What to do in Vancouver???????

[disneylover89]

Are there any sights near the Airport to see that are easy to get to?

[Putterdude]

Are there any sights near the Airport to see that are easy to get to?

 

Likely the closest is the restored fishing village of Steveston and its Gulf of Georgia Cannery...but it is about a $20 cab fare in either direction. There are several bus routes that go out to the area but it would depend upon where you were originating from.

http://www.stevestonivillage.com/aboutsteveston.html

 

http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/bc/georgia/index.aspx

[believer33323]

. Would we take a cab from the airport? Also' date=' I have seen folks comment about the hop on hop off for a fare of $9.00. Could you please give me the website for this because the site I looked at showed that it was something like $35.00 for 1 day. I must be looking at the wrong website. [/color'][/b]

 

Go to http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/ The tickets are 38.00pp and you get the second day free (If you buy online). I just noticed if you take the train from from the Airport they tack on an additional 5.00pp fee they call "Addfare" http://www.translink.ca/~/media/documents/rider_info/canada%20line/addfare%20faq/canada%20line%20yvr%20addfare%20faq.ashx

You may want to take that into consideration to the cost of getting to your hotel. My DW and I are going to take a taxi. The Hotel says it runs 35.00 +tip. We have a 9 hour +2 plane flight and do not want to sit on train then have a take a taxi afterwards anyway to get to the hotel itself.

[scottbee]

I think it would be useful to point out that there are considerable differences between public transit in Vancouver and the two HOHOs that operate in the city.

 

Vancouver's transit system is excellent and the $9 all day pass is a terrific investment if you have 3 or 4 specific attractions that you wish to visit. However, the transit system is exactly that...it is designed to move as many people as possible between two points, it is not a city tour.

 

Unlike the HOHOs, the transit system:

 

-does not make 6 strategic stops in Stanley Park (the #19 Stanley Park runs every 10-12 minutes and loops all the way through Stanley Park)

-does not stop at Canada Place (wrong, the Skytrain Millenium/Expo line has escalators to street level at Canada Place. not to mention massive bus service is one block away)

-does not go by the Olympic Cauldron (buses run one block away as it's more of a major road)

-does not go to the Maritime Museum (stops 350m away, more often. About one cruise ship length away in distance)

-does not go to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen gardens in Chinatown (wrong, the 50, C21, 19, N19 and 22 all stop less than a block away)

-does not go through Gastown with a stop at the Steam Clock (wrong, the # 3,4,7,8,50,210,211,214,290,292 and N8 all stop one block away)

-does not provide a ticket on the False Creek ferry from Granville Island. (but by the same token the HOHO doesn't provide a ticket on Seabus)

-last but not least for the tourist, it does not offer narration pointing out what you are looking at as you go by, its history and so forth. (you're right. Is that worth 4x the price to you?)

 

My comments in green.

 

We could go at this for ages, but for someone that knows where they'd like to go, the local bus system is faster, more frequent and ¼ the cost compared to the HOHOs. Oh, and unlike the HOHOs the transit system is fully accessible for someone in a wheelchair. Oh, did I mention it will also get you to and from the airport and/or ferry terminal too?

[believer33323]

I just copy/pasted this from the VC Trolley web site.

TWO

 

Unique

Loops

 

SIX

 

Stops in

Stanley Park

 

LIVE

 

Informative

Commentary

 

FREE

 

Granville

 

Island Ferry

 

As you can see the web site states the Granville Islan ferry is "free" I for one think I would like the HOHO for the simple fact that it is more of a touresty and narrated ride. I'm not so much concerned of the price difference since I past my budget $5,000.00 ago.

[Putterdude]

My comments in green.

 

We could go at this for ages, but for someone that knows where they'd like to go, the local bus system is faster, more frequent and ¼ the cost compared to the HOHOs. Oh, and unlike the HOHOs the transit system is fully accessible for someone in a wheelchair. Oh, did I mention it will also get you to and from the airport and/or ferry terminal too?

 

If one looks at a transit map one will see that the #19 bus does not loop all through Stanley Park it does a small loop in the SE corner of the park. The Stanley park shuttle that goes around the 1,000 acre park is operated on a season basis and last year the operator was the Vancouver Trolley Company.

So it seems that we are agreed that SkyTrain does not go to Canada Place there is a about 2 blocks of walking involved.

