I have only a day and a half after a convention in Vancouver to see the city. I will have a rental car and will be staying downtown. Am I better off taking a Vancouver Highlights type tour with Grayline or doing it myself? Obviously doing it myself I will not have a guide, but do I really need one?

Get rid of the rental car and buy a ticket on the the Vancouver Trolley company. It does a continuous loop ( with commentary ) of the major areas of the downtown and lower Kits areas and allows you to get on ond off at will. Once in Stanley Park, there is a free shuttle that you can take to get around the park.<BR><BR>You will not get to the North Shore, Queen Elizabeth Park, VanDusen Gardens or the museaum of Anthropology but you probably don't have time anyway. If you keep your car, these attractions are easily accessed from downtown.

You really should check out the fatguy. He'll tell you everything you need to know. He's one of my three heroes. See him at: http://www.canada.com/national/features/fatguy/

g mitchell - thanks for your advice. It sounds like a good option.<BR><BR>Robyn - huh??

Roibyn's talking about a New York food mavin who's traveling accross Canada talking about the best of the best in Restaurants featuring local cuisine.<BR><BR>gmitchell's advice is good but he dowsn't mention the 'Sunset Tour' which Vancouver Trolley runs to Grouse Mountain. Definately a 'must do' which you can do on your own but when you're on the Trolley pick up a brochure and decide for yourself. <BR><BR>Botom line is that 1 1/2 days is not enough for Vancouver so come back when you've more time.

Actually, that person who responded as "Robyn" above there isn't me. It's that person who usually posts as "A Vancouverite" who for one reason or another decided to be my personal troll. He's being incredibly pathetic and stooping down low pretending to pose as me. If you read the tone of that post, it sounds like it was written by a ten year old. Not only that, but it's so off topic. Definitely not *me*. How lame... it's about time Fodors starts posting IP addresses.<BR><BR>Ignore them.<BR><BR>Anyhow, G Mitchell's right about the Vancouver Trolley company - it's your best bet. They actually do have a tour that takes you down to the Museum of Anthropology... I believe it's called the Heritage tour... takes you from downtown Vancouver, along Kitsilano to UBC's Museum of Anthropology, then down to Steveston to the Gulf of Georgia Cannery. I'd still stick with the main Vancouver route however. www.vancouvertrolley.com should be their website.<BR>

" How lame... it's about time Fodors starts posting IP addresses."<BR><BR>I agree-this whole format is lame and the abuse is almost certainly just starting given the shutdown of the LP TT.<BR><BR>Time for some changes here...<BR><BR> <BR>

Carl Z: what's the LP TT?

Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree (travel board). The trolls got so bad there, they now have manditory login in place, and recently they've been setting the forum to read-only on the weekends (as there's no weekend staff monitoring the forum).

We took a tour w/LandSea Tours 604-255-7272 and I enjoyed it immensely. They take you through Gastown, Chinatown, Robson Street, Canada Place (where the cruise ships leave from) Stanley Park, w/stops at the Totem Poles and Prospect Point, (plenty of photo ops, & great view)English Bay, Queen Elizabeth Park, where you stop to see the Sunken Gardens and indoor Rain Forest, w/talking parrots and other wildlife, Shaughnessey Estates, (exclusive residential ares) and Granville Island, where you also stop for a short while. It's $45.00 Canadian, 3 1/2 to 4 hours, which is a great buy. If you require any other info, please write. Have a great trip.