VANCOUVER for Beginners

I'm guessing getting into a Bard on The Beach perf isn't the HUGE all-day hassle NYC's Central Park Shakespeare is? I might go Tuesday,July 4, wd hafta choose btwn Measure for Measure & The Winter's Tale (outside v in, for one). How long before they open at 7:20 should I arrive?

What's the fastest bus/train from Vanc to Portland for the carless? I've looked at Amtrak and Greyhound, and neither seem to do it in less than 8-1/2 hours! I really don't wanna get on a bus at 5:30 a.m.

the train is obviously much more aesthetically pleasing. it runs along the water for much of the stretch from vancouver to seattle.

i would consider a flight. but really, it can be done cheaply, i think.

Taking a train or bus would be much cheaper than flying though, although it would take a lot longer.

Me! I need to sublet or get rid of mine. Email me.

is staying on Granville a good idea? if you'd rather not drive?

I stayed one night on Granville during a three night stay in Vancouver. It wasn't horrible, but luckily for me the weather was nice and I didn't mind a little hike. But yeah, I seem to remember a good 30+ minute walk to anything I wanted to do that day (and night).

Granville's fine. It's no more central that a bunch of different places though - the action is pretty spread out in the downtown area. With the skytrain though, there are places to stay that are not downtown but are within 10-15 minutes (or less), so look at that also.

Granville is the central street in downtown. If that's where you're staying, then you're fine.

I'm guessing the street itself is still under construction, so you need to grab your buses on Howe or Seymour, but that's like what a block away either direction? Also, Georgia/Granville is right by the Granville Skytrain station, so if that's the part of Granville you're staying in, then you're set.

However, if you're staying off Granville and, say, 80th st, then you're in south residential Vancouver and you'll be, to put it mildly, less set.

If you're in Granville Island, that's a whole 'nother discussion.

I mean the island.

I don't know much about the city. At first I thought I'd want to be near Stanley Park, but it sounds like the most interesting places to eat are in Kitsilano or Fairview (South Granville?), or Yaletown, so staying near those seems more logical. Is it true that Yaletown's easy on the ferry but a hike otherwise?

yeah I was referring to the island as well.

Granville Island = good if you like donuts

yeah, the Aquabus will take you right over to y'town, but then you have to hike everywhere. It's a nice walk along the seawall to the sci centre from G'ville Island.
West 4th (Kitsilano) is a very short walk from G.I. and there is much fine shopping and food (though don't believe the Indian place that advertises "best butter chicken in town"). Zulu Records is on W4th and a great way to spend 45 minutes.
Go to Commercial and 1st for the BEST coffee (short espresso at Cafe Napoli).

i'm imagining a pretty short visit of a day or two in the height of summer. i figure you can drive/taxi/bus/trolley/other to stanley park or other in-town mid-day destinations (not that i really had any in mind other than perhaps vanier and maybe maybe chinatown - i suppose gaslight is recommended?), but it seems more desirable to have food/nice mixed nabes in walking distance.

haha i like how gabbneb is kinda talking about vancouver like it's new york with the neighbourhoods like that and everything. it is not like new york and there is all this residential quiet space btwn every neighbourhood really and you will be on the bus/taxi/car/bike more than maybe you bargained for esp if you're trying to fit a bunch of stuff in a day or two. if that is the case i would not stay in granville island. though it is close to stuff on 4th and there is the water taxi, which i totally forgot about but used to take as a kid with my dad who lived downtown/west end. anyway, i wld def try to stay for longer than a day or two!

anyway, i don't care what anyone says about how vancouver's changed over the years and is more cosmopolitan and stuff b/c you'll still feel like you're walking through molasses with the pace of things there. except for the sporadic insanity of bad drivers/traffic. i guess if i were staying there i'd stay at the hotel georgia maybe, somewhere downtown, though i'm not sure quite why i would do that.

there's some nice B&Bs around commercial and cambie (two separate neighbourhoods) (and probably elsewhere) that are quite reasonable esp. compared to downtown tourist hotels.

rrrobyn otm

Ir's a strangely sedate city with a fair amount of interesting things going on and sheer knockout natural beauty. It's the Catherine Zeta-Jones of cities.

