on locations - if you do plan to stay out near YVR, the most important thing is being close enough to Skytrain to walk - this will make your travel much simpler, cutting our hotel shuttle delays (most only have a single vehicle, if it just left you're SOL until it gets back).

 

The best station to be near is Bridgeport as this is where the two ends of the line come together - so trains are twice as often as anywhere further south. You also don't need to worry about which train to board heading out of downtown, as they all go this far before splitting off. Look here for options - Hampton Inn, Days Inn are both pretty well-rated on Tripadvisor etc. and on the cheaper end. If you can afford the River Rock you can also afford to be downtown!

 

If you also plan to dine near the hotel rather than downtown - and unless you want good Chinese food you should stick to downtown for many, many more convenient dining options - both of the above have a choice of restos around, and also a Costco for any pharmacy/soda/snack type stuff.

 

If it were me, I'd book a refundable rate at one of those two hotels and keep checking Expedia for deals - nonrefundable rates of less than CAN$150 can be had at many 3* or better hotels downtown. For your 6am flight - remember that you cannot get through US security before 4:30am, so it's completely pointless being at the airport any earlier than 4:00am (drop bags, print boarding passes, join the queue for security, you should get to US CBP about when the open). By the time you wait for a hotel shuttle, honestly you might be just as quick taking a cab from downtown the day of your flight - 30mins is more than enough time as traffic is nonexistent that early.

[Putterdude]

Birdnutty, I have confused you with another poster on another forum and may have confused you....and I am sorry. With airport hotels there is the trade off between having the convenience of being downtown and saving money by being out by the airport, its a personal decision.

 

When you disembark checking your luggage as I described in my earlier post is a good idea then get on with your tour be it by transit or by a HOHO or another city tour (which are good but expensive) for my money I like the HOHO concept and we use them often when we visit a new city. Transit merely moves you from one place to another and you learn nothing about the city or what you are looking at.

 

Following your touring you would likely care to take the Canada Line out to your hotel for $4 (the fare is a little lower if you are over 65, travel after 6:30 or on weekends and holidays) and martincath has offered to suggest hotels out by the airport that are close to a Canada Line station.

[Birdnutty]

Following your touring you would likely care to take the Canada Line out to your hotel for $4 (the fare is a little lower if you are over 65, travel after 6:30 or on weekends and holidays) and martincath has offered to suggest hotels out by the airport that are close to a Canada Line station.

 

This sounds interesting, and is more what I had in mind. Disembark early, take train to hotel in Richmond, drop off luggage. Take train back (does this make sense?) HOHO for the day, then train back to hotel for the night. Take train to downtown in AM next day, repeat process, but with different attractions. Bad idea?

 

Am I better off getting each of us a Daypass (which if I'm reading this right, allows unlimited access to rail and busses for one day), or a multi-trip ticket (Faresaver), since there are several of us and we could share. We will be there on a weekend, and one if us is a senior.

 

Thank you for your advice... and your patience as I try to muddle through this. I am so thankful you are taking the time to work with me.

 

And Martincath, I would be delighted with some hotel suggestions in the airport area that are close to a Canada Line station - preferably walkable. It's hard to tell from a map. You mentioned Hampton Inn and day's inn. What others fit the bill?

[Putterdude]

This sounds interesting, and is more what I had in mind. Disembark early, take train to hotel in Richmond, drop off luggage. Take train back (does this make sense?) HOHO for the day, then train back to hotel for the night. Take train to downtown in AM next day, repeat process, but with different attractions. Bad idea?

 

Am I better off getting each of us a Daypass (which if I'm reading this right, allows unlimited access to rail and busses for one day), or a multi-trip ticket (Faresaver), since there are several of us and we could share. We will be there on a weekend, and one if us is a senior.

 

Thank you for your advice... and your patience as I try to muddle through this. I am so thankful you are taking the time to work with me.

 

And Martincath, I would be delighted with some hotel suggestions in the airport area that are close to a Canada Line station - preferably walkable. It's hard to tell from a map. You mentioned Hampton Inn and day's inn. What others fit the bill?

 

A day pass costs $9.75 and is $7.50 if you are over 65...7 days a week. So with the cash fare being only $4 each...a little less if over 65 then I would just pay the cash fare. To go out to your YVR hotel with your luggage and come back is going to burn up more than an hour of your valuable sightseeing time and I have trouble recommending that. Personally, I would check my luggage at Canada Place or one of the hotels I mentioned, catch the HOHO and when I'd had enough for one day pick up my luggage and head for the hotel. Then come back into the city the next day and do the HOHO thing again as you are thinking...then back to the hotel when your day is done. I think I mentioned earlier in this thread that ViaTour has a great 2 day rate for the Vancouver Trolley that includes a ride up the Vancouver Lookout.

