If you like dim sum Vancouver is a great place. Had some as good as that in Hong Kong.... but can't remember the name of course. Probably your hotel would have a recommendation.
(And.... no.... I'm not following you around -

Looks good to me! We have had a nice stay at Abigail's. I love the location as it is a short walk to the inner harbour area, but also a short walk to Beacon Hill Park, and in general just a quiet area. If you have time, the park is nice. Also, depending on how much time you have, two other suggestions I have are the Royal BC Museum (which is in the inner harbour area) which is excellent and not boring at all, and then a float plane ride. We did the float plane after we did the gardens one day and it was fun to fly over the gardens that we had just been to. The float planes also leave from near the inner harbour.

Thanks Gwendolynn and mms!

I'm relieved you didn't first say we were doing too much...

Dim sum would be something my daughter would love.

And I'm glad Abigail's gets a nod too.

Nicest places in the whole wide world. Have fun.

Thanks Cold - I am ready for some fun. Hoping for at least partial sunshine on the first few days.

Anyone else want to share??

Do you like Indian food? There is a fantastic place called Vij's at 1480 West 11th Ave in Vancouver. It is open from 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm and they don't take reservations.
If you get there early (around 5ish) there is a seating area outside to wait in and they usually come around with appetizers once they are open if you are still waiting.
Usually Vij (the owner) is in the restaurant, he comes around to say hello and you can see all the Indian women hand making the roti etc in the kitchen.

Where are you staying in Vancouver?

The Granville Island market is worth a look if you like food and on the island itself there are also some great little shops and places to eat. It is a fun place to wander around.

raincitygirl (love that name)

Thanks - yes we do like Indian food and thanks for the rec. I have read here on Fodor's about Granville Island and it did intrigue me so I'm happy to have your endorsement and it sounds like something my daughter and I would enjoy.

We've trekked from Vancouver to Seattle airport on a Sunday morning to catch a flight.... what time is yours?

If it's anytime before noon, I wouldn't attempt it. Otherwise, we have managed leaving around 7:30am for a 12:30-1pm flight. But there are no guarantees at the border, of course, and the airport itself can get pretty backed up at TSA.

You're not giving Vancouver its proper due, but forgetting about that, I strongly advise staying out laaaaaaaaate in central Vancouver on Saturday night, and then driving across the border to stay in Bellingham, WA very late on Saturday night (/wee hours Sunday AM).

That way you do NOT have to fight the border traffic, and you'll be perched suitably just over 100 freeway miles from the airport (with few predictable bottleneck areas enroute).

There was nothing you were going to get from your eaaaaaaaaaarly Sunday AM in Vancouver, so you really don't need it.

IF by some wild chance the traffic into Seattle becomes (totally stopped) anywhere from perhaps mile post 177 to mile post 170-ish, a reasonable alternate route (on a Sunday) is Highway #99 (/"Aurora Avenue") which runs parallel to Interstate 5 and goes into and through central Seattle and on toward the airport area.

Thanks for the airport warnings. Our flight is at 12:50.

I don't want to cut Vancouver any shorter than we have and that is why I'm thinking of just getting up very early on Sunday. With the time difference I'm probably going to be up by 5 anyway and my daughter will promptly fall back asleep as soon as she is in the car.

I may just see how things are going and decide on Friday. We can cancel our hotel up until Saturday morning.

gruezi, if you're getting on the road as early as that, you should be fine (up by 5, out by -- 6ish?). I really fret about delays to the airport, but that feels good to me. With time for breakfast once past the border.

If your flight is at 12:50pm, leaving from SeaTac, then it simply doesn't make ANY sense to awaken in Canada that morning!!!

You will have exactly nothing to gain and everything to lose if betting on getting from central Vancouver to SeaTac in time for a 12:50 flight!

What are you expecting to gain by so doing??

A Sunday paper, perhaps???

The Vancouver Sun doesn't even PRINT on Sunday.

thanks sludick...

