Arrival back in Vancouver, what should we do?

We arrive back in Vancouver from our cruise on 9-11. We are staying at YWCA Hotel, thanks to recommendations here. We fly out on 9-13 around 430pm.

We are NOT renting a car, and will take public transportation everywhere.

Based on what I've read here and the research I've done, we want to do:

Granville Island

Capilano Bridge

Grouse Mountain

Stanley Park

Fly Over Canada.

We are thinking we will do Fly Over Canada on boarding day because I suspect we'll get to the port too early to get on the ship.

On disembarkation day, we will have lots of luggage (end of 14 days of cruising). I think we want to go to Granville Island on the day we return to Vancouver. Would you suggest that we go to the hotel to store our luggage and then return to take the aquabus or store our luggage at Pan Pacific or the port and head out right after we disembark? I thought I read that aquabus picks up at Canada Place. We want to make this as easy as possible.

I think we'll do Capilano and Grouse Mountain on day two, since we don't have any time limitations that day.

And Stanley Park on the third day before we head to YVR.

Any thoughts or suggestions? We are pretty good walkers, both walking at least 3-5 miles a day with no problem. We live at an elevation of about 5000 feet, so I'm not sure how sea level living for a couple weeks will affect our walking/breathing. lol. I don't want to spend a huge amount of money getting places, but we are resigned to taking a cab with the luggage instead of trying to walk it or do mass transit. But other than that, mass transit is fine with me.

I truly appreciate all of the suggestions and advice we have received here. I read every post, and do my best to research on tripadvisor, etc. But appreciate any other help we can get.

Thank you!

Thoughts....

• I think you need more days at your bonus port. Too much to do on your list.
  
• might want to research one of those Post-cruise tours that drops you off at the airport. You need to be at the airport by 1:30pm.
  

Timeline

• dock
  
• 8am walk off
  
• 8:30am check in luggage with CDS.
  
• 9am three hours to choose what you want to do.
  
• 12:30pm retrieve luggage at CDS at the cruise terminal
  
• 12:55pm board cab
  
• 1:30pm arrive at airport for 3 hours of check-in, luggage, customs, and searches
  
• 4:30pm wheels up
  

Thoughts....

• I think you need more days at your bonus port. Too much to do on your list.
  
• might want to research one of those Post-cruise tours that drops you off at the airport. You need to be at the airport by 1:30pm.
  

Timeline

• dock
  
• 8am walk off
  
• 8:30am check in luggage with CDS.
  
• 9am three hours to choose what you want to do.
  
• 12:30pm retrieve luggage at CDS at the cruise terminal
  
• 12:55pm board cab
  
• 1:30pm arrive at airport for 3 hours of check-in, luggage, customs, and searches
  
• 4:30pm wheels up
  

I think the OP stated that they would have 2.5 days in Vancouver.

Hey Cuterlmt,

There is no aqua bus from Canada place to Granville Island,

you may be thinking of the Seabus that ferries from Waterfront Station (nearby) to North Vancouver.

If you are staying at the YWCA take a cab there from the Port with your luggage and drop it off

at the hotel. You are right by Rogers arena and you can quickly get down to the Seawall and

either take a Ferry to Granville island, or enjoy the beautiful walk around Science World, through Olympic

village and continue on to Granville Island (about 60 mins of walking along the seawall

The Aquabus and False Creek Ferry do take you from Downtown Vancouver to Granville island,

check out the link to the map, you can walk to the aquatic center or Yaletown and get a Ferry to Granville

Island.

http://www.granvilleislandferries.bc.ca/find_us.htm

http://theaquabus.com/

Stanley Park is easy to get to from anywhere downtown, I would just walk, you can start

walking from Canada place and go past the torch and pretty much get the Seawall the whole way.

If you want to walk around Stanley park from the other direction, walk down Denman to Beach avenue

and start the walk on that side.

For Grouse Mountain you can take the Seabus to Londsdale Quay

and take the #236 bus (leaves every 30 mins) to Grouse Mountain.

If you want to do what the locals do Hike up it (be warned it is not easy unless you like steep climbs).

You have to pay $10 to take the gondola back down.

Downtown Vancouver is very walkable, not a very big area, getting

out to peripheral areas can take time though.

Thank you so much SquatsandChampagne. That's exactly what I needed. I have to say I've read so much here and there, that I'm not surprised I got some of the details confused. I appreciate the details.

Can I suggest you hire bikes to get to Stanley Park? You can cycle pretty much on cycle paths all the way from Davie Street. We do this every time we visit Vancouver and we visit regularly as we have close family, including grandchildren there.

Just an thought... [emoji468]

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Just a couple of additional thoughts.

I would cab it to the hotel too to drop off luggage first and then walk/aquabus it to Granville Island. Once you get down to the seawall around False Creek, it's a very pleasant walk. If you do decide to walk across one of the bridges instead of walking around the east end by Science World, I'd recommend walking across the Cambie Street Bridge instead of the Granville Street Bridge. I find that it feels safer as there is a small barrier between the sidewalk and traffic. The south end of the Cambie street bridge also has a staircase at the south end that deposits you onto the seawall whereas the Granville Street Bridge overshoots Granville Island a bit when heading south.

It's an easy, though somewhat vague path, walk to Vanier Park/Kits Beach if you find you find yourself still wanting to explore after your time at Granville Island and can do a circuit back to the hotel across the Burrard Street Bridge then walking along the northern part of the seawall. Would be a long day of walking though. We find it's a really nice walk when the weather cooperates.

As other threads have mentioned:

There's a nice seawall walk from Canada Place to Stanley Park if you decide to hoof it. The park is fairly big, particularly if you decide to walk around the seawall perimeter so renting a bike is a good idea if you are going to explore a lot of the park.

And there are free shuttles/free shuttle with admission ticket to Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain from Canada Place as another option in addition to public transit, though first come first serve.

Sorry about the date mix up.... glad to see it's more than a few hours.... Thoughts....

0911

• Granville Island and Stanley Park
  
• have you considered the Hop On service which combines the two destinations and allows you to see more places?
  
• there's an option to do Fly Over Canada in the evening since it operates until 9pm.
  

0912

• Grouse Mountain in the morning and afternoon.
  
• Capilano in the late afternoon (I wonder if there is a 5pm discount this year)
  

0913

• morning is a contingency for things you did not have time to complete during your stay. Otherwise.... how about Dim Sum for brunch? Bike rentals?
  
• afternoon to the airport
  

September is not the best weather in Vancouver. We should fine tune the itinerary closer to your debarkation.

There is a FREE shuttle bus that will take you to Capilano Suspension Bridge and another one for Grouse Mtn the buses pick up in front of the Cruise Ship Terminal/Pan Pacific Hotel and also a few other hotels check their schedule online to find the closest pick up point to your hotel... why waste money on tansit or a cab when there is a free shuttle service that runs approx every 30 mins...