 

I will let martincath respond to your hotel question.

[martincath]

Hotel-wise, honestly I'm loathe to recommend a specific hotel without having stayed in it.

 

The only bargain hotel I can comment directly on is the YWCA Hotel, which in my mind is the absolutely perfect hotel for folks who think of a hotel as just a room and want to save a few bucks - full kitchens so you can make your own breakfasts, picnic lunches, heck even a full family dinner if you want, laundries, and they do have private en-suite rooms as well as large rooms and shared bathrooms that most folks probably think of when they hear 'YW/MCA' mentioned.

 

Much cheaper than other downtown hotel rack rates, clean & safe, and your cash goes to raising funds for YWCA programs. We stayed here when we first visited Vancouver, and judging from Tripadvisor, Expedia etc. many people share our high opinion of the place...

 

Near the airport, the two I already mentioned are very convenient for the best Skytrain station, but any info I have on their actual quality comes from skimming Tripadvisor, Expedia etc. The only other hotel in that area is the Best Western Plus Alcorn, which is a few extra minutes walk. Familiarise yourself with directions on Google, Bing, MapQuest or whichever seems most intuitive to you - it'll make life much easier for you in the long-term when traveling as not only will they tell you how far something is, but all offer routes based on transit, driving, and walking and can even list any significant elevation changes for the latter.

 

A frequent visitor who posts a lot, xlxo, loves the Radisson a little south - this trades off a longer wait for trains (3 minutes peak, up to 20 at lightest offpeak times) against being literally across the road from Aberdeen station. It seems to run generally pricier than the Days Inn/Hampton though.

 

PDs suggestion of storing luggage on day one is something I also feel you should consider - in fact the 'send bags to the airport' method can be well worth the money. You said you're a small group - $40 gets 4 bags ($10 per extra bag) dropped off at the pier and picked up early evening or later at the airport. Airport locations are open until very late - you can stay downtown all day, have dinner, head to airport, collect bags, then take free hotel shuttle and it will save you ballpark 90minutes (enough time for another attraction to be seen) and a transit ticket per person.

 

On the transit tickets vs cash vs daypass issue, unfortunately you have to make assumptions about your behaviour so there is no one answer that is always correct. If you are guessing right that you will take transit 3 times on the first day (to hotel, from hotel, back to hotel) then you will still only need 2 tickets - they're good for 90minutes and unlike many transit systems allow you to backtrack (i.e. you can go to the hotel, and as long as you board the Skytrain again within 90mins or less you can reuse the original ticket).

 

The good news is that weekends the whole system is a single zone so base price is $2.75 ($1.75 seniors) whenever and wherever you go. As PD suggests, unless you actually plan to use transit during the day at least once or twice, not just for the commute to & from Richmond, a Daypass is going to be the most expensive option.

 

Personally I would guess that packs of FareSavers will likely work out best since you have mostly folks under 65 - for Seniors there is zero saving in Faresaver packs, they're $17.50 for 10 $1.75 tickets but for adults they're $21 for 10 $2.75 tickets. Since you only have one senior (and NB, unless they are over 65 and carrying ID to prove it then Translink does not count them as Seniors!) you'll have to buy the regular versions for everyone else, and it may simply be easier to use them for the senior too (anyone can use more expensive tickets without hassle, you only have to prove eligibility if you choose to use the concession fares).

 

Depending on group size, if you can use up exactly a whole pack of tickets it's obviously going to work out better - but if you have more than one left unused, it would have been cheaper paying 'cash' (Skytrain allows you to use credit cards to pay, and you can make one transaction for multiple tickets at a time so it's not too inconvenient).

 

In short, how little you can spend is based on your group size and tolerance for hassle - is it worth using ticket machines every trip? Can you use up 9 or 10 FareSavers? Or does that Daypass seem like a better deal after all...? (Math Problem: 2 Senior tickets $3.50 per person per day cash fare or using Faresavers; under 65s it's $5.50pppd cash, or $4.20pppd using Faresavers)

Edited June 5, 2015 by martincath
spelling

[Birdnutty]

You all have been wonderful, and I do believe you've fully answered all my questions. Thank so much for your time and effort. :) If I have any more, I know exactly where to come.

[Putterdude]

You are very welcome and I hope that you have a wonderful cruise a super time in my hometown. While I now live about an hour up the coast from Vancouver and ask people to wave as they sail by our front door northbound....I ask that people don't ask the captain to honk the ship's horn southbound as they go by about 4:30 am.:D

[Birdnutty]

you are very welcome and i hope that you have a wonderful cruise a super time in my hometown. While i now live about an hour up the coast from vancouver and ask people to wave as they sail by our front door northbound....i ask that people don't ask the captain to honk the ship's horn southbound as they go by about 4:30 am.:d

 

:) :d

[scottbee]

This sounds interesting, and is more what I had in mind. Disembark early, take train to hotel in Richmond, drop off luggage. Take train back (does this make sense?) HOHO for the day, then train back to hotel for the night. Take train to downtown in AM next day, repeat process, but with different attractions. Bad idea?