Northwest Male - I like a Sunday paper but not enough to spend an extra night anywhere unless it is the NYTimes! I gain a nights sleep and an evening in Vancouver. Driving after dinner out doesn't seem fun to me. I'll be tired and maybe slightly intoxicated. Also, the idea of one more hotel does not appeal as we already are moving 4 times.

But I am taking your concerns under consideration!

OK, at least I can know that you have the major unknown in mind.

The BORDER LINE coming into the USA, is an uncertain thing which can take 2 hours or more.

Granted that is highly unlikely at 5:00am on a Sunday... but the locals also have incentive to try to dodge the same long border lines.

gruezi I think you will be alright if you leave that early. It isn't a long weekend here and I can't see the border being backed up too badly that early on a Sunday morning.

You can go online before you leave your hotel and see what the wait times are at the crossings. There are two near each other, the main one is called Peace Arch or Douglas crossing, but there is a truck crossing nearby which is often a shorter wait time. It is called Pacific crossing or the Truck crossing.

If you decide to try that one because the wait is shorter then this is how you get there: follow the usual route out of Vancouver, on Oak St. which eventually turns into Hwy.99, when you see signs for White Rock and the border watch for 8th Ave, you will exit here and go east about a mile until you get to 176th St.(sometimes signposted as Hwy.15), turn right here and you will quickly come to the truck crossing.
When you cross over into Blaine you will be connected onto the I-5.

You can also listen to AM 730 on the radio and they give regular border updates.

Last weekend we waited 40 minutes to cross at Peace Arch on a Friday around noon.

Just saw this and hopefully it is not too late for you to see this, Gruezi. We just went to Victoria with our Girl Scouts.

One thing to warn you that I didn't think about before trip: If your American Smart Phone has a Data Plan you will be subject to charges. As most smart phones automatically download email and sync up various accounts, you will be using data without knowing it. Each girl had a phone on a different plan and everyone's rates were different. Verizon was bout $2.05/mb. The girl with AT&T got a message it would be $10/mb. We all spent some time turning items off. Using wifi of course there is no charge.

I alerted my husband to the problem and he quickly called Verizon and retroactively added $25 to our account--it ensured a better rate, and the money would only be applied for the amount of data I used.

It would have been wise of me to borrow my mom's TomTom because I need Data to do Verizon Navigator when driving around. This also could be alleviated by a trip to the AAA office or store for true city streets map.

As to activities:

Victoria has an excellent tourist center. They will give you directions on how to use the city bus doubledecker or reserve a guided tour, whatever you need.

Our girls are high schoolers and really enjoyed the ghost walk. We did do the High Tea at Butchart Gardens and they loved that. Also near the Butchart Gardens (if you're driving) is the Butterfly Gardens with tropical butterflies, frogs etc. It's about an hour max and just minutes from the Gardens. Also near Butchart is Gowlland Tod Provincial Park, Highlands, BC, Canada. We had thought of doing a hike there but ran out of time.

Years ago we enjoyed renting bikes and circling Stanley Park. Lovely views of the water.

Excellent advice, 5alive! I only just got a smartphone a couple of years ago and went almost immediately on a 2-week vacation in British Columbia. Yow!

On the plus side, wifi seems to be more readily available than where I live, and was able to use that once I wised up.

Well I'm sitting at STA with lots of time on my hands. No problem at the border - 5 minute wait when we hit at 7 am.

We had a great trip. LOVED Vancouver and San Juan islands. Not so keen on Victoria. Will try to write a mini report when I'm back in front of a real keyboard.

Thanks to everyone for all the input here!!

Awesome! That was a painless crossing. Looking forward to seeing yor mini report soon.

I'm in the early planning stages of a trip to Vancouver and Victoria and look forward to reading more about your experiences.

(Anticipates the Victoria report)

In all fairness, I'd take a shot at Victoria were it not so terribly awkward to get to. I love some of Victoria's history and old-style life, but much prefer the hustle and bustle of Vancouver.