Where to go for Christmas: Vancouver or Victoria
 

Hi everyone,
Our family of 4 (parents, 17yr teen, and 25 year old female) are taking our very first trip to BC from Dec 23 through 31. Flights are booked, we are flying in to YVR from los angeles. We plan on going to both victoria and vancouver during this trip, but we are still deciding on whether to spend the first part (Dec 23 to Dec 26) in Vancouver or Victoria. We are from a big city so we want to go somewhere with a small town and "Christmas-y" feel, lots of lights and decorations, festivities, carolling, etc. What would you recommend: Victoria or Vancouver? Do most places (shops, restaurants, sights) shut down on the 24th and 25th?

Also, we are not big skiers or snowboarders, but would like to go to the mountains and see snow. So we were thinking of going to Whistler for the day from Vancouver. Is this feasible or is it so crowded that we shouldn't bother going up there? If this is the case, is there some where else close to Vancouver (w/in a couple hours drive) that we can go to enjoy the winter scenery?

We literally just book the flights last night and are still looking for hotels. We prefer to stay in suites as to have more room. Can anyone recommend any hotels in safe and convenient location?

Thanks so much! We are so looking forward to this trip as it if our first Christmas trip away from home.

Liv.

Liv,

Victoria is a much smaller, quainter city than Vancouver. It's a city of about 300,000 whereas Vancouver has a population of 2+ million. Saying that, Vancouver has a small, cosmopolitan downtown where the mountains are literally 20 minutes away - and it's very easy to get away from Vancouver and feel like you're in the wilderness.

For winter scenery around Vnacouver, look into Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Seymour Mountains which are 3 mountains a short drive (20-30 minutes) from downtown Vancouver.

Neither place has small town feel-and as far as Xmas goes it's pretty much a non-event in Vancouver.

A person can literally drive for blocks and not see any Xmas decorations at all-those that are up generally come down on the anaemic side of the equation.

A trip on the Carol Ships around English Bay might suit but your kids are too old for the train through Stanley Park I suppose Grouse Mountain will have something happening (<i>rain or no rain</i>).

Perhaps Victoria might be more appropriate there are a number of small towns like Sidney and Sooke nearby but since there's rarely snow don't expect much of an Xmas feeling.

Victoria is beautiful at Christmas. The Inner harbour area with the Legislative Buildings and the Empress Hotel lights and wreaths on the lamp posts. The Empress and other hotels feature special Christmas dinner menus. I definitely vote for Victoria over Christmas. There are several very nice suite hotels in the area as well so you would find the type of accommodation you are looking for as well.

Interesting. We are having the same discussion. Canada is pretty laid back at Christmas and many shows take a break during the weeks of Christmas and New Years. It's not the frantic rush like in the US.

We have visited both at Christmas/New Years. Victoria is very quiet at Christmas and Dec 26. It always has pretty night lights on the parliament buildings and Empress Hotel downtown, so is always attractive at night. You can go to the special light show, the "12 Days of Christmas" at Buchardt Gdns one night. We have heard beautiful Christmas music at the Craidarroch Castle. It is decorated nicely for Christmas:

http://www.craigdarrochcastle.com/

The Emily Carr house sometimes has a Christmas play or reading, but not sure if it is actually open on Christmas (I can't open their website for some reason):

http://www.emilycarr.com/

If you stay in downtown Victoria, the movies are nearby and there are very good restaurants. The Museum of British Columbia is really great and I think all of you would like it. We got a private tour with a docent last year, as noone else was in our group. There are several different tours with docents and well worth doing.

You can stop in at the Empress in their Tiger Lounge, I think it's called and sit by the fire listening to music and have dinner. It's very cozy.

The Marriott Harbour has very good rates at this time of year and everything downtown is within an easy walk. There are also lots of other hotels that are excellent, and b&b's but they cost more than the Marriott.

Vancouver is definitely bigger with more action. Be aware of "Boxing Day" on Dec 26. In Vancouver the streets are flooded with people shopping at the after-Christmas sales.

The improv theater at Granville Island has great shows and it looks like they may be open:

http://www.vtsl.com/mainstage/schedule2.php

Vancouver has a great art museum. You can find first class restaurants both places, but search on fodors first so you know which to go to. There are many, many to choose from.

Hope this helps.

Thinking more on it, since you'd be there on Christmas itself, I'd suggest Vancouver first, as most of Victoria is pretty much closed down Dec 25 and 26. (I don't know about Christmas Eve) I think most of the attractions in Victoria are still going on through New Years, at least, so you wouldn't miss them, but you'd have to check.

you can go to Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, about 1/2 hour from downtown, and up until Christmas Eve you can take a sleigh ride through the forest, ice skate, feed reindeer and watch entertainment etc.
see
http://www.grousemountain.com/Winter...lebrations.asp

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. We are flying into YVR so I was thinking that it may be a better idea to start in Vancouver first. On Vancouver island, are there cities or towns that we should go to besides Victoria, given that we will have about 3 days on Vancouver island and could rent a car if required.

