VANCOUVER: Canada’s West Coast Hub
The cosmopolitan port city of Vancouver has a lot going for it as a tourist destination: spectacular scenery, a bustling downtown core and public market, the world-renowned Stanley Park, celebrated galleries and museums, family-friendly attractions, North America’s thirdlargest Chinatown, and unique commercial areas for browsing and café hopping.
Although winter is cooler and sometimes wetter than summer, it is still an excellent time to visit Canada’s third-largest city. You’ll want to check the forecast, dress for the weather and tailor your activities accordingly. If you’ve come to Whistler for wintertime fun but also want to explore the world-class city that is just a 90minute drive to the south, there is so much to see and do that the biggest challenge will be deciding what to leave out.
During winter, shops and cafés are less crowded, and the lineups for attractions are shorter than they are in the summer. Jana Remisova, manager of experience Vancouver for Tourism Vancouver (TV), says that on average, TV Visitor Centre staff and volunteers engage with about 5,000 visitor parties a month in winter compared to around 30,000 in summer. If you only have a couple of days, Remisova suggests taking a hop-on, hop-off trolley tour that departs from near the TV Visitor Centre (200 Burrard St., near the Vancouver Convention Centre) and hits the highlights around the downtown core including Stanley Park, Gastown, Chinatown, Robson Street and Robson Square, B.C. Place Stadium and the like.
“They can stay on for about two hours and get a nice overview, and then go back to those attractions for a closer look,” Remisova says. “Stanley Park is a big attraction, so from the trolley you can see that, then maybe go back and visit the Vancouver Aquarium,” which is inside the park. In dry weather, walking, biking or jogging along the Stanley Park Seawall is a popular activity, offering stunning views of English Bay, the Lions Gate Bridge and the North Shore mountains.
Art lovers will want to visit the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, including work by the famed Haida artist himself, and the Vancouver Art Gallery, both in the downtown core. If you’re flying out of Vancouver, Bill Reid’s impressive sculpture The Spirit of Haida Gwaii: The Jade Canoe can also be admired in the Vancouver International Airport terminal.
Granville Island, along False Creek on the south side of downtown Vancouver, is home to the Granville Island Public Market, with farm-fresh produce, shops and artisan stalls and studios, where you can find that unique gift or souvenir. The island also includes top-flight eateries and cafés, two breweries, a distillery, the well-known Emily Carr University of Art and Design and a marina. Make your way via a short walk or bus ride from downtown to the north shore of False Creek. From there, you can hop onto an Aquabus foot passenger ferry for a 25-minute water taxi ride with stops that include Granville Island and Science World at Telus World of Science. Underneath that sparkling, geodesic dome at the east end of False Creek, you’ll find a family-friendly venue that includes interactive scientific games and displays, films and visiting exhibits about the world around us.
A classic Vancouver winter tradition, the Robson Square Ice Rink has public skating on its outdoor rink from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28, 2017, weather permitting, and has skates available to rent. The rink is situated on bustling Robson Street, internationally recognized as one of the city’s top places to shop, dine at an exceptional variety of restaurants or café hop.
Named for “Gassy” Jack Deighton, a chatty British seaman who arrived in 1867 and opened the area’s first saloon, historic Gastown is just a five-minute walk from the Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre, and is the place to shop for gifts and souvenirs, visit art galleries and the famed steam clock, dine while overlooking the harbour, or just stroll along the cobbled walkways.
Attractions outside the downtown core include Grouse Mountain, with its famed gondola ride and stunning city view from the top, and the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park in North Vancouver. Van Dusen Botanical Gardens is south of downtown, and the Museum of Anthropology is located on the University of British Columbia campus to the west. Visitor Centre staff can supply a guide to assist you with public transit options, Remisova says.
If you are visiting Vancouver before or during the holidays, the city comes alive with twinkling lights and Christmas-themed events and displays to help you and the family celebrate the holiday spirit. The 7th annual Vancouver Christmas Market returns in a new location, at Jack Poole Plaza, from Nov. 26 to Dec. 31 (except Dec. 25). Experience a traditional European Christmas market with a genuine carousel, vendors selling mouthwatering festival-food classics like goulash, German Spätzle, Handbrot (“hand bread”) with soup, and traditional waffles; as well as hot chocolate, gluhwein, fruit spirits and liqueurs, and market stalls with unique gift ideas, many of which are hand-crafted. vancouverchristmasmarket.com
Van Dusen Botanical Gardens hosts the Festival of Lights, a twinkling, holiday-themed display that includes more than one million lights illuminating the renowned, 22-hectare (54-acre) gardens, until 9:00 pm each evening. The event, which takes place from Dec. 1 to Jan. 2, 2017 (closed Christmas Day), includes opportunities to take photos with Santa, the “Dancing Lights” show on Livingstone Lake and — new this year — carousel rides. vandusengarden.org