We visited Vancouver for a week in June 2022 and had a great time. The city was clean, modern, and walkable. There were plenty of people downtown but not too crowded, and we felt safe at all times. The locals are also friendly and polite.
How to Get Around Vancouver
Public transportation was excellent. The subway, busses, and ferry were quick, clean, and quiet. For the bus, you can pay when you get on the bus by tapping your credit card or a Compass Card on a machine at the front of the bus near the driver. For the subway and ferry, a Compass Card is required. You can use your credit card to purchase a Compass Card from a machine at any subway or ferry station. It’s about $5 to purchase a card, but the card comes loaded with $5 credit. You can reload the card with more credit at any station. You should purchase a Compass Card for each person that rides.

Where to Stay in Vancouver
We stayed at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia located in downtown Vancouver, at Howe Street and West Georgia Street. We were able to walk to a lot of places near us and the subway station for Vancouver City Centre was catty-corner to our hotel, so we stayed at a very convenient location.
We booked a Premier Executive room for 5 nights using about 275,000 American Express points (worth about $2,700). Prices were on the high end so the ability to redeem points is a great option. If you want to sign up for an American Express credit card, use this link for the AMEX Business Platinum card or this link for other AMEX cards to earn an additional sign on bonus!
What to Do in Vancouver
The Grand Tour by City Cycle Tours
Tickets are cheaper through TripAdvisor’s website ($83 each at time of writing). A ticket includes a bicycle and helmet, with optional e-bike upgrade for additional purchase.
It’s a 5 hour guided bike tour of Vancouver areas that covers more ground than walking tours in the same amount of time, including Vancouver Seawalk, Stanley Park, English Bay, Granville Island, Olympic Village, Gastown, and Chinatown. It also includes a ferry ride to Granville Island for lunch at Public Market area.
It’s mostly dedicated bicycle lanes and gentle hills (95% of the tour), suitable for cyclists of all levels. Tour ends and arrives back at the tour shop downtown by mid-afternoon.

Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
Buy tickets ($63 each) from the website for Capilano Suspension Bridge. There’s a free bus that picks up at various places downtown, including a location at Canada Place Way near the info kiosk located here.
After you cross the suspension bridge, be sure to also do the treetop walk.


Grouse Mountain – The Peak of Vancouver
Buy tickets from https://www.grousemountain.com/. A ticket includes a gondola ride to the top of the mountain and entry to the park.
If you went to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, there’s a public bus stop across from Capilano that can take you to Grouse Mountain.
There’s a 30-minute lumberjack comedy performance that you might find entertaining, along with a coffee shop, a few eateries and fantastic views.


Queen Elizabeth Park
You will need to travel by car or subway from downtown. The subway station is a few blocks from the park.
The park is well maintained with an abundance of beautiful flowers and greenery. We highly recommend a stroll through this park. You can get more information here.

VanDusen Botanical Garden
Close to Queen Elizabeth Park but it’s a long walk, so you might want to take an Uber/Lyft from the park. Tickets are required for entry (about $10 each). You can purchase tickets inside of the welcome center. Go here for more information.

Pacific Spirit Regional Park
Drive or take an Uber/Lyft to get here. It’s far from downtown and any subway station. Nice park for some light hiking/walking. Tree canopy blocks out a lot, so also a good option on a rainy day. More information from their website here.

University of British Columbia (UBC) Campus
It’s far from downtown and any subway station, but it’s in the same area as Pacific Spirit Regional Park, so you can take a short car ride to UBC from the park.
Museum of Anthropology ($20 each ticket) and UBC Botanical Garden ($10 each) are around the same area, but it’s kind of a long walk in between. If choosing one, the museum is probably better.

Spanish Banks Beach
Take a car Uber/Lyft from UBC campus to the Spanish Banks Beach and walk along the beach for scenic views of city skyline. You can ask Uber to drop you off around here.
Walk along the beach towards downtown for about 20 minutes and you’ll eventually come across an area with wild black bunnies. You’ll start to see some bunnies at first, but as you go further towards downtown, you’ll see fields of them.

Lonsdale Quay Market
Take the ferry from Waterfront Station Northbound to Lonsdale Quay. A Compass Card is required to take the ferry (same card used for subway). Get more info here.

English Bay
Fun little area with a lot of restaurants. We ate at a small hole in the wall Chinese restaurant (called Legendary Noodles) and got two bowls of noodles there. Delish!

Gastown
A lot of bars and restaurants in this historical area of Vancouver. Be sure to check out the city’s last steam clock while you’re there. Just look for the crowd of people standing around. You can’t miss it!


Chinatown
Do NOT go here. Specifically, avoid the section of East Hastings Street in Chinatown. The homeless situation is really bad there and it resembles LA’s Skid Row.
If you take the City Cycle bike tour, they’ll stop and give you a warning before quickly biking through this area.

Square – Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza
There’s a lot of free events that are held here. Check to see if there’s anything going on while you’re in Vancouver. The International Jazz Festival was there when we were in Vancouver.

Pacific Centre Shopping Mall
Large indoor mall in downtown City Centre, including a nice Nordstrom. A great place to grab some air conditioning and a smoothie on a hot day!
Robson Street
Walk along this street for lots of restaurants and shopping, including some high-end stores. As you go further west on Robson Street, there’s a section with a lot of Asian restaurants.
What to Eat in Vancouver
As you go down Robson Street and west of Howe Street, there’s a section with a lot of Asian restaurants. We spent a lot of time walking around that area and ate at a few places – Ramen Danbo, Dinesty Dumpling House, Hello Nori (for sushi), and Uncle Tetsu’s for dessert!
Miku is also a good sushi restaurant. We recommend the chef’s tasting menu and making reservations in advance.
For dim sum, try Dynasty Seafood Restaurant on West Broadway. It’s inside of an office building, on the first floor.
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