Vancouver BC Canada - planning trip with wife and ~8 month old baby

[XKxRome0ox]

just starting to plan a trip to Vancouver BC
probably around April 13-18 ish
getting baby's passport made now
my baby will be about 8 months old by then

browsing tripadvisor and such to get some ideas

would appreciate some recent travel feedback
hotel recommendations
sights, attractions
transportation

will probably rent a car since we will have a lot of baby stuff to lug around all the time

best money exchange option? will probably use credit card for most things but should have some cash on hand, right?


appreciate your input
thanks

[The Reverend]

Not sure of your budget but the Fairmont Pacific Rim is easily one of the best hotels in the city. Pricey but great location with the 2010 Winter Olympics torch right across the street as well as the sea plane terminal and countless restaurants. The Fly Over Canada ride is there too but your kid might be too young for that. You might be better off AirBnBing it if you want to stay right downtown. Uber and Lyft are finally here so that's also an option as Vancouver is a very walkable city too. Transit is also pretty decent especially with the train right from the airport into downtown, incredibly convenient.

It won't be the warmest at that time but definitely pleasant. I believe the Cherry Blossom festival will be running at that time so that might be enjoyable, good family fun. If the weather is nice its a great idea to head up to Grouse Mountain. If you keep your pass you can then check out the Capilano Suspension bridge for 50% off the entrance fee. Just keep looking forward if you are afraid of heights.

Depending on the weather I'd also recommend renting some bikes around Georgia and Denman and riding them around Stanley Park. About 15 kms around but flat all the way and you get some amazing views. You can rent bikes with a carriage seat for the kid as well.

If you have a car then the drive down the Sea to Sky highway to Squamish is great with spectacular views. I actually prefer the Sea to Sky Gondola to Grouse Mountain (unless you're skiing of course) so check that out too as there is a lot to do up there. You can head on to Whistler and the village is cool and all but you really want to ski there if you can. Spring skiing Whistler / Blackcomb is world class.

At Grouse Mountain, take the gondola up for views of the city, have some decent food and walk around or get some turns in if your ok skiing with your kid in the proverbial backpack as many do with youngsters. If the snow is all gone Grouse has a lot of other things to do but best to bundle up as it can get chilly up there.

Restaurants you should check out in Vancouver are the MacKenzie Room, Bar Bei, Santoku Ramen and for sure get some dim sum.

Umbrella's and/or rain gear is always recommended.

[Alfisti]

Lose the baby until you get back.

[604MIIC]

For fx, google VBCE, they have a few locations around. Take a stroll around Stanley park and check out Robson street a d Pacific centre mall if you're staying in Downtown.
Be extra cautious if you're driving in Richmond, a lot of oblivious drivers.

[Germanauto]

Vancouver is my favorite city, easily been there over 40 times. What's nice is the downtown is large enough to feel like a decently sized city, while being small and safe enough that you can walk anywhere in a reasonable about of time. I have yet to see a cleaner, safer city in North America. Vancouver really comes alive during the summer...but you'll have a good time regardless.

The Waterfront is the quieter and more scenic part of town. Fairmont Pacific Rim is my favorite property there, but the Fairmont waterfront a block away is nice too although older. A more reasonably priced but still decent hotel in that area is the Marriott. Vancouver's waterfront is my favorite of any city I've been to. The views are spectacular and it's clean, safe, and goes all the way to Stanley Park.

The downtown core is like 10-15 min walk away. The area around Nordstrom/Pacific Centre/Robson are the heart of the city with plenty of good shopping and foot traffic. Pro-tip, if you want Canada Goose buy it here because prices are hundreds less after conversion. Hotel Rosewood Georgia is a nice boutique property, Fairmont downtown is more historic, then a couple blocks away are the Trump and Shangri-La (probably Vancouver's most impressive hotel in my opinion).

Must do's:
- Bike ride along the waterfront and alongside the seawall around Stanley park. It only takes like 60-90 minutes and has amazing views. The Fairmont hotels have complimentary bikes for guests.
- Cafe Crepe on Robson...the Nutella and cinnamon crepe the be specific
- Breakfast at De Dutch on the waterfront
- Dinner at Cactus Club Cafe on the waterfront for the views
- Evening drinks at the Fairmont Pacific Rim...very lively atmosphere, live music, etc.
- Capilano Suspension Bridge, a short drive away and well worth the cost.
- See to Sky highway between Vancouver and Whistler. One of the most scenic and fun drives ever (with the right car )
- If you're into Indian food, Vij's is probably the most famous spot. My personal favorite is Tasty Indian Bistro. Their original location is Surrey near the border, but they've got a location in Yaletown too.