The upcoming Olympics, or the city planners thereof, have unfortunately aggravated and made far more public the growing gap between the rich and poor in much more of the city than even a year ago -- especially Gastown and the surroundings. I was a bit sad when i noticed this recently, which was a first for me on a Vancouver visit.

the thing is, i'm not trying to fit a bunch of stuff in (i don't think) - the only real destination i have other than the island/false creek is stanley park, which i don't expect to walk to, and maybe vanier park, which i understand i could take the ferry to if i don't want to walk, plus the suspension bridge which presumably i'd drive to on the way in or out (is it reachable otherwise?). and i've identified at least a half dozen places i'd wanna eat at, all of which are south of english bay/false creek except one immediately across false creek.

i don't have much interest in looking at big buildings (unless of significant architectural interest) or going to record stores or clubs or other cultural exponents (except maybe bard on the beach); i'm there for, as per lostandfound, sedate natural beauty (my other concern about granville island was actually that it would be more touristy than sedate, or an insufficiently organic public space), with good food. what else shouldn't i miss? it would be nice to get a sense of the character of the city, but i'm informed you can do that simply by walking around the park on the weekend. i'm fine with some walking in residential neighborhoods if they have character (kitsilano has a fair number of victorians, no?). is there lots of quiet residential space between robson, gastown, yaletown and chinatown? i guess this commercial area could be interesting to me if it's hippie-ish, but not depressingly so.

also, price isn't really a major concern, but i'd probably pay about the same or less on granville island than i would downtown. and i'm non-bike-capeable, but don't mind using my feet a little.

weirdly enough, if natural beauty is the focal point, which i think is the best focal point for a vancouver visit! then staying downtown or in the west end is actually a good idea! there are some hotels on denman and on davie (closer to stanley park and the beach - that is, try to stay a few streets west of georgia if you do stay on davie) that would be good places to stay. of course i do not know their names off the top of my head :/ actually, good places (tho i haven't stayed in them) are also on robson a few streets west of georgia - again, quieter when you're closer to the park - you could get a mountain view even. not hard to just take a cab to granville island or yeah, a walk along the beach sidewalk/blvd to the water taxi. robson, gastown, yaletown and chinatown aren't separated by residential areas, nope. very 'city'. but vancouver 'city'.

yeah i've heard stories re: olympics municipal clearing-out of the 'eyesores' and horrible ignorance on fronts of arts and community scenes. ugh. i think i'm coming back for christmas (yaaay) so will see i guess.

it is a great place to visit and v beautiful, it's true

well, natural beauty and stuffing one's face. it did seem to me like downtown closer/adjacent to the park was more aesthetically pleasing than the island. but then i'd probably have to take cabs to dinner. and couldn't walk to breakfast at sophie's. i suppose staying adjacent to stanley park makes it convenient to run there too, but that might be insufficiently sedate.

i forgot that my sister, unlike me, has been back at least a few times since an afternoon at expo '86

oh man there are a lot of good places to eat on denman, davie, robson, etc though
and chinatown
(i think sophies is over-rated but it's still fine)

ok i need to buy my plane ticket (painful $ amt)

vancouver priorities of natural beauty and eating fooodz OTM basically

I stayed on Nelson Street, bang in the middle of downtown. I love Vancouver :(

Except for that one portion of east Pender or Hastings just east of Chinatown, there's no "wrong" place to stay in downtown Vancouver. Each location has its advantages and very minor setbacks. You can easily bus to any adjacent neighborhood to downtown from it. Plenty of buses (4, 7, 17(?), and others) head to UBC via Kitsilano.

If you can get to Georgia St., there's a bus -- the 19 I think -- that takes you straight up to the main entry loop of Stanley park. From there, you can spend a good few hours walking around the park, and there's plenty to see there and plenty of places to relax in. There's a free hop-on/hop-in trolley service that circles the park during day hours (although I've found the drivers to be hard to take, but keeping in mind that most of their tourism comes from non-English speaking folks, so they talk in that "I. AM. SPEAKING. ENGLISH. CLEARLY. FOR. YOU. TOURISTS. EH? LOL" way.) A good chunk of the park might still be sealed off due to the late 2006 windstorms though, but nothing that would trump the experience for a relative newbie.

