Vancouver, BC; Canada
Looking for a more adventurous holiday celebration? Break out your passport!
Back to other destinationsWhere to Stay:
Ramada Inn and Suites Vancouver Downtown
Ramada Inn and Suites Vancouver Downtown is ideally located in the heart of the entertainment district in Vancouver downtown within easy walking distance to all the city has to offer. Only steps away to the picturesque sea-wall for a walk or a jog or a leisurely stroll to English Bay and Stanley Park, or if you prefer you are only minutes to taking an aqua bus ride over to the Granville Island Market.
This Ramada hotel is located very close to Robson Street shopping, trendy Yaletown, great restaurants, theatre row and nightlife. The Vogue and Queen Elizabeth Theater, Science World, Gastown, China Town, BC Place Stadium, General Motors Place, and Vancouver's financial district are all within walking distance.
All 116-guestrooms are decorated in an Art-Deco style. The rooms, which include deluxe suites and kitchen units, are all equipped with air conditioning and offer complimentary in-room coffee and tea, in-room pay per view movies, free wireless high speed internet. Laundry, valet service, and paid parking are available on premises.
Howard Johnson Hotel Vancouver
The Howard Johnson Hotel Vancouver Downtown is a Presidents Quality Excellence and Presidents Award Winner. Welcome to the Award Winning Howard Johnson in Downtown Vancouver. This Hotel offers Free newspaper, Free pass to Fitness World, the new Wildfire Bar and Grill with West Coast cuisine and Wireless Internet is available.
Days Inn - Vancouver Downtown
The Days Inn Vancouver Hotel offers affordable guestrooms, complete with contemporary colours and modern decor and amenities. This downtown hotel is located in the heart of the financial district of Vancouver. One block from the American Consulate. Two blocks from Canada Place, the Cruise Ship Terminal, Vancouver Trade and Convention Center and Pacific Center Mall. Ballentyne Pier is a short 5-minute drive. We are also within walking distance to Stanley Park, historic Gastown, Robson Street, and many shops and restaurants, theatres, and Vancouver Art Gallery. Complimentary shuttle service to the cruise ship terminal.
There is an onsite Restaurant, Lounge and a Pub serving Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
Aviawest in Vancouver
Aviawest in Vancouver is ideally situated in downtown of British Columbia's largest city, within a five-minute walk to multiple theaters; trendy Yaletown; B.C. Place; GM Place; a public library; and the renowned Robson Street, the Rodeo Drive of the North. The North Shore of Vancouver is within 15 minutes by car and offers you three ski mountains, night skiing, and incredible hiking on snow-capped peaks, which rise straight out of the Pacific Ocean. Vancouver features Canada's most temperate climate, similar to that of San Francisco. Stay and play at Aviawest in Vancouver.
Destinations at Rosedale on Robson
Destinations at Rosedale on Robson is a 300-acre resort ideally situated in the heart of Flathead Valley, home of Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake, Whitefish Mountain Resort and a selection of excellent golf courses. Destinations at Rosedale provides guests on-site extravagances such as an 18-hole championship golf course, a recreation and fitness center, a year-round heated indoor pool and spas, a children's "Splash Zone", tennis courts, and a restaurant and lounge. From here, you'll be just minutes from snowmobile trails, and the resort's complimentary shuttle will take you directly to the Whitefish Mountain Resort ski area. Supervised children's activities also are available year-round.
What to do:
Check out the Canucks - Ice Hockey is a way of life in Vancouver so support the local team, the Vancouver Canucks. Check out the schedule and be sure to enjoy a visit to the famous GM Place.
Hit the Slopes - Cypress Mountain offers both alpine and cross country skiing as well as Snowshoeing Tours and a Snowtubing Park; Mount Seymour offers skiing, showshoeing and toboggan runs, and Grouse Mountain, "Today's" Olympic Home for NBC's live broadcasts during the 2010 Olympics, offers a variety of terrain and trails for skiers and boarders, as well as ice skating, a Sno-Limo, Mountain Ziplines and Sleigh Rides.
Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden - Located at the highly regarded gardens, the festival features events including visits with Santa and his elves, puppet shows, a "dancing lights" show on the lake, an express model train and Community Choir Concerts.
The festival runs every night from 4 - 9pm from December 11 through January 3, 2010 (with the exception of December 25, when the garden is closed).
