We are planning to cruise out of Vancouver next summer. Just wondering how many days/nights we should allow to enjoy the city and what are the Must-see's and super restaurants . The Chinese garden sounds pretty. ANY advice appreciated
Vancouver next August
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Hi Donna,
After our cruise we stayed in Vancouver for 5 days. This was the month of May and it rained most of the time especially during the daytime hours. We walked the city streets a lot, checked out trendy Robson Street to shop. I recommend taking a city tour to acquaint yourself first with the city. The tour took us to Stanley Park, Chinatown, Gaslight, etc. We signed up with Land/Sea Tours at our hotel, Sutton Place.
For some great restaurants we ate at: Cin Cin; Diva at the Met; The Fish House; Sunday brunch at The Sutton Place among a few. We heard that Raincity Grill is a must, but we ran out of time. Of course you won't want to miss visiting Vancouver Island. The ferry ride 1-1/2 hrs (if you have a car) is a must to Victoria. If not a car, again, Land/Sea Tours has a 13 1/2 day tour which turned out fine for us. From this first trip to the island cinched our return for a month's vacation there the following year.
I hope this steers you in the right direction. Enjoy, as I know you will. Vancouver is an exciting city and you will have a wonderful time.
Coco
The Sun Yat San Classical Chinese Gardens is worth a visit, in my opinion. It is so very peaceful and serene. The tour is most interesting and the day we went, we also got some green tea to warm up
(this was in July and it had been cold and rainy the entire day!)
Also, on my list would be Stanley Park, drive along the beaches (Jericho, Kits)- great view of the Vancouver skyline.
Enjoy your trip!
Vancouver can be 'seen' in a couple of days. To be really 'experienced' you should allow 4 or 5 days minimum and then a couple of days for touring one or two of the places close to Vancouver like Whistler, the Sunshine Coast, the Gulf Islands and Victoria.
Although the above two posts mentioned less than ideal weather conditions most days between May and September are sunny and warm with the middle of July to the Middle of August having only about a 5% chance of rain. But you should always hold a few rainy day things to do in case - like the Museum of Anthropology at UBC or shopping.
Vancouver has a number of beautiful public Gardens not the least of which is the Sun Yat Sen. But if you like Gardens don't miss the Japanese gardens at UBC, the Vandussen Gardens at 37th & Oak, Queen Elizabeth Arboretum at 33rd & Cambie and the Park and Tilford gardens in North Van. They all have their own personalities and specialties.
Vancouver's cullinary scene is diverse and while virtually any type of cuisine is available Vancouver is most noted for it's excellant Asian and West Coast cuisine. As befits a city with a huge Chinese, East Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese population the variety and quality, not to mention affordability of these restaurants is amazing. I reccomend you do some research of your own on these restaurants if they interest you. West coast cuisine is primarily seafood with Salmon, crab, oysters, halibut, etc. being most noted but lamb and often Ostritch and rabbit are featured on West Coast menus.
Hope this has been of some help.