This is a wonderland.....beautiful snow covered mountain tops, everything is SO green there....lovely vibrant colored flowers, forrests, huge trees....beautiful mountain streams and waterfalls.
The food is excellent...a big variety of Resturants...all indiviually different in the most extreme way. The city itself is so exciting...people so friendly, shops everywhere...farmers markets so to speak....then on to Van Couver Island..where you'll take a ferry...with the whale swimming along side. On the Island itself...find little shops of art, bakeries....fish markets...etc. The coast is beautiful...with grass growing right down to the sand at the beaches...Rocky cliffs, wonderful pink sand! This is a must see!!!

I love Vancouver, British Columbia! It is my favourite place to visit. Between Stanley Park, the Aquarium, Granville Island, the Botanical garden, the beaches and the amazing people I love it! There is such a diverse, rich cultural in this city and the land is amazing! I love going to Vancouver by train in the dead of winter and walking down a street in the rain, finding a little mom & pop store selling a huge variety of flowers. Or going to Stanley Park and seeing the hydrangea in bloom – every colour you could imagine and the flower heads are larger than the biggest dinner plate you could find! Then there is Granville Island!! I could happily live here and never have to leave. This is an adventure in itself. There is so much beautiful fresh produce and the smells of the ocean mix with the produce and flowers – it is an experience you want to have at least once in your life. Every time I go to Vancouver I experience something new, fresh and exciting! Go – you won’t regret it! P.S. we have stayed in the fancier hotels and what would be considered skids - the skid hotel was really nice and clean. The staff was awesome and helpful. Lots of space in the room. The fancier hotel was clean and the staffs nice but the rooms for all of their ‘beauty’ were small. If you had a large suitcase you would have problems moving it around the room, and the view of the naked guy sleeping in his hotel room just down 2 floors from my room was the highlight of that hotel. Sometimes the best places to stay are a little out of your way.

I visited Vancouver for the first time with a friend of mine in November. Aside from it being rainy and kinda dark, it was an awesome trip! It was so beautiful and I loved that it was a big city surrounded by nature (forests, lots of water and mountains). One of my favorite things was the Lynn Suspension Bridge and hiking around that area. It really felt like we were in a whole different world. The trees were huge and everything was so green with the river running through it. We also went to Whistler for the day. The drive is SO scary- don't do it at night. There are no street lights and lots of construction. We also loved walking around the city and shopping. The Gaslamp district was OK, but a lot was closed when we went. There are tons of pretty parks around the island. If you can't appreciate nature, this isn't the place for you! Everyone there was really nice and you should go into a pub to get a good taste of the culture and peope Vancouver has to offer.

Started with a few days downtown. This was great. The hotel boasts comfortable beds, right on the button there. However it wouldn't stop moving (all the construction for 2010 olympics!)
My first impression of Canada is that everyone is so polite and helpfull, also very quietly spoken.
Downside, DO NOT USE THE BIG BUS, tour guide. It is a rip off of The Trolley Bus Hop on Hop off tours. The narative is taped the staff indifferent at best and the schedule is pure fiction. However I then did the Trolley bus and learned something new each time I got on. The staff on and off the bus are friendly, helpfull and not out to take your money for the sake of it. Each driver seems to have different stories about each place, so you don't hear the same thing twice.
Took a trip by public transport up to Grouse Mountain. Cheap rates perfect timing and had a wonderful experience into the bargain. We walked across the suspension bridge and hopped back on the bus again to discover the same ticket did us all the way up to Grouse. Allow yourself the extravigance of eating the set menue with BC wines in the Observatory restaurant. (about $CA 100 per head) This also includes the cost of the cable car up the mountain ($CA32). This was fantastic and the view to die for. You need to book in advance, but just about anybody will do it for you.
We had a day trip to Whistler, for non skiers we thought that would be enough, wrong! What a great place. The view from the top (another cable car ride) was great. There are all sorts of things you can do besides shop, ski and drink. We had a great day, but didn't realise you could do things like go snow walking. There is also bungie jumping, snow safari and a death slide experience through the treetops, suitable for all ages from 5 to 95. I wish I had done it, so will have to go back again.
Eating out was great everywhere. We were amazed at the diversity through out Vancouver.
We took off to Vancouver Iseland and drove to Port Alberni, where we had a great meal at the "Little Bavaria" Restaurant.
The VERY Best part of our trip was a couple of days at A snug harbour Inn in Ucluelet (--). This place was unbelievable. Friendly, luxurious and loads of Whalewatching from the comfort of the hottub on the Deck out Back.
Only home a few hours and want to go back again.