We are agreed that transit does not go by the Olympic Cauldron.

We are agreed that transit does not go to the Maritime Museum there is walking involved.

We are agreed that transit does not go to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen gardens there is walking involved.

We are agreed that transit does not go through Gastown and stop at the Steam clock.

We seem agreed that transit is not a tour.

[Charlie_Neri]

If one looks at a transit map one will see that the #19 bus does not loop all through Stanley Park it does a small loop in the SE corner of the park. The Stanley park shuttle that goes around the 1,000 acre park is operated on a season basis and last year the operator was the Vancouver Trolley Company.

So it seems that we are agreed that SkyTrain does not go to Canada Place there is a about 2 blocks of walking involved.

We are agreed that transit does not go by the Olympic Cauldron.

We are agreed that transit does not go to the Maritime Museum there is walking involved.

We are agreed that transit does not go to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen gardens there is walking involved.

We are agreed that transit does not go through Gastown and stop at the Steam clock.

We seem agreed that transit is not a tour.

 

I love the fact that you experts can point out the differences and allow us to choose. :D You guys are the best!

 

Meanwhile, where can I print off a transit map? Or can I get one there at the Amtrak Train station? Are taxis readily available in Vancouver? My concern is that my lack of directional senses will get us lost so if there was a handy transit map that can get us to places or if worse comes to worse (using a taxi), that would be nice. I even brought a map to used for downtown. :mad:

 

I also assumed this - but does the Amtrak Bus stop at the Amtrak train station? I only saw one address for the Amtrak site?

 

Random Question - Is there a place where I can just buy a sim card and stick it in an unlock iPhone and use it in Canada for both data & voice? When I had a regular smart phone (not the iPhone), I can go to a mobile phone store overseas and buy a sim card and just insert and used for calls (without having to go through US ATT International Rates). I don't think I care to spend the $ for the data or voice calls in Canada. :D

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Cheers,

Charlie

[Putterdude]

Here is a link to the transit maps. link

Yes the Amtrak bus comes to the Amtrak station and immediately across the street is the SkyTrain station that will take you to several stations in the downtown core...one may be close to your hotel. If that is not attractive to you then there will be cabs and $10 will take you almost anywhere in the core.

I have both a US and CDN celphone...which I don't use either much so I won't be any help re a sim card.

[scottbee]

So it seems that we are agreed that SkyTrain does not go to Canada Place there is a about 2 blocks of walking involved.

Platform (expo/millenium lines) to Canada Place is up two escalators and you're looking at a cruise ship; a quick google street view to refresh your memory: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=49.287106,-123.113267&spn=0.001375,0.004128&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=49.287106,-123.113267&panoid=eVyCYUorQRWJX8PbY16NvA&cbp=12,161.5,,0,-7.78

BTW, there's one of the new food trucks parked here on Mons and Tues IIRC correctly that serves Chinese

We are agreed that transit does not go by the Olympic Cauldron.

Yes, but sadly the Trolley stops two blocks away at Canada Place, unlike the transit buses which only stop a block away on Cordova.

 

We are agreed that transit does not go to the Maritime Museum there is walking involved.

You're right; one cruise ship length away.

 

We are agreed that transit does not go to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen gardens there is walking involved.

No not at all; the 50, C21 and C23 buses stop less than 100m from the entrance. However, you are right that if you visit the gardens there is walking involved to see them. There are no motorized paths within the gardens

We are agreed that transit does not go through Gastown and stop at the Steam clock.

No, lots of buses go through Gastown; and everyone stops at the steam clock, during tourist season it's a major traffic jam location, which is why it's so much faster to use Cordova rather than Water St.

 

 

We get the picture, you like the HoHo ; and you like White Spot (who oddly is the only advertising on the HoHo maps).

 

 

I'm offering the information of how to get around to all these places on Transit. It's cheap, fast, and goes everywhere the HoHos go; plus thousands of places the HoHos don't go, like QE Park, UBC's Museum of Anthropology, Grouse Mountain, Lynn Canyon, Tsawwassen, Horseshoe Bay, Burnaby Mountain etc etc etc. Oh, and did I mention it goes to the airport too.

 

 

And lastly, there's no need for the giant text.

