Hi,
We are looking to visit Vancouver in June/July 2010 for approx 10 days and basically I haven't a clue where to start in planning this. We are looking to rent a house/condo for the duration. We are a family of 4, self, husband, 2 teenagers. We want to experience the city and the scenery and would love some ideas on how to spend our 10 days and also where is the best place to stay. We are happy to rent a car so driving won't be a problem. Please help

Ist off Budget?

Where did you want to stay, where do you want as your base:

E.g:

~ Right Downtown (Yale, Gastown?) or,
~ Slightly out of town (Stanley Park area, Kitsilano) or,
~ North Shore (where the scenery hiking, boat hires, hiking is kayaking etc). Commutable to downtown via car, bus or seabus

Also, what are your interests? Outdoors things, shopping, restaurants, beach...???

I would probably recommend staying somewhere in the West End if you can... close to downtown, close to Stanley Park, easy access to the North Shore. But, there are lots of other areas that are very nice. Just depends on what your bidget and interests are.

Thanks for response. We are travelling from UK and looking to rent an apartment or condo and happy to drive around. We like shopping, nice restaurants, usual sightseeing. Like the outdoors but not outdoor activities. Would ideally like a list of the best 10 things to do and see around the area. Thought of driving to Seattle (Is this practical?. Also driving to Whistler? Any thoughts appreciated.

We are from close to Manchester UK and found Vancouver "nice".

Kitsilano was great place to be around and reminded me of those "nice" places in London like Greenwick. There is good shopping and a very good restaurants. It also seemed far easier to drive around this area than posher West Vancouver - the bridge into the city from WV seemed to be a permanent car park.

However, we did not want to travel 9000 round trip for "nice".
We spent 7 days in Vancouver city and 7 days on Vancouver Island.

Retrospectively, we would have spent 2 nigts in the city and 12 on the island. The city is fairly close to life in the UK.
The island is NOT! I lost track of the wildlife we encountered in just one afternoon on the island. We see the odd cat and dog at home. The island was amazing.

For something very different take a seaplane trip - we didn't and later regretted.

I also lost track of the number of times we ended up in Zara, Max Mara, Mexx etc and the many Asian restaurants in the city. To me this was pretty much like life in Manchester!

One other hint would be the trip to Whistler - in winter I can imagine it as stunning but without the snow it was again "nice". It's a long day trip from Vancouver again time that could be spent experiencing the non-European landscapes.

One final point - take lots of cash for shopping - when we went the deals on what we would regard is high end brands were silly - RL, Gant, D&G, Prada etc were 75% off. One shop assistant admitted that most of her customers wanted brown fleeces and European brands just didn't sell.

By all means, go to Vancouver Island as markrosy suggests; I think it's a terrific place.

In Vancouver proper, I recommend staying in the West End. Try some sushi while you're there... truly terrific, in my opinion, better than anything we get on the east coast of North America. I loved the vibe of nearby English Bay Beach & Stanley Park with the mountains looming. Go to the Museum of Anthropology and walk down the path through temperate rain forest to Wreck Beach while you're out there. Check out one of the suspension bridges, take a funicular up Grouse Mountain. Take Vancouver public transit out to Horseshoe Bay and catch a ferry to Bowen Island, with the incredible views of the coastal islands as you do. While I suppose you could focus on the similarities with the UK (yes, cafe-life and the shopping experience will resemble), I would hardly call ANY of these Vancouver activities everyday Manchester experiences.

Enjoy! Daniel

I 2nd a day trip out to Bowen Island. I've lived in Vancouver pretty much my entire life and only just went there for the first time about 3 weeks ago. It was beautiful! The ferry from Horseshoe Bay (you can catch a bus from downtown Vancouver fyi) took about 20 minutes. We walked on, and it cost us $9 CDN. There are some little cafes, and restaurants and a few stores along the "main" drag (if you can even call is that!). You can do some trail walking (not very difficult at all) and head in-island.

I will definitely be going back and would totally recommend it. There is a cafe/coffee shop about 1/2 way up the street...great, great food.

Once you nail down where you will be staying (and I agree anywhere in the West End would work - or try Rosedale on Robson...near Yaletown) come back here and we can help with an itinerary!