 

Am I better off getting each of us a Daypass (which if I'm reading this right, allows unlimited access to rail and busses for one day), or a multi-trip ticket (Faresaver), since there are several of us and we could share. We will be there on a weekend, and one if us is a senior.

 

Thank you for your advice... and your patience as I try to muddle through this. I am so thankful you are taking the time to work with me.

 

And Martincath, I would be delighted with some hotel suggestions in the airport area that are close to a Canada Line station - preferably walkable. It's hard to tell from a map. You mentioned Hampton Inn and day's inn. What others fit the bill?

 

I think if you're willing to take the train out to richmond and back, I'd just buy an all day transit ticket, and skip the hoho. The bus system cab take you everywhere the Ho Ho goes, more frequently, and also get you to a lot of places the Hoho (which sticks to downtown) doesn't even go near.

 

Do you have an idea of what you'd like to see/visit in Vancouver?

[ocean paradise]

I have read a lot of threads and reviews on Trip Advisor about the HOHO trolleys. We are a party of 11 visiting for 2 days post cruise on a Friday and Saturday. We were planning on using HOHO trolley but I am reading so many negative reviews about the wait time to get on trolleys. I'm concerned with a party of 11 we would be spending more time waiting that site seeing. What would some other options be? We don't really want to rent cars but....thoughts and suggestions please. Thank you

[Putterdude]

Having looked at the reviews of the VTC I am not sure that they are worse or better than any other HOHO that I taken or have read about. I think the fundamental issue is that people expect a private tour at a HOHO price and no HOHO can really do that. I do know that VTC does put empty floaters out to pick up people where they were left behind but at times that likely still isn't enough. I would have a hard time telling you that the VTC or any HOHO would work well for 11 people...because I really don't think it will unless you are prepared to split up. You may care to look at Vancouver Tours who are also excellent operators and could certainly handle a party of 11 but it will be at a completely different price point. Other than that it is likely a matter of deciding what you want to see in Vancouver, purchasing an all day pass for $9.75 ( a little less for youngsters and seniors ) and taking in the sights by transit.

 

http://vancouvertours.com/

 

http://www.translink.ca/en/Fares-and-Passes/DayPass.aspx

[scottbee]

I have read a lot of threads and reviews on Trip Advisor about the HOHO trolleys. We are a party of 11 visiting for 2 days post cruise on a Friday and Saturday. We were planning on using HOHO trolley but I am reading so many negative reviews about the wait time to get on trolleys. I'm concerned with a party of 11 we would be spending more time waiting that site seeing. What would some other options be? We don't really want to rent cars but....thoughts and suggestions please. Thank you

 

Certainly in the downtown core (where the HOHOs run), a car is more of a nuisance than a help. You might want to consider all day transit tickets (bus/skytrain/seabus), which will go everywhere the Hoho goes, more often, and go to a ton of places that the Hohos (lynn canyon, qe park, wreck beach etc etc). Cost is under $10/each.

[ocean paradise]

Thanks so much for your responses. We are from Houston and local transit it not something we are familiar with. It's is easy to use for a newbie and well marked?

[ocean paradise]

Thanks so much for your responses. We are from Houston and we are not familiar with public transit. It is easy to use for a newbie and well marked?

[martincath]

Thanks so much for your responses. We are from Houston and we are not familiar with public transit. It is easy to use for a newbie and well marked?

As good or better than anywhere I've been - bus stops all list the relevant buses and almost all have a timetable at the stop; there's pretty good integration to text/online/apps so if you have a modern phone with you it's possible to see exactly when/where your bus is; all stops on all modes of transit are announced verbally and on signs so you know when to get off.

 

The Translink trip planner is fully-integrated with Google Maps so you can do a 'one stop shop' very effectively to assess whether walking or transit is the easiest way between places - it would be a good idea, unless you have an affordable data package on your phone to get live directions, to figure out your priority sights around town and use Google to figure out how to get between them in advance. Email the routes to yourself or just print them old school.

[Putterdude]

MC has provided some very good advice, however I would go back to an earlier post of mine. My advice would be to do some serious research on what you and your party want to see in Vancouver, research what these sites and attractions are about, plot them on a map then either use your smart phone or the Translink Trip Planner....because transit is not a guided tour, it is a means of getting from one location to another.

 

http://tripplanning.translink.ca/