Half day in Vancouver
 

I'm an Aussie. Never been to Canada before and I have a couple of layovers coming up. Firstly I'm looking for ideas for about five hours in Vancouver. We have a nine hour layover and I figure we should have at least five clear hours to do something. Ideas?

Hi from another Aussie. We spent 5 days in Vancouver about 8 years ago and loved the city. From memory it was not too far or expensive to travel from the airport by taxi.

You have not mentioned what time of the year you are going, whether you have children with you or what your interests are but here are a couple of ideas.

Stanley Park - huge open space and just the ticket to stretch your legs after a long-haul flight.

Gastown - an interesting, historic location with plenty of opportunity for walking and sightseeing.

Have a great trip.

There is a "Hop on hop off trolley" that takes you to several places including Stanley Park. We bought tickets at our hotel.

If you are traveling in peak season, the trolley gets quite full so sometimes you have to wait for a bit for one with empty seats.

Thanks guys. Sorry, would have made sense to give more details. Yep, in winter and with a 9yr old. The trolley sounds a good idea and Gastown sounds my style. Thanks!

Stanley Park is top of my list at any time of year. The totem poles there would be great for a 9 year old. There is also a miniature train ride and lights display at Christmas but I’m not sure if you will be there at the right time.

The light rail is also a great way to get into town, if you aren’t schlepping luggage.

Not sure the trolley runs in the winter.

You could indeed see Stanley Park, or Granville Island is a really nice area to get the feel of the city.

Take the skytrain to Granville, then after enjoying the island food and entertainment take a sea-bus to downtown or Science Centre. It's a different view of the city and fun little boats (they look like small tugboats) that your child will enjoy.

Vancouver has very good transit system - check translink.ca for routes and schedules. Even the info kiosk at the airport is very helpful.