[scottbee]

Meanwhile, where can I print off a transit map? Or can I get one there at the Amtrak Train station? Are taxis readily available in Vancouver? My concern is that my lack of directional senses will get us lost so if there was a handy transit map that can get us to places or if worse comes to worse (using a taxi), that would be nice. I even brought a map to used for downtown. :mad:

 

I also assumed this - but does the Amtrak Bus stop at the Amtrak train station? I only saw one address for the Amtrak site?

Transit maps (of all scales) are available at http://translink.ca/ This google map should help you get oriented at least from Pacific Station (where Amtrak comes in).

 

To give you an idea of where the Skytrain station is from Pacific Station, here's a photo I snapped one morning from Skytrain's Main St/Scienceworld Station of Pacific Station

 

And yes, it's a joint train/bus (longer distance buses) station

 

Also, if you want to buy books of transit passes or day passes, you can get them from the little shop next door to Van City savings on Terminal; just exit Pacific Station, cross the street, and between the elevators that take you to Skytrain platform level, and Van City Savings

 

Random Question - Is there a place where I can just buy a sim card and stick it in an unlock iPhone and use it in Canada for both data & voice? When I had a regular smart phone (not the iPhone), I can go to a mobile phone store overseas and buy a sim card and just insert and used for calls (without having to go through US ATT International Rates). I don't think I care to spend the $ for the data or voice calls in Canada. :D

In the downtown area there are a ton of small cel phone shops, or booths, The easiest is likely in Pacific Centre, a mall at roughly Dunsmuir & Granville (and easy from the Granville skytrain station)

[Putterdude]

We get the picture, you like the HoHo ; and you like White Spot (who oddly is the only advertising on the HoHo maps).

 

 

And you long ago established you like public transport which is has a annual operating income of some 1.2 billion dollars of which only some 30% is paid for through fares, the rest, almost a billion dollars, coming from the pocket books of taxpayers and frankly transit still can't balance their budget.

 

Transit is what it is transit, it is not a tour.

 

The HOHOs are a tour, they are private companies that operate without subsidy from the taxpayers. They provide a great service as if they didn't, unlike transit, they would be out of business.

 

As a tour, the HOHOs at a cost of $38 for 1 day and $45 for 2 days, most cruisers would recognize this as an excellent value. Heaven only knows I have paid a lot more and got a lot less in other cities.

Oh' and if you don't like the text size you don't have to read it, I am out of here for the next week.

[believer33323]

I'm not so much concerned of the price difference since I past my budget $5,000.00 ago.

 

I just firgured out something when you mentioned how the transit system is billions over budget. I just raised my budget limit on paper by $5,000.00 and now I am not over budget anymore. Works for the goverment, why not me???:D:D:D:D

[scottbee]

And you long ago established you like public transport which is has a annual operating income of some 1.2 billion dollars of which only some 30% is paid for through fares, the rest, almost a billion dollars, coming from the pocket books of taxpayers and frankly transit still can't balance their budget.

You really don't want to turn this into a political argument, because if you do the research, you'll find the tax burden of the road system for cars and privately operated vehicles, greatly exceeds the tax burden of the transit systems in terms of subsidy per rider.

 

Transit is what it is transit, it is not a tour.

 

The HOHOs are a tour, they are private companies that operate without subsidy from the taxpayers. They provide a great service as if they didn't, unlike transit, they would be out of business.

 

As a tour, the HOHOs at a cost of $38 for 1 day and $45 for 2 days, most cruisers would recognize this as an excellent value. Heaven only knows I have paid a lot more and got a lot less in other cities.

 

I was addressing how to get to a number of named tourist attractions, all of which are served by an inexpensive transit ticket, whereas some aren't served (Capilano, Grouse, Lynn Canyon etc) by the more expensive HOHO.

[seamour]

I notice your cruise is in August. If it's late August, it's a fine place to be, because you're right next door to one of the largest fairs in the west. http://pne.bc.ca/

 

oh that might be fun! Thanks!

[believer33323]

You really don't want to turn this into a political argument, because if you do the research, you'll find the tax burden of the road system for cars and privately operated vehicles, greatly exceeds the tax burden of the transit systems in terms of subsidy per rider.

 

 

 

I was addressing how to get to a number of named tourist attractions, all of which are served by an inexpensive transit ticket, whereas some aren't served (Capilano, Grouse, Lynn Canyon etc) by the more expensive HOHO.

