marlene_

We are a party of 4 adults that are taking an Alaskan cruise next month--Whittier->Vancouver. We have arranged for an extended stay in Vancouver as we have never visited that city. After the cruise, we will be spending one night in Victoria as we wanted to visit the Butchart Gardens. I was delighted to see that the day we will be visiting there will be fireworks (if we can stay up that long!). We have prearranged the picnic baskets they offer.

We will be in Vancouver 2 additional nights at the Westin Bayshore.. Any thoughts on the HOHO buss? I read where the Van Dusen gardens are nice, but since we are going to Butchart, there may be other things better to spend our time on. Capilano Suspension Bridge?? (does it really sway much?) Any other must-sees?

Thanks for any input!

live42day

Van Dusen is very nice but as said you are seeing Buchart so I would spend my time doing other things.
I would do the HO HO as I find it good in most cities to give you as lay of the land. It stops in Stanley Park which is a nice place to walk around and also Granville Island which I would suggest a wander as well.
You could actually walk to Stanley Park from your hotel, and the sea walk there in Coal Harbour is nice to walk along as well.

Capilano bridge does sway and even more when kids or others make it sway more cos they think it is funny.
I am not sure where you are from so don't have a sense of your interests other than gardens.
You will see a lot of the beautiful scenery on your cruise so perhaps just concentrating on the city of Vancouver and what it has to offer rather than heading to North Vancouver for the bridge and grouse mountain?

thursdaysd

Vancouver has good public transport, I would not pay the inflated price for HOHO (a day pass for public transport is less than a quarter the price and is more flexible). I also chose not to pay the inflated price for the Capilano Suspension Bridge, visiting the free one at Lynn Canyon instead.

You'll find several suggestions for things to do in Vancouver here, but one day is really very short:

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com/?s=vancouver

marlene_

We have traveled to many other cities and have used their public transportation system. Does anyone know if the HO HO bus offer any factual information about the city or does it just get you from point A to point B? If not, public transportation makes the most sense. Thanks, thursdaysd.

One person in our party does not like bridges that swing..we will pass on Capilano.

Stanley park was already on our radar. I will look into Granville Island, thanks.

Our interests are nature, photography, museums and food!

live42day

The public bus system in Vancouver is fine if you know where you are going, point a to b. But much of the transit in Vancouver is underground, sky train, so the HO HO, yes it is expensive, but you will see the major attractions without having to spend a lot of time figuring out the Vancouver bus schedules. With your limited time of only two nights at the end I think a tour to give you an overview of the city is your best option, Yes there is a commentary, I have never personally done it as I am from there, but have seen it many times.
There is a great museum , the museum of Anthropology, but it is way out at UBC and with your limited time maybe save that for another time.

Vancouver is also a great walking city if you are able. Granville Island is good for an hour of walking about, some places to eat, and one of the stops on the HO Ho. A nice restaurant there is called Edible Canada, although it does not have a view but interesting menu and good food

sunbum1944

I thought the HOHo bus in Vancouver worked fine for us. However, there were a few times when the bus arrived at the stop and was full so we would have to wait for the next one, or the next one. It seemed to be a very popular way to get around. We were there the 2nd week of Jul.

thursdaysd

It is very easy to use public transport if you have a maps app on a smart phone. It will do all the figuring for you, including showing you where the bus stop is, and when to get off.

marlene_

Thanks for all your input. I tend to think it may take a bit of time to figure out the transit system, that the HO HO bus just might be the way to go. I would love to see the Museum Anthropology. I'm going to see if we can squeeze that in!.

Thank you!