5 nights in Vancouver

[terrifish]

Due to the cancellation of the Celebrity Millennium on Sep. 13, and the transfer to a cruise leaving on Sep. 16, we will have 5 nights in Vancouver instead of 2 pre-cruise. The Ho-Ho will keep us busy for a couple of days amd maybe a trip to Grouse Mtn. The 5 nights in Blue Horizon has somewhat stretched our budget, so I am hoping for some suggestions of what else we can do. No suspension bridges or bicycles for us. (sixty- something ages). Any easy ferry trips that leave from nearby? We will not have a car. The day trip to Victoria & Butchart is rather expensive and we will have a day there on the cruise. The zoo did not look easy to get to. Any suggestions? Thanks to all of you in advance for your help.

[jnc411]

You might want to post this on the Canada boards, lots of information there that will be helpful. We will be there also in September for three days between cruises, from what I can tell there are lots of things to see and do.

Cori

[Milhouse]

Miscellaneous suggestions...

 

The ferry terminals aren't easy to get to from downtown. Might be able to bus it but I think it'd be too much of a hassle. You can float plane it from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria but that's a bit pricey.

 

Which zoo are you referring to? The one in the valley? I don't feel it's worth it and they've had some animal welfare issues.

 

If your group is fairly mobile (and if the weather holds), there are some great areas to take a walk and enjoy the scenery. The following suggestions will likely make more sense if you pull up Google Maps of downtown Vancouver.

 

Up and down Robson Street is nice with shops and restaurants.

We usually park the car near Robson and Denman and walk along Denman to the beach for sunset in English Bay. By the beach there's a bunch of sculptures people love taking their photos with for some reason.

Granville Street is has shopping and a number of clubs. Probably wouldn't recommend it at night as it occasionally gets a bit out of hand.

You can complete a circuit by doing Robson, Denman, Davie, and Granville but that's a chunk of walking.

 

You should be able to walk down to Gastown. Tourist love the brick cobblestone streets. Standard thing is to take pics with the steamclock and the Gassy Jack statue. A bit touristy with the souvenir shops but local come for the bar scene which I find is a bit more tamer than Granville.

A lot of people recommend visiting Chinatown but it's a shadow of it's former self as the majority of Chinese shopping has moved to the burbs (particularly Richmond). It is revitalizing a bit tho with some new hip eateries and bars. They have a night market on the weekends but it pales to the ones in Richmond.

 

You could spend a whole day walking in and around Stanley Park. People walk along the seawall, take horse drawn carriage rides, visit the aquarium, etc

 

If you like walking seawalls, there are a number around downtown: Coal Harbour has a nice view of the inlet and False Creek has nice walks on both the north and south sides.

 

If you can get to the south side of downtown, you can take the aquabus to various points along False Creek hitting Granville Island (major attraction and the Fringe Festival is happening there while you'll be in town), Vanier Park, etc.

 

One tip is that you can get cover a lot more distance taking buses and skytrain (aka metro). You can get out to the larger malls in the burbs (Metropolis at Metrotown, Richmond Centre), Queen Elizabeth Park, and destination casino (RiverRock - tho I don't find it that interesting other than the Chinese Night Market held nearby on the weekends).

Generally speaking tho, I do dislike taking transit past the evening rush hour.

 

Another big attraction is the Museum of Anthropology at UBC but personally I don't think it's that interesting.

 

Any specific questions?

[Milhouse]

Forgot to mention, the HoHo's will likely get you to many of the places listed too.

[Putterdude]

You can easily lose a day in Stanley Park and a half day or more on Granville Island. A half day can be spent in Gastown and then you may care to take in the Dr. Sun Yet San gardens in Chinatown and a walk around Chinatown is interesting. You can take the free shuttle to Grouse Mtn and that will burn a half day plus. I find the Museum of Anthropology at UBC very interesting and can easily spend 3 or 4 hrs there. It is going to cost a few dollars but how about renting a car for a day and driving to Whistler for a day...you should be able to find a car thru Priceline or Hotwire for under $30 (incl. tax) for a day. An other trip is to catch the SeaBus from Waterfront Station and take in Lonsdale Quay market and the shops of lower Lonsdale.

 

http://vancouverchinesegarden.com/

[martincath]

I Second PDs suggestion of a day in Whistler via hire car - inexpensive and you have the time to justify taking a day up there. Also the Dr Sun Yat Sen garden - it's one of the absolute finest gardens of any genre in the world, and more authentic than anything else you'll see outside Suzhou.

 

Since you mentioned the Zoo, what about the Aquarium? It's not cheap, but if you go by transit or use your HOHO tickets the travel costs will be very low - unlike the 'Vancouver' zoo which is barely even on the Lower Mainland.

 

For other things to do at minimal or zero cost around town, start with this list. Vancouver Is Awesome usually tracks a ton of cheap and free stuff going on around town too. Many of our Museums also offer Groupons or appear in coupon books - like the Beatty, Maritime, Vancouver. These last two, plus the Space Centre, can be combined with a minicruise around False Creek if you use False Creek Ferries rather than Aquabus (who don't go on the last leg to Vanier park).

