24 hours in Vancouver, what to do?

[jmarks]

We are only a few days away from our trip and have many activities planned already. We don't know much at all about Vancouver, and we have a full afternoon and morning there before we board the Mariner at 2:00. We are staying at the Westin, (via priceline, thanks to all of you) and would love suggestions. Is the trip to Butchart gardens feasible? Worth doing?? Thanks to all.

[CStorm]

I am NOT an expert so please take my suggestions with a grain of salt. We have about the same amount of time as you do and we are doing the following:

 

Taking a cab to Granville Island from the hotel to walk around and grab a bite to eat.

 

Taking a cab to Chinatown and possibly seeing the Dr. Sun Yet-Sen gardens if time allows.

 

Walking to Gastown to see a few things and then taking a cab back to the hotel to get ready for our 8pm dinner reservations.

 

The next morning we are going to do a carriage ride in Stanley Park and possibly visit the aquarium before boarding our ship.

 

Hope that helps! Looking forward to what the experts have to say...

[grouchy]

when something catches your interest.Or stay on it and see the city and listen to the driver tell some history.The Bayshore is right by Stanley Park-go for a walk. Have a meal by the pool and look at the scenery.

[NancyIL]

We stayed at the Westin Bayshore 3 summers ago and loved it, so we plan to stay there again for the 2 nights before our cruise next summer.

 

I love the Butchart Gardens, and I highly recommend going there, but you don't have enough time. It's north of Victoria on Vancouver Island, and getting there requires a 90-minute ferry each way from Tsawwassen with a rental car. The Grayline Tours leave in the morning, so that's not an option for you.

 

I second the trolley idea: http://www.etix.com/glwest/servlet/onlineSale?action=viewTourDescription&route_id=12043&franchise_id=409

[DanaJW]

We just returned from our Spirit cruise and spent a full day in Vancouver...We also stayed at the Westin Bayshore and walked to Stanley Park and went to the aquarium there. The four of us (my husband, two teen daughters, and myself) really enjoyed it. In the evening (I realize you don't have time for this), we walked to Gastown.

[K.T.B.]

I second the suggestion in taking a cab to Granville Island. My wife and I spent about 4 hours there when we were in Vancouver and had a blast. It's just a great area to wander and enjoy.

[claud925]

We just returned from our Spirit cruise and spent a full day in Vancouver...We also stayed at the Westin Bayshore and walked to Stanley Park and went to the aquarium there. The four of us (my husband, two teen daughters, and myself) really enjoyed it. In the evening (I realize you don't have time for this), we walked to Gastown.

 

Can anyone tell me how long it takes to walk from the Westin Bayshore to Gastown?

[the cruise is on]

We just returned this past Sunday from our 24 hour stay in Vancouver. We decided to take a tour and the conceirge in our hotel arranged this for us. She called the company around 10:30 am and someone picked us up around 11:15 am. We used West Coast Sightseeing (604 451 1600). They picked us up at the hotel and, at our request, returned us to Gastown. We took a cab back to the hotel. We enjoyed ourselves, and the tour guide was great!

 

I just checked their brochure, and you can go to their website at http://www.vancouversightseeing.com.

 

When we were dropped off in Gastown, we ate at the Spaghetti Factory. It was nice to have something other than fish, chicken, and beef!

 

Hope you have a great trip.

[cactusrose]

There was an excellent article on Vancouver on Cruise Critic just last week. I happened to bookmark it so here it is.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=27#sec6t

[mortypro]

thanks everyone we will be in vancouver for two nights and printed out the cruise critic things to do

[Cshell5]

We returned from Vancouver last Tuesday and only had 24hrs. to see the city also. My DH and I stayed @ Westin Bayshore($96.00 thruPriceline) and did the hop on hop off trolley. It gave us a taste of the city in about 3 hrs. We did stop and walk around the http://www.vancouverlookout.com/. That late afternoon we walked out the back door of the Westin to Stanley Park. The walk is very nice or you can rent bikes. We went to the http://www.vanaqua.org/home/ aquarium. It was nice but small. I would recommend the trolley because the drivers are informative and you get to see the city in about 2-3 hrs.