I'd also recommend talking a stroll around Gastown, it's the oldest part of the city and has some really neat restaurants and bars at night time. Yaletown is on the other side of the city but is nice to check out after dark...good bars.

[MaximusB]

What type of activities are you into or looking forward to do?

I would recommend hiking, after all Vancouver is known for its mountains and outdoors. However not sure how it’ll work with a baby. But if you’re up for hikes I can recommend a few shorter/easier hikes that are more baby friendly.

Granville Island is cool to check out. Lots of artesian shops. Stop by the sake store there and grab a drink at dockside restaurant and check out the view. You can take the water taxi from downtown into Granville Island and take a walk over to Kitsilano.

Do a craft beer tasting along Main Street, just outside of downtown. You can bike from one craft beer brewery to another, or hire a driver for a tour.

Bring umbrella or rain jacket. Our rain isn’t like LA where it only lasts for half hour or so. It rains for days in Vancouver.

Eating wise (in no particular order and not sorted by location) my recommendations are:

High end:
Elisa Steak (newish steakhouse hit in town. You might run into NHL players there. It is owned by the Owner of the Canucks)
Miku sushi
Minami sushi
Kobe Japanese steakhouse
Hawksworth
Market by Jean Georges (personally don’t think it is all that good)
Hay’s Steakhouse (probably skip since they have a location in LA. Also I think Elisa listed above is better)
Joe Fortes

Mid range:
Global
The Kegs
Cactus club (they have many locations around Vancouver)
Earls

Local favourites: (to name a few)
Chewie
Fanny bay oyster bar (they have happy hours, buck a shuck)
Cafe Medina (must go for breakfast, but expect a long wait outside. Average wait time is about an hour.)
Jam Cafe (also a must for breakfast and also expect a long wait)
Various ramen places in downtown
Guu (Japanese tapas)
Ask for Luigi
L’ Abattoir
Tacofino (if for some reason you feel like taco, this is the place to go)
Meat and bread (probably one of the best sandwich place in town, good for a quick lunch)
La casa gelato (they have over 500 flavours)

[MaximusB]

Also rent a car. Our public transit sucks. Taxi will refuse pick up if your destination is too far away. We JUST got Uber and Lyft, so got some growing pain to get through ie. not enough cars/drivers.

Downtown hotels are nice, but cost can add up quick. I’m born and raised in Vancouver, so couldn’t tell you which is go to hotel.

If you’re for the Airbnb route, I would suggest to stay outside of Vancouver for better value. If Airbnb PM me the area it is located in, I’ll tell you if it is shady or not.

[MaximusB]

Originally Posted by 604MIIC

Be extra cautious if you're driving in Richmond, a lot of oblivious drivers.

Lol and buy extra rental car coverage if you drive in Richmond. Just YouTube “Richmond drivers” and you’ll know what we mean. I guarantee you’ll see some fucked up driving no matter which day and time you visit Richmond.

[GuyOh]

Fairmont pacific rim is my favourite hotel there

Stanley park
Grouse mountain
Drive to whistler
Probably one of the best sushi and chinese food in North America

[saeyedoc]

The food there is fantastic, maybe the best foodie town in the world if you like Asian food. We're ruined for Sushi now after going to Tetsu Sushi Bar. Fantastic Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, you name it. Beautiful place, amazing reflections in the buildings. Only real negative is the homeless situation, there are a few blocks that are just awful.

[XKxRome0ox]

Originally Posted by saeyedoc

The food there is fantastic, maybe the best foodie town in the world if you like Asian food. We're ruined for Sushi now after going to Tetsu Sushi Bar. Fantastic Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, you name it. Beautiful place, amazing reflections in the buildings. Only real negative is the homeless situation, there are a few blocks that are just awful.

it sounds like you're describing LA
except our homeless situation is probably worse

[mecheng77]

To add to this list, check out the island, nice boat trip and the island has lots of natural beauty.

If you want to see real life zombies, check out Hastings street, just keep your doors locked.

[Housekeeping]

Highly recommend Kelowna, asewome town on the water, many vineyards, etc. and for awesome skiing go to Big White.

[XKxRome0ox]

Originally Posted by MaximusB

Also rent a car. Our public transit sucks. Taxi will refuse pick up if your destination is too far away. We JUST got Uber and Lyft, so got some growing pain to get through ie. not enough cars/drivers.

Downtown hotels are nice, but cost can add up quick. I’m born and raised in Vancouver, so couldn’t tell you which is go to hotel.

