barry3040

First time in Vancouver.
How many days needed to see the "essential" tourist sights?
Recommendations please as to what to see, best accessible stay area for these and are day side trips to Victoria, Whistler etc worthwhile, as well as any other recommendations?

thanks !

Southam

So what do you consider "essential?" Vancouver has many essentials to its life; what are yours? Otherwise you are asking complete strangers to read your mind. You might start by looking at the information already on this site under the Destinations index. Then you can pose more productive questions and have a context to understand the replies. In other words, and impolitely, work a little harder.

barry3040

It’s a great pity when a simple question clearly prefaced and qualified by “first time” and “tourist sights” is retorted by an unnecessary supercilious pontification instead of trying to assist fellow travellers on the forum.

sludick

Yes, there is SO much to see and do in Vancouver. The downtown area is very walkable and the public transportation system is excellent. Parking will be very expensive, as it is in other large cities, and I'd recommend avoiding a car if possible while in the city.

Here are a few of the places that we like to visit when we go:

Stanley Park
VanDusen Botanical Garden https://vandusengarden.org/
Granville Market
Museum of Anthropology
Grouse Mountain
Capilano Suspension Bridge

Victoria as a day trip is somewhat possible, although would make for a very long day and your time will be very limited. If possible, try to stay at least a night in Victoria. You should also check the ferry schedule and book a reservation or be prepared to wait for a later ferry if it fills up.

Whistler... not a big draw for us. If you're into mountain biking, I think there is more to do there. Otherwise, it's mainly focused on winter snow sports. The drive is rather pretty, though, and it's within day trip distance.

Take the SeaBus across to Lonsdale Quay, and spend some time in the shops and restaurants available there.

There is a wealth of information on the HelloBC website, here's a link that drills down to Vancouver: https://www.hellobc.com/interactive-...r-this-summer/

barry3040

Thank you!

eliztravels2

I’d add a to the above list of attractions:

Bowen Island--a lovely little spot accessed by ferry from Horseshoe bay
Nitobe Memorial Japanese garden--like the wonderful Museum of Anthropology it is on the UBC campus-we went in cherry blossom time and it was magical. Lovely and peaceful anytime of year.

Lynn Canyon--never been there but intend to go on our next visit in September. An alternative to the somewhat pricey Capilano suspension bridge, free and accessible by public transit.

We always stay in the downtown west end, Denham/Robson area near Stanley park. Times Square Suites boutique hotel when we want the advantage of a kitchenette and a comfortable place to relax, Buchan, in a nice residential area, when we want to economize. Lots of restaurants in the area and great bike riding (lots of rental places).

barry3040

thank you !

BC_Robyn

Barry, if this is your first visit to Vancouver, typically three full days is the minimum you'd want to spend to get a taste for some of the city's highlights. That doesn't include day trips outside of the city to places like Whistler or Victoria. It would also mean you'd have to be really strategic and choose which attractions appeal to you the most, and which ones you'll have to skip and save for another time.

If I'm showing somebody from out of town Vancouver, these are typically what I'll choose from:

• Grab coffee and a bite to eat at a local cafe like Small Victory (avoiding places like Tim Horton's like the plague)
• Spend most of one day exploring Stanley Park's 1000 acres and the seawall on foot, ensuring we stop off along the various beaches like Third Beach and Second Beach, but also heading into the forested rainforest trails, and eating at the Stanley Park Brewery or grab shwarmas, ramen, or other casual light bites to eat nearby on Denman Street.
• Walking along the seawall along False Creek and grabbing a little water taxi to Granville Island Public Market early in the day, grabbing snacks and a bite to eat, maybe having a meal at the Sandbar. Exploring all the little whimsical art galleries and shops, walking past the Lobster Man tanks and boat yards, stopping by the Artisan Sake Maker on Railspur Alley for a flight.
• Taking the water taxi (False Creek Ferries or Aquabus) from Granville Island to Yaletown to soak up the ambiance of shops, restaurants and bustling patios in the high end reconverted historic loft district.
• Having cocktails or dinner in Gastown, which is Vancouver's oldest neighbourood, or somewhere nearby, like L'Abbatoir or Diamond Bar or Autostrada.
• Enjoying the people watching and vibrant evening energy during sunset from a beach, like English Bay or Kits Beach - this is where Vancouver comes alive by evening in the summer months
• Heading out to UBC Campus for an afternoon to visit the Museum of Anthropology and the UBC Botanical Garden's Greenheart Walkway (canopy of bridges through the treetops), stopping by Spanish Banks beach before or after to dip your toes in the water and have a panoramic view of the city and mountains from a new angle, including a short rainforest walk through Pacific Spirit Park across the street from the beach.
• Head to Queen Elizabeth Park or VanDusen Botanical Garden for a short walk through the manicured gardens and then window shop along nearby Main Street, home to a lot of artsy, one-of-a-kind, unique-to-Vancouver shops, boutiques, cafes, restaurants.
• Head over to the North Shore for the day, visiting Capilano Suspension Bridge or Lynn Canyon for rainforest trails, and Grouse Mountain for panoramic views overlooking the city, and if it's a Friday evening, end the evening at the Shipyards Market at the base of the mountain by Lonsdale Quay, or simply go back to the Shipyards District for a bite to eat and a beer at one of its many casual restaurants.
• Waking up early and driving up to the top of Mount Seymour for a short hike in the Coast Mountains alpine to Mystery Lake or Dog Mountain.
• Go on a self-guided craft brewery crawl through East Vancouver to places like Brassneck Brewery, R&B Brewing, and Main Street Brewing.
• Spend the late afternoon on eccentric/edgy Commercial Drive people watching while eating something delicious and sipping something cool on a patio.

