Vancouver People & Culture

Great city to visit and it reminded me a lot of Auckland with the harbour and ranges like the Waitakares. Great public transport with ferries and buses (some on cables) as well as a light rail system. Fantastic shopping (if you still have money when you get there). I would recommend going to the aquarium to see the beluga whales as well as many other sea creatures and the museum at the University has many treasures from the first nations as well as from Maori and Pacific people. Fantastic totem poles. Take a walk through Chinatown as it is worth it and stock up on souvenirs made by the first nation peoples of British Columbia.

This city is fantastic, very clean, the people are so kind.

Most beautiful spot in the whole world! Ocean, city and mountains all within a few minutes. Stanley park in the heart of the city, friendly people and delicious Japanese food! If you love the outdoors, that's the place to go!

I took the land sea tours that is good for guided tours to North Shore Vancouver. Very nice people and dont miss the Grouse Mountain which is good for skiing or snow boarding. Downtown nightlife is nice and there are a bunch of museums like Vancouver Art Gallery and Museum of Anthropology. The thing that I missed was going to Victoria which has a lot of places to see.

Best place to shop is along Robson and Granville Street. Gotta check out Stanley Park. Cruise down Commercial Drive for the best food....Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Afican, East Indian, Morrocan etc. And go to Cambie Pub. Lots of different freindly people from allover the world because its near alot of the hostels

www.translink.bc.ca (bus information) http://vancouver.craigslist.com (free online classefieds: furniture, jobs, apartments, etc...) www.cfox.com (radio station- announces upcoming events online.) www.pollstar.com (city search: Vancouver for concert listings) There is a hostel on the corner of Homer and Pender downtown that only charges $10 per night for a dorm bed. Next door is Finches Tea and Coffee, which has the best baguettes you have ever tasted AND Fair Trade coffee. During the day the area is full of 9-5'ers but at night it is a bit dodgy. The majority of backpacker hostels congregate on Granville Street downtown (the clubbing area) and are about $25 per night. There is also one in Kitsilano but not exactly sure where. To get downtown from the Airport catch the public Airport Circle bus from outside arrivals which will take you to Airport Station Bay 2. There you transfer to the 98 B-Line Burrard Station bound. (Richmond is the opposite direction so you don't want take that one unless you are staying with friends in Richmond.)
Buses only take exact change. 1 Zone is $2.25 (Airport to Downtown is 2 Zones- I think $3.25, but if you are travelling after 6pm or it is a Saturday or Sunday than it is all 1 Zone.) If you are looking for work, a good place to start is Robson Street, downtown. All the shops are almost always hiring. Print a bunch of up to date resumes and hand them out at all the shops. Also try Pacific Centre Mall. (Enter via the Sears on Robson.) Granville Street, Commercial Drive, Denman Street, Park Royal Mall, Broadway, West 4th in Kitsilano, Lonsdale Avenue in North Van. (etc...) For office jobs, look in Newspapers and Online Classefieds. Favourite Restaurants: Rain City Grill, Denman Street: View of English Bay- very fancy- organic, locally produced gourmet food. Tanpopo, Denman Street: All you can eat Sushi. Lunch is $11, Dinner is $21, but they add fancier things to the menu like Salmon Tataki, and in between and afterwards they have happy hour specials. Havana, Commercial Drive: Cuban food, pitchers of Mojitos, amazing atmosphere. medium sort of price range. Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company, Cypress Street, Kitsilano: Best Pizza in Vancouver. Organic and Locally Sourced Produce- completely sustainable down to the recycled materials napkins and furniture. Anatole Souvlaki, Lonsdale Avenue: Amazing quality Greek food in a fantastic atmosphere. You get what you pay for though at about $17 dollars for the platter (chicken, tzatziki, salad, pita bread, rice, potatoes.) You can get lesser quality but perhaps bigger quantity if you try Stephos on Davie Street, also very popular for around $10. India Bistro, Davie Street: Excellent, cheap Indian food, and cool cocktails on offer. Raglans, Lonsdale Avenue: cheap bar snacks, but you can't beat the massive Monsoon Bowl cocktails. Vina Vietnamese, Marine Drive, Dunderave, W.Van: Excellent Vietnamese food in a classy atmosphere, but surprisingly cheap. For grocery shopping try Capers, a big Pro-Organic supermarket chain with locations on Robson Street downtown and in Kitsilano, etc... In winter you can go ice-skating up on Grouse Mountain- they freeze over the area that is a park in the summer. You can rent Ice Skates up there. For a good hike, you can actually hike up Grouse Mountain. It is famous in Vancouver and called the "Grouse Grind." There are hundreds of hiking opportunities on the North Shore. Capilano Suspension Bridge is pricey but the tourists seem to love it. The locals go to Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge instead because it is scarrier and it is free. The downtown waterfront area at night is a little dodgy, avoid wandering off the beaten path in Gastown especially. The East End of West Hastings Street is where all the heroin addicts and prostitutes hang out. In the Summer there is a waterslide in English Bay. Also in the last week of July and first week of August is the Festival of Light, the worlds largest international fireworks competition, and the whole of Vancouver heads to the waterfront, especially English Bay, to watch. (Usually Wednesday and Saturday nights.) It is a great thing for a traveller to see as it really unites the city. The biggest display of Vancouver culture by far, is the Canucks. Our Hockey team. You have to go to a game, but if like most Vancouverites it is above your budget, at least go to a bar to watch the games, or if you know someone, go to a party to watch it. And if you are lucky, keep checking www.ticketmaster.ca for when they "sell" free tickets to the practices. Even if you don't get one, head down to GM place that day anyways they usually hand them out at the door. If I think of anything else I will add it. Good luck!

