My husband and I will be visiting Vancouver for 5 days in Septmeber.We love sightseeing, eating at great restaurants, shopping and exploring. We are staying at Pan Pacific Vancouver and plan on taking a seaplan to and from Victoria for the day. I have booked the Empress Tea when we are in Victoria althougjh several people have indicated it's over rated?? I would love sugestions as to what to do in Vancouver and great restaurants to go to. Price is not really an object so we are open to anything. I would love to get a list of places we should not miss and restaurantts we should not miss. Looking forweard to any and all recommendations.
What to do and where to eat in Vancouver.
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Restaurants to check out:
For something different, try the Go Fish stand near Granville Island for lunch one day!
Cioppino's
Chambar
Hawksworth
Vij's
Blue Water Cafe
C
La Quercia
Refuel
L'abbatoir
...and that's just a few. We are spoiled for choice here
cheers,
CC
CaptCanuck- Thanks so much for all those recommendations. I will be sure to check them out.
Forgot about one more!
Bao-Bei
Enjoy!
CC
In Vancouver, we loved our recent dinner at Sanafir and on Tuesday nights they offered food at 50% off. I found them via OpenTable and cross referenced with travel guidebooks. It had great atmosphere, delicious sangria, and an unusual & delicious selection of foods. It was a winner for our family.
For Victoria, as for tea at the Empress, our family really liked that also. Doing a big Victoria activity like that was fun and since it is so famous, we wanted to join right in on the tradition. Surprisingly, our 10-year-old son loved it most of all. If you can work into your day in Victoria the British Columbia Museum, you'd be glad that you did. It is across the street from the Empress and two hours there will give you a thumbnail of the province in a way that you won't find elsewhere. We happened upon one of the free docent hour-long tours and that was so interesting and informative. We really, really loved it. Lastly, the Butchart Gardens were just as beautiful as you'd imagine and that was really worth the time & effort. But with just one day, I'd pick the Empress & the BC Museum over the Butchart Gardens.
In Vancouver, here are my suggestions based on what we really liked doing or what looked fantastic but we couldn't fit into our three days there:
1. rent bikes and pedal the seawall path in Stanley Park, which is a different & fun way to see the area.
2. The Aquarium was right there in the park and quite good also.
3. Do the red line and the blue line with the Vancouver Trolley Company (they had a special online that was two days for the price of one).
4. University of British Columbia Botanical Garden, Canopy Tour, & the Asian Memorial Garden. A schlepp to get out there, but worth it. One ticket pays for all three.
5. The Chinese Garden (can get there and back via the Vancouver Trolley line).
I hope that this helps!
Oohhh, I forgot to say that Granville Island was lovely and we had the best time looking in the shops and in the market. A relaxing way to spend the afternoon or morning.
goldie5- I really appreciate all your recommendations. I think I will keep my Empress Tea reservation as per your suggestion!!!
We just got back! We all really enjoyed Vij's, biking the Seawall in Stanley Park, Granville Island, the free walking tour with the Tour Guys and their food cart tour.
misha2 Thanks for the update. I have not heard anything about Tour Guys??? I will look into them though.