What I'd want them to walk away with is understanding how Vancouver has a bunch of cool neighbourhoods, but you can quickly and easily be on the beach, in the rainforest, or on top of a mountain. Vancouver is less about just being in the city, but mixing city life with the west coast outdoors lifestyle.

I haven't included whale watching tours, kayaking tours, a visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery or Bill Reid Gallery or Forbidden Vancouver walking tours or Science World or Chinatown's Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, the main shopping malls near Robson Street. I also haven't included the myriad of additional daytrip activities, like Steveston or Fort Langley or Bowen Island or the Squamish Sea to Sky Gondola. And there are many others I've forgotten.

Having worked at the Vancouver tourist visitor centre as a student over a decade ago, what I remember most from a lot of first-time visitors is that they severely underestimate how much time they need in Vancouver. Many of them, especially those who came to Vancouver before or after an Alaska cruise, always wished they had set aside more time than the day or two they had booked. They also typically underestimated the distance and time it takes to get to Victoria as a day trip. Visiting Victoria from Vancouver isn't like visiting Brooklyn from Manhattan, it's more like visiting Boston from Manhattan. It takes at the minimum 3-4 hours to get there one way, and there's enough there to keep your occupied for several days. But Victoria's a much smaller city than Vancouver, more of a smaller, historic, charming, walkable city with beautiful buildings. Vancouver's larger, more modern, and more visually dramatic, with a small walkable downtown, but Vancouver has many more neighbourhoods immediately outside of downtown, and then all the beaches, rainforests, mountains and islands immediately nearby - you could easily spend a week just exploring Vancouver and not see it all. But Victoria's definitely a nice change of pace from Vancouver and worth seeing, but I wouldn't do it as a day trip - I'd ideally spend the night or even two.

Whistler is an easy day trip. It's an hour and a half drive north of Vancouver along the Sea-to-Sky Highway, which in itself is a dramatically scenic route. I respectfully disagree it's only a winter sports resort - it's a year-round resort and just as popular/busy in the summer, with plenty of things to see and do. I actually love heading up to Whistler for an overnight or two in the summer. It's an incredible alpine hiking destination - there is the gondola that takes you into the alpine minutes from the village, there's the bustling patios, pubs, breweries, and restaurants in the village which gives it a fun "we're on holiday" ambiance. Taking the gondola up to the top for a short walk is fun. Sure, it's home to one of the world's most famous mountain bike parks, but that's just one of the many summer activities there. If you like golf, there are 4 courses, and if you're into adventure, they have several ziplines, white water rafting, ATV tours, wildlife watching tours, helicopter tours, kayaking, and so on. Vallea Lumina (a night-time experience) is supposed to really good. And I've always loved Scandinave Spa, which is blissful. But my most favourite attraction in Whistler has to be the Audain Art Museum, which is, I'd argue, the most impressive art gallery in the entire province and definitely worth a visit.


So as you can tell, yes, you can go to Whistler as a day trip, or you can spend several days if you want more of a mountain resort ambiance, which is different than Vancouver's bustling west coast city ambiance, which is different than Victoria's quaint, historic, charming energy. All three are worth your time.

Here's how I'd probably break out your time:

3-5 days Vancouver
1-3 days Whistler
2-3 days Victoria

barry3040

Thank you very much for your fantastic reply Robyn !

SirhanTheStrong

-I would say a minimum of 3-4 days in Vancouver
-1.5-2 days in Victoria. (I wouldn't recommend it as a daytrip, spend atleast 1 night there)
-Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler is an easy daytrip from Vancouver, but if you love hiking/outdoors stuff you could easily spend longer.

If I had a week, I would spend it with 4 days in Vancouver, 2 in Victoria and a daytrip to Whistler.

If you have longer, I would also recommend spending a couple of days exploring Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island. If I wanted to spend time hiking that would be a more enjoyable option if you don't want the tourist/resort atmosphere of Whistler.

List of Recs:

Vancouver:
- Stanley Park & the Vancouver Aquarium
- UBC Museum of Anthropology
- Granville Island
- Capilano Suspension Bridge
- VanDusen Botanical Garden


Victoria:

-Butchart Gardens
-Royal BC Museum
-Craigdarroch Castle

Daniel_Williams

Hi Barry—

SirhantheStrong, eliztravels, BC_Robyn and sludick covered the things I love about Vancouver nicely.

I concur that 4-5 days/nights would make for an ideal first visit to Vancouver. A number of points of interest mentioned you’d likely do on different days as they’re in different directions and certainly for some you will want to linger. If you want to tack on Victoria, I’d suggest actually at least 2-3 nights there—I know I would want 2 full days in Victoria personally, most definitely if going to Butchart Gardens. And I would recommend Butchart Gardens; some people have told me oh they wouldn’t go there as they’re “not into gardens” but I can’t overemphasize that this is more than just an excellent entry in an urban botanical garden category but also remarkable for its topography and scenic outlooks

Best wishes,

Daniel.

SirhanTheStrong

In my opinion, Butchart Gardens is the best botanical garden in all of North America. Even if you're not a "garden person" it is absolutely impressive. You can easily spend 4-6 hours there.

barry3040

Thank you !

barry3040

thank you !