Travel Tips:
- Vancouver; Home of the 2010 Winter Olympics
- The Olympic Flame arrived in Canada on Friday, October 30 with Mayor Robertson carrying the flame off the plane in Victoria to be the first to bring it onto Canadian soil.
- October 30 marked the first day of the 106-day Olympic torch relay.
- This largest ever national relay involving 12,000 torchbearers representing every province and territory of the country.
- Bordered by the Coast Mountain Range and the Pacific Ocean, Vancouver is recognized as one of the world's most liveable cities. Archaeological evidence shows that the Coast Salish people had settled the Vancouver area by 500 BC.
The torch will arrive in Vancouver on February 11, 2010. The Olympic cauldron will be lit on February 12.
- Four seasons in Vancouver, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter - lots of snow
- Great Skiing at Whistler and black Holm mountains
- Trains available from Vancouver to Whistler Mountain
- Wyndham resorts at Whistler.
- Victoria Island - a small but exclusive beautiful island - with the same architecture as London - A replica of the Houses of Parliament in London, and the government based on the same idea as the UK. They have two groups - Houses of Lords (upper crust) and House of Commons (based on the common people). They have a leader called a "prime minister"
- The Empress Hotel and Bouchard Gardens - Empress Hotel known for its HIGH TEA (same as in England) Scones, Double Decker sandwiches, clotted cream and pastries served with tea.
- Bouchard Gardens - Very similar to KEW Gardens in England - acres of incredible flowers and foliage.
- Vancouver - Queens Park overlooks the entire city
- WorldMark by Wyndham resort located DOWNTOWN Vancouver by Robson Street & Granville Island
- University of British Columbia - lovely grounds and interesting to see.
- Robson Street - high end shopping with great restaurants
- Granville Island - Fresh Vegetables, fruits, restaurants and craft vendors - great for the summer to sit out by the water and watch the boats and yachts go by.
- North Vancouver - home of the Elite.
- North Delta - White rock - borders on to Bellingham Washing and is about a three hour drive from Seattle.
- North Ladner Ferry can take you to Seattle within four hours - cars can be driven onto the Ferry
- North Ladner & Vancouver Ferry - 90 minutes with car on board to Victoria Island.
- Vancouver has become very Neapolitan - many Chinese people located to Vancouver when the Chinese Government changed a few years back from being a British Colony and became Red China. All people with British Passports left and moved to Canada. Very large East Indian communities in Surrey - nr the Canada/UK Border. Vancouver is the eighth largest city in Canada with a population of 578,000 (2006 census) and has one of the mildest climates in Canada with temperatures averaging around 3 degrees Celsius in January and 18 degrees Celsius in July. It covers 114.7 sq km (44.3 sq miles), and is part of Metro Vancouver, the third largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a population of 2.1 million
- Pan Pacific Hotel located downtown Vancouver - all the Cruise ships to Alaska leave from this port.
- Fishing - salmon - great on the outskirts of Vancouver. Best Salmon Fishing around...
Freshwater: There are so many fishable lakes in British Columbia that even if you managed to try a different one each day of the year, you would have to start young and have a very long life (and maybe a floatplane) to visit them all. Hundreds of pleasant lakes are easily reached and fished with simply a vehicle with good ground clearance, a car-top or inflatable boat or float tube, and the right tackle.
Catch-and-release with a single barbless hook has become the official operative byword for those anglers fishing ocean-bound streams and rivers in BC. Attitude means a lot in fishing. Remember that the essence of sport angling is to try to hook a fish on the most sporting terms you can handle, from light tackle with artificial lures, barbless hooks, and delicate leaders to a belief that a trout is much more valuable as a living challenge to your skill than as part of a meal.
Saltwater: Salmon are the sport fish of choice in BC's marine waters. Depending on the time of year you'll find chinook (also called king or spring, or tyee if over 30 pounds/13.5 kg), coho (also called silver, blueback, or northern), sockeye, or pink (also called humpy). Coho aren't the biggest salmon but are the most sought after, as they jump and fight like trout. Sockeye are the tastiest salmon of all, while Pinks are similar in size but not as tasty.
It's a mystery, but fish - oceangoing and freshwater alike - are hungriest just as a slack tide is beginning to fall, and for an hour thereafter. Another well-considered tip is that the best time to fish in ocean waters is an hour before and after both high and low tides. That's just some of the fishing lore that you'll encounter when tossing a line in BC waters.
