Vancouver in January
 

My family if thinking of taking a 4-5 day trip to Vancouver during my son's holiday vacation. I know that we will encounter rain during early January - but will the weather be so terrible we will not enjoy exploring the city? Just looking for some siteseeing, shopping and fine dinning. We would love to get some input. Thanks.

I live in Seattle and go up to Vancouver for the weekend frequently during the wintertime. Of course I'm used to the weather ;-) living here, but most likely it will be drizzly rather than heavy, steady rain (althoug that does happen sometimes in the winter).

Hello Jen,

I am a <b>huge</b> fan of Vancouver. That said, I don't know if I would recommend that you visit Vancouver in early January. It might suit some people, but I don't know if it would suit your family group.

You said you would be visiting Vancouver with your son. But I didn't know if your son was 7 or 17. Also, I didn't know where you lived, how accustomed you were to winter weather, how far you would be flying, etc. So I followed your name, looked at some of your other posts. I saw that your son was 13 years old, you lived in San Fracisco, and you also were considering going to Orlando for this break.

To be really honest, I think Orlando would be a better bet for this particular trip.

If you did choose to go to Vancouver, you could have all the fine dining you could cope with, that's for sure. Vancouver has a fabulous array of restaurants.

Vancouver has some okay shopping, but that is not really the city's claim to fame.

In terms of winter sight seeing, you are bound to enjoy the Vancouver Aquarium. I also love the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. The cultures, lifestyles and artefacts of hunter-gatherers fascinate me. The First Nations people of the west coast created (and still create) wonderful carvings, etc. I don't know how much the MOA would interest a 13-year-old boy, though.

Since you live in San Francisco, you're used to rainy winters. What is true for you is true for Vancouver too during most of the winter. That is, if you are dressed properly for the rain, the weather rarely will stop you from doing everything you could do in summer. But if Vancouver is socked in by cloud, you will not see its legendary backdrop of mountains.

Although rain is common in Vancouver in January, you occasionally can have cold but crisp, clear days. If you are lucky enough to get that weather, Vancouver looks very pretty.

Vancouver only very occasionally gets snow, but when it does it's a heavy, wet snow, the kind that has a crippling effect on the city's traffic, etc.

If weather conditions were good, you could do a day trip to the ski resort town of Whistler, which is in a beautiful setting even if you don't ski.

So, if you went to Vancouver, it's true that you could make the best of it and you could find stuff to do. But you likely would not see Vancouver at its best.

If you went to Orlando, however, the chances are much better that you would have fine weather. Aside from all the Magic Kingdom / EPCOT Center stuff, which is a delight to people of all ages, our family enormously enjoyed our visit to the Kennedy Space Center.

If it was just you and your husband travelling, I probably would vote for Vancouver, even with the potential limitations you might face in winter. Since you'll be travelling with your 13-year-old son, I think I would vote for Orlando.

Just my two cents.

As someone who has lived in Vancouver for over 50 years let me say that January is quite often pleasant. We have had great weather - clear and cool. There is plenty to do in the winter. Weather does not affect shopping and fine dining either. If you are prepared for some rain but our weather is never &quot;terrible&quot;. Science World is would be especially interesting for your son and they are having a special exhibit starting in Sept that is supposed to be incredible. You can check their website http://www.scienceworld.bc.ca/whats_...s/overview.htm Also a day trip to Victoria to take in the Royal BC Museum is worth it.

There is nothing more beautiful than the view on a clear cool day from Grouse Mountain. I think visiting in January is a good idea. The city is not crowded with tourists so everything is far more accessible.

Thank you all for the information. It sounds like January is much like our own San Francisco - and we are fine with that. Judy, I really appreciate your reply. We have just decided not to go as far as Florida -and deal with a theme park at this time.
Can't wait to discover Vancouver!