 

Easy ferries - it's quite possible to take a day trip to Bowen Island using transit & ferry (you wouldn't even have to transfer buses, the 257 or 250 go from within 300 yards of your hotel direct to Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal).

[scottbee]

If you're going around the city and you're worried about stretching your budget, I would skip the HOHOs and just take the local transit system. Day passes are $9 and will get you everywhere the HOHOs go, plus a heck of a lot more (Grouse Mt, Lynn Canyon, UBC/Pacific Spirit Park, etc etc)

 

The one day rental for a car going to Whistler is also a great idea, but I woudln't keep it overnight as most hotels downtown charge 10-30$ to park a car per night!!

[Desert Cruizers]

I will be joining friends in Vancouver for our Coastal, end of September, what is the cost for a Taxi to the Cruise Terminal. We are going out on the Star Princess. I also will be taking a cab to our Hotel, the Residence Inn downtown on the 21st. Thank you.

[scottbee]

I will be joining friends in Vancouver for our Coastal, end of September, what is the cost for a Taxi to the Cruise Terminal. We are going out on the Star Princess. I also will be taking a cab to our Hotel, the Residence Inn downtown on the 21st. Thank you.

 

Taxi:

YVR to Canada Place [Cruise Terminal]; $35-40

YVR - Residence Inn downtown; $30-35

Residence Inn - Canada Place; $10

 

Alternately from the airport to Yaletown Station would be $9 on Skytrain including the airport surcharge; leaving you with a walk of 10 short blocks (about 1.5 cruise ship lengths) from your hotel (or grab the #C23 bus along Davie to cut down the walk - included w/ Transit [skytrain] ticket)

[Desert Cruizers]

Scottbee, thank you trying to figure out how much in Canadian $$ to have.:) Our Pre cruise dinner is at the Top of Vancouver Revolving restaurant, a bit pricey we know but planning for it. We have around #14 signed up, not a large group but a nice group of people.:)

[martincath]

Scottbee, thank you trying to figure out how much in Canadian $$ to have.:) Our Pre cruise dinner is at the Top of Vancouver Revolving restaurant, a bit pricey we know but planning for it. We have around #14 signed up, not a large group but a nice group of people.:)

If you can get that up to 20, you could take advantage of their Group Menu which should save a few $ per person on food.

 

Either way, remember that you do NOT have access to the Lookout viewing floor at the Harbour Centre, only the restaurant. So if you want to take photos you have to do so during your meal unless you pay for a separate ticket to the Lookout (10+ people it's $13.75 each, and if you pay in advance no tax).

 

Apparently they are entirely separate entities, run independently of each other and the Harbour Centre - it's the only 'tall building with a viewing spot and a restaurant' anywhere I've ever been where dinner does not include access to the viewing area.

[scottbee]

Scottbee, thank you trying to figure out how much in Canadian $$ to have.:) Our Pre cruise dinner is at the Top of Vancouver Revolving restaurant, a bit pricey we know but planning for it. We have around #14 signed up, not a large group but a nice group of people.:)

 

MartinCath (as usual) has provided the excellent info about the viewing and the restaurant being separate, and I'd probably agree that it makes it a pretty pricey visit. That being said, I'd say the view from the top of Grouse Mt beats the view from the top of an office tower and I'd suggest dinner elsewhere w/ a visit to Grouse Mt.

 

Also, US$ are widely accepted, so everything discussed (taxis, restaurants) will take them. Really the only thing that doesn't is the local transit system. If you want a little bit of C$ buy a coffee at a Tim Hortons (or Starbucks or or or) and use a US$20, your change will be in C$. Generally the currency exchanges at the airport have either very poor rates, or high fees. Another option is just take C$20-40 out of an ATM

[Putterdude]

Scottbee, thank you trying to figure out how much in Canadian $$ to have.:) Our Pre cruise dinner is at the Top of Vancouver Revolving restaurant, a bit pricey we know but planning for it. We have around #14 signed up, not a large group but a nice group of people.:)

 

Having done it, I would just say that you are paying for the view...not the dinner. On a clear evening the view is spectacular but like so many revolving restaurants the food tends to be somewhere around OK. So unless you are really sold on the view aspect there are certainly better venues with better meals than there.

As for CAD, if you really feel a need to get them, there are no less than 5 RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) ATMs at YVR. But if you are only here for the day there is little need to for CAD.

 

https://maps.rbcroyalbank.com/locator/searchResults.php

[Desert Cruizers]

Thank you everyone, unfortunately myself, I am flying in the afternoon before the cruise so won't have much opportunity to sight see. Friends of ours are coming in on Friday. My DH decided not to go on this one and wait for the Australia/NZ cruise & trip next March, 54 total days.:)

 

Hi Putterdude & Scottbee, I was thinking I would need Canadian dollars for the cab fares but if I don't need to worry about it then that will be fine. My flight gets in around 1:30 and dinner is set for 5:30 so won't be doing a lot of traveling. The dinner is all pre arranged so myself have no control of that but looking forward to an enjoyable evening with a few of our Roll Call members. :) With 3 Sundays to go I doubt we will gain anymore dinner guests.