Tourists are always wanting to see something unusual, but we don't want to look like tourists. Go to the University of Vancouver and find out the latest cultural event that is offered to the students. It might be an intriguing lecture, concerts, or a cultural exchange. Vancouver is gearing up for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the University is quite open to visitors.

Best Greek Restaurant: Antatole Souvlaki, bottom of Lonsdale Avenue. Chicken Souvlaki with rice, roast potatoes, greek salad, tzatziki, and pita bread: $17 (pricey for Greek, but the quality and atmosphere make it well worth it.) Try the Strawberry Daquiri or the Sour Apple Martini! Raglans, nearby is a genuine Tiki Bar with Monsoon Bowl cocktails and bar snacks. Just up the street a couple blocks and accross the street on the corner is another bar with a massive cocktail menu. Drinks are pricey for Vancouver but reasonable for the creativity involved. Lonsdale Quay is fun to wander around and shop, and outside there is live music in the summer. It is also a main transit hub of North Van, as all the busses that go everywhere stop there and you can catch the seabus, either for practical purposes or for the view. On the otherside at Waterfront Station, don't have the paninis at Jugo Juice, I got food poisoning. Lynn Canyon suspension bridge is FREE compared to the expensive and touristy Caplino Suspension Bridge.

When in or around Vancouver, BC, Canada, check out Granville Island. It's buried in the heart of Vancouver. It used to be an industrial park but has been converted into retail shops, great eateries, and space for live music. Great views of the city are also available from the island.


Granville Island is a small island and shopping district in Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada . It is located in False Creek directly across from Downtown Vancouver 's peninsula, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge . The island is now more or less connected with the mainland so it is not technically an island.

Take the Sunset Dinner Cruise around Vancouver. Take a narrated tour of the city from a double decker floating restaurant. Great buffet, good wine list and live music against the backdrop of the setting Pacific Northwest sun. http://www.boatcruises.com/sunset.html $70 CDN per person but worth every penny!

when visiting vancouver make a trip up to whistler if you can. in the summer its filled with rides and biking and trails and in the winter you can go skiing and snowboarding there. you also get to take a beautiful scenic route up the mountains to get there

Enjoyed the fact its meters away from USA! Really really hot in July- almost like Gold Coast without the beaches.

Either hike up or take the gondola to the top of Grouse Mountain. The view of the city is breathtaking. Capilano Park is worth a stop as well. The rope bridge is insane and not for somebody whose afraid of heights....

Rent some Bikes in Vancouver, so you can discover Vancouver very easy.

Walk all the way from Acadia beach to Wreck beach, and you'll get the feeling of being in the middle of Pacific Wilderness, but only a 1/2 hour from downtown. See WWII Artillery Towers, bald eagles, seals, and gigantic trees. Watch out for the occasional naked sunlover, even in winter!

The new Canada Line Skytrain is now running, so you can take that to get into downtown Vancouver from the airport in less than half an hour.

Best Greek Restaurant: Antatole Souvlaki, bottom of Lonsdale Avenue. Chicken Souvlaki with rice, roast potatoes, greek salad, tzatziki, and pita bread: $17 (pricey for Greek, but the quality and atmosphere make it well worth it.) Try the Strawberry Daquiri or the Sour Apple Martini! Raglans, nearby is a genuine Tiki Bar with Monsoon Bowl cocktails and bar snacks. Just up the street a couple blocks and accross the street on the corner is another bar with a massive cocktail menu. Drinks are pricey for Vancouver but reasonable for the creativity involved. Lonsdale Quay is fun to wander around and shop, and outside there is live music in the summer. It is also a main transit hub of North Van, as all the busses that go everywhere stop there and you can catch the seabus, either for practical purposes or for the view. On the otherside at Waterfront Station, don't have the paninis at Jugo Juice, I got food poisoning. Lynn Canyon suspension bridge is FREE compared to the expensive and touristy Caplino Suspension Bridge.

Robson ave is a blast. To bad the Canucks suck. Give China town a visit.

Great city to visit and it reminded me a lot of Auckland with the harbour and ranges like the Waitakares. Great public transport with ferries and buses (some on cables) as well as a light rail system. Fantastic shopping (if you still have money when you get there). I would recommend going to the aquarium to see the beluga whales as well as many other sea creatures and the museum at the University has many treasures from the first nations as well as from Maori and Pacific people. Fantastic totem poles. Take a walk through Chinatown as it is worth it and stock up on souvenirs made by the first nation peoples of British Columbia.

If you're a sushi lover, then without a doubt, you have to make sure that you plan a visit to one of the numerous Japanese restaurants during your visit. Without a doubt, you can't beat the freshness and the price quality ratio.

My favourites? Sushi Town on Hastings Street in Burnaby for all round value, and Ebi Sushi on Granville street if you want some all-you-can-eat goodness.