I'd start with Vancouver. More options. the carol ships are great. Easy to go up Grouse mountain. A trip to Whistler would be good. Its about an hour and a half drive.There is a train from North Vancouver, but i don't know if it still runs. If it does I'd look into it. I wouldn't drive to Whistler unless you are used to winter driving conditions. There are also lots of buses going to Whistler.
What is your budget for hotels? Our favourite in Victoria is the Laurel point Inn. Rooms in the Erickson wing are much nicer, have great views, but are more expensive. In Vancouver go down to Granville Island. If you are from L.A., Vancouver will seem like a small city. The downtown core is fairly compact. Stanley Park and the sea wall walk is great any time of the year. Lets us know your plans and we can give restaurant,entertainment,and hotel recommendations.

I would say that three days in Victoria is good, you may not want to go anywhere else. Buchart Gardens is good for a late afternoon, evening. It is about a 45 minute drive from downtown each way, depending upon traffic. The Empress hotel, a carriage ride around the downtown area, museum, Craigdarroch castle will be enough to fill three days for sure.
THe only other thing might be to go up island and take the ferry back to Vancouver from Nanaimo, but that time of year I would suggest to stay in Victoria as it will be a better option. You could always leave that option open and see what the weather is like. The Malahat (which is a small mountain pass to go over to get to other parts of the island) can get icy some times so you may not want to venture off too far if the weather is too cold and snowy/icy. We never know. Last year we had 3 feet of snow at Christmas, not the norm but it does happen.

Last year we came right after the snow, just after Christmas, so it was still on the ground. We had a wonderful time. I like Victoria much more when it is not filled with tourists. The people are a lot friendlier and the shop keepers actually have time to talk to you about their stores. Some of the stores are quite interesting.

traverler, when you go to Victoria, be sure to go into Munro's Books and spend some time looking at the quilts on the walls. You'll have fun guessing the books that the quilts in the room at the back symbolize, and, because it won't be crowded (as opposed to in the summertime), you can ask one of the people working there to tell you about the quilts:

http://munrobooks.com/

It's also interesting to learn about the native American jewelry in the jewelry stores, and jade mining in the jade store. There are lots of good galleries, too, that are fun to go in. Sometimes you can talk to the artists.

There is another area of Victoria called Oak Bay, which has a really pretty street of shops with a smaller town feel than Victoria. It should be lovely at Christmas. You can visit the little stores and then sit in a warm shop and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate or tea.

Here's a link to a mini-trip report I did on our trip to Victoria last Christmas:

http://www.fodors.com/community/cana...rip-report.cfm

Thanks for all your insights! Orcas, your trip report was really helpful, I'll see if we can also stay at the Marriott when we're in Victoria.

I think we are set on going to Vancouver first from Dec 23 through 28. During this time, are a lot of places closed from the 24th through 26th for the holidays? If so, we may schedule our trip to Whistler or Grouse mountain during one of these days. We mainly just want to see the winter scenery and observe other people in action because we do not ski or do any other winter sport. Is whistler accessible for people just going for the day?

I was thinking of renting a condo in the gastown or yaletown area. Are both these places safe and walkable to downtown (given that it's winter)?

I wouldn't call Christmas a non-event here - all the stores decorate for Christmas as soon as Halloween's over, and there are plenty of Christmas-themed events depending on what you're seeking. :)

Here's a fantastic list of Christmas events in Vancouver:

http://www.canada.com/topics/lifesty...2-f7e323edd4ba

A local tradition is to go to Vancouver's VanDusen Botanical Garden to see the Festival of Lights. It's a Christmas light display set throughout the garden and can be quite magical on a nice night:

http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/vand...events/fol.htm

Note that almost everything will be open for December 26th, which is called "Boxing Day" in Canada. It's similar to "Black Friday" that you have in the USA after Thanksgiving. Every store will be open and will be insanely packed with 50% off sales. I typically avoid it like the plague, but I wouldn't be concerned about places being closed on December 26th.

One last night - that list of Christmas events in Vancouver has dates and times, so you can see what's happening on the dates that you'll be in town.

I would not rent a condo in Gastown without knowing exactly where it was located. Gastown's a historic area which is up and coming, but it's right next door to a seedy part of town. Yaletown is more upscale/trendy with less seedy characters. Both are located on the eastern half of the downtown peninsula but are convenient and safe.

I wouldn't go for Gastown even if it was in an ok part of that area--I just don't think it's a convenient location. Yaletown is more convenient, but my preference would be to be more centrally located in the West End.

Yes, Whistler can be done as a day trip easily--about 1.5-2 hours each way.

I spent Christmas in Vancouver a few years back and I don't remember things being any more closed than they would be in a big city in the states. It was nothing like London, for example, which *really* shuts down.

Chemainus is a neat little town north of Victoria...on the way to Nanaimo, in fact. Murals on the buildings and a geat dinner theater with a Christmas show.

Gosh, skip the stress and head to Victoria. Traffic in Van is a NIGHTMARE.