 

As stated on the HOHO Brochure:

http://www.vancouvertrolley.com/sites/default/files/ebrochure/2011%20Brochure.pdf

 

we proudly operate a

free shuttle

capilano

suspension bridge

[seamour]

You have pretty much got it nailed and it is the PNE that you are looking at. There is nothing wrong with the location other than it is a bit challenged for restaurants other than Chinese. You should also be aware that you are about a 20/25 minute bus ride into downtown and you pass through what is the the poorest postal code in Canada.

 

thank you, I found one more downtown that i think we will go with, same amount of points. Holiday Inn Vancouver Downtown, 1110 Howe Street. Appears to be straight down Howe Street in the opposite direction from Canada place, but looks more central and there will be more to do. I hate giving up the free breakfast at the Express but we will figure something out, maybe buy a case of poptarts to satisfy my DS.

Now to figure out what we are going to do for touring, think I need to reread the whole thread!

 

 

:eek:

[seamour]

this might be fun for anyone traveling this summer

http://www.tourismvancouver.com/visitors/things_to_do/event-detail?id=2093

 

:D

[believer33323]

thank you, I found one more downtown that i think we will go with, same amount of points. Holiday Inn Vancouver Downtown, 1110 Howe Street. Appears to be straight down Howe Street in the opposite direction from Canada place, but looks more central and there will be more to do. I hate giving up the free breakfast at the Express but we will figure something out, maybe buy a case of poptarts to satisfy my DS.

Now to figure out what we are going to do for touring, think I need to reread the whole thread!

 

 

:eek:

 

Have you looked at the Blue horizon hotel on Robson street. http://www.bluehorizonhotel.com/ The HOHO Trolley stops right at the front door. Nice location, it has very good ratings and is right on the main shopping district with many restaurants.

[seamour]

Have you looked at the Blue horizon hotel on Robson street. http://www.bluehorizonhotel.com/ The HOHO Trolley stops right at the front door. Nice location, it has very good ratings and is right on the main shopping district with many restaurants.

 

thanks but we are using holiday inn points, so need to stay with their brand. Gotta love free hotel nights.

[believer33323]

Just thought I would put it out there. I have a Hotels.com account and for about a year now I have 9 nights with them and all I needed is one more night to get a free one. When I first started it was any hotel was free, now they say it is up to the price of the average hotel you stayed at. It also states that it has to be a hotel that is associated with Hotels.com. The Blue horizon is not. I just can't get that last night to get one free. Oh well, such is life.

[Sailor_Sally]

You can go to Entertainment online . It's the online version of Entertainment books and for $4.95 you can subscribe for a month and print out several two for one coupons for Vancouver including the Hop on Hop off trolley , The Aquarium , a tour of Stanley park , scenic cruise , etc.

[seamour]

You can go to Entertainment online . It's the online version of Entertainment books and for $4.95 you can subscribe for a month and print out several two for one coupons for Vancouver including the Hop on Hop off trolley , The Aquarium , a tour of Stanley park , scenic cruise , etc.

 

awesome thank you!

[seamour]

Just thought I would put it out there. I have a Hotels.com account and for about a year now I have 9 nights with them and all I needed is one more night to get a free one. When I first started it was any hotel was free, now they say it is up to the price of the average hotel you stayed at. It also states that it has to be a hotel that is associated with Hotels.com. The Blue horizon is not. I just can't get that last night to get one free. Oh well, such is life.

 

I have often wondered how that works with hotels.com as their website does make it easy to find hotels! I hope you are able to get your last needed night.

[sheshe01]

You can go to Entertainment online . It's the online version of Entertainment books and for $4.95 you can subscribe for a month and print out several two for one coupons for Vancouver including the Hop on Hop off trolley , The Aquarium , a tour of Stanley park , scenic cruise , etc.

 

Any hints on how to find this? I can only see the book. Would love month for visit in July.

[KandCsailing]

Any hints on how to find this? I can only see the book. Would love month for visit in July.

I had the same problem and had to google it. I haven't bought it yet.

https://eol.entertainment.com/custom/eol/default/jsp/content/pages/eol/custom/eol/default/jsp/content/pages/eol/entLandingPage.epi