If you’re for the Airbnb route, I would suggest to stay outside of Vancouver for better value. If Airbnb PM me the area it is located in, I’ll tell you if it is shady or not.

Boundary Rd & E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V5K 2B1, Canada

How is this area?
i see a nice airbnb listing here
brand new condo, free parking

between Burnaby Heights and Willingdon Heights

[XKxRome0ox]

my wife wants to visit Butchart Garden and see Vancouver Island
is it worth taking the ferry with a rental car to get around the island?
Or can I see the important stuff by just taking the bus+ferry?

[MaximusB]

Originally Posted by XKxRome0ox

Boundary Rd & E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V5K 2B1, Canada

How is this area?
i see a nice airbnb listing here
brand new condo, free parking

between Burnaby Heights and Willingdon Heights

That’s in North Burnaby, right at the City of Burnaby/Vancouver border. Hence the road name boundary road. I am quite familiar with Burnaby, as I live in South Burnaby. I sometime take Hastings to/from work.

I believe there is only one new condo at Boundary and Hastings. Which is right next to a transit (bus) hub. So there will be a lot of foot and vehicle traffic. During rush hour Hastings can get quite backed up because Boundary is a main road that go through Burnaby and Hastings is also a main road that takes you from downtown Vancouver into the tri-cities. That location is also just a few blocks away from highway 1 and the bridge that takes you to the north shore.

Location wise it is pretty central. Head west 15 minutes or so on Hastings will take you to downtown. East on Hastings to Port Moody, Coquitlam, etc. 15 minutes down boundary will take you to Metrotown (largest mall in Vancouver area) in central Burnaby. Just a few blocks east on Hastings have lots of good local restaurants. However that location is a few outside of the heart of Willingdon heights, where all the restaurants and shops are.

However at night that area tends to have some, not much, homeless people hanging around because of the transit hub and the 24hr McDonald down the street.

Have you looked into central Burnaby, Metrotown area or Brentwood area? There are tons of new condos there. But I would assume prices will be a bit higher. Personally I would prefer Metrotown or Brentwood because it is recently redeveloped, so it is newer.

Originally Posted by XKxRome0ox

my wife wants to visit Butchart Garden and see Vancouver Island
is it worth taking the ferry with a rental car to get around the island?
Or can I see the important stuff by just taking the bus+ferry?

How long is this trip? I would suggest spending a night over in the island, if you do go. It is a 2 hour ferry ride each way, and Boundary/Hastings is about 30-40 minutes away to the nearest ferry terminal.

I would take the car over. Just more convenient that way, especially with a baby.

One tip... DO NOT speed around the ferry terminal in the Island. The roads by the terminal feels like a highway, looks like a highway, can definitely drive at highway speed, but the speed limit is only 50km/hr, city speed. In B.C. they will impound you’re car for 7 days if you go 40km/hr over posted speed limit. The roads going to the ferry is notorious for speed traps. And the cops will impound your rental car, they are ruthless on that road.

[saeyedoc]

Originally Posted by XKxRome0ox

it sounds like you're describing LA
except our homeless situation is probably worse

Don't forget the traffic too. You can travel around Vancouver fairly quickly when it's not rush hour. Everything is also a lot cheaper than LA.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by saeyedoc

The food there is fantastic, maybe the best foodie town in the world if you like Asian food. We're ruined for Sushi now after going to Tetsu Sushi Bar. Fantastic Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, you name it. Beautiful place, amazing reflections in the buildings. Only real negative is the homeless situation, there are a few blocks that are just awful.

In Vancouver the homeless are really just confined to E Hastings street. You'll never see them anywhere else besides the occasional guy sitting outside a Tim's.

[ToddBlack88]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

In Vancouver the homeless are really just confined to E Hastings street. You'll never see them anywhere else besides the occasional guy sitting outside a Tim's.

And Gastown

[Sassicaia]

Originally Posted by XKxRome0ox

my wife wants to visit Butchart Garden and see Vancouver Island
is it worth taking the ferry with a rental car to get around the island?
Or can I see the important stuff by just taking the bus+ferry?

Ferrry is fun if you haven't been on jt. That said you can take a float plane (right out front of fairmont pacific rim) and land right in the centre of Victoria close to the gardens and everything else in the main part of town. Worth doing a whale watching tour - again walking distance.

Ferry is fun for a first time thou but be aware it takes 20 min to fly from DT and between drive and ferry you are in for 3+ hours of commute

[Salty Dog]

'

[tuco44]

Why do we need politics in this thread?