Kitsilano is nice, but it's more of a nice neighborhood to get a great meal in, not really a great neighborhood to see interesting architecture. There is a great museum on the UBC campus though. And if gabb is into teh nudeness, Wreck Beach is right behind that museum.

Commercial Drive is similar to Kitsilano and more interesting now, in my opinion. That's the area many of the former Kits artists moved to when Kits started outpricing everybody who wasn't a wealthy family. You also get a better view of the local mountains there if it's a nice day. Commercial drive is just 10-15 minutes east by Skytrain from the Granville St. station. Far better options for cafes, more variety in food options, especially in Italian. Cafe Callabria(sp?) is my favorite cafe in Vancouver, even if it's overpriced.

Rrrobyn! There's a very strong possibility I might be in Vancouver circa Xmas. I'm seeing my family in Victoria most likely then, and by proxy, heading to Vancouver before or after would make a lot of sense. If there's a motion for a small VanFAP, I'm down for it.

Yeah, from what you say gabbnet, I second the opinion that you should find a place near Stanley Park in the West End, preferably near Denman Street. Granville Island's okay for a 2 hour visit but it's touristy as hell and there's better/more restaurants elsewhere. There's about 10,000 restaurants within walking distance of Stanley Park, so you don't need to go to Sophies (the one thing I think I actually know about in this town is breakfast).

Stanley Park's pretty much open for business these days, despite all the storm damage. I walk round the seawall every weekend - it just involves a little bit of fence climbing. All the trees have been removed now so it's much less dangerous.

Also, something the tourist information folks won't tell you - there are TWO suspension bridges. One of them (Capilano) costs about $20 and is part of a "Pioneer Experience/First Nations" type tourist village. The other (Lynn Canyon) is simply part of a beautiful forest trail and therefore free. They are pretty similar otherwise.

I was gonna mention Lynn Canyon as alternative to Cap Susp Bridge. I love Lynn Canyon.
What everyone else said about the West End.
Don't be afraid to see East Hastings between Gastown and Chinatown. I work down there and will defend the right of its residents to a piece of your tourist dollars. Only they'll just up and ask for it. Just be careful crossing the street.

thanks for all the info, all. I guess I do want to stay downtown. But I really do want to eat on the West Side, at least dinner-wise.

Yeah, East Hastings is overcriticized, but there is that one zone east of Chinatown (not what Dr. Superman is talking about) which, at night, looks like a living screenshot of Carmaggedon.

Blood Alley?

If Blood Alley is where the Brickyard is (or was), then no, I'm talking a few blocks further east on E Hastings, right about where any Gastown-ish nightlife stops.

..that said, it only lasts a few blocks, then reverses in creepiness once Hastings continues east and melds toward the main Vancouver basin.

I think you're talking about the 100/200/300 block of East Hastings. Downtown is South-West of there, Chinatown is South. Walking along the sidewalk can be a little like the upper levels of Mario Bros, with folks weaving back and forth and bizarre obstacles here and there. Harmless unless you fail to avoid them though. Currently the scene of a renaissance with regard to local bands. There are at least three newish live venues in that little area with all the hip young local acts.

that's good to hear!

i wld be down for pre-christmas vanfap but will prob only be there for a day or two to visit friends and their childrenn + my dad b/c will mostly be visiting my mom & bros in t0fin0 ohno for me rite yaaay!

I've never been to Tofino! I'm hoping to escape there next summer for a week or so.

You don't need a car in Vancouver. I spent 3 weeks staying with relatives on West 28th (about 15mins by bus from Kitsilano) and it was easy enough to get to most of the places by public transport. Anywhere south of downtown is pretty good for public transport anyway.

There isn't much point in staying near downtown or granville island, except they are probably handy for the shops. In fact, most of the interesting places are so spread apart anyway, you probably need public transport.

If you like natural beauty type places, I highly recommend Pacific Spirit Regional Park. It's just before UBC, and part of it is a forest, right next to the city!

I miss the 90 minute free transfers :(

If there's a motion for a small VanFAP, I'm down for it.

i'll be in the san juans around that time and would love to jump up and across to fap

let's try this with more specifics. Assume I want to spend 2 nights in Vancouver and that it is a priority for me to eat dinner at two places below False Creek (Tojo's and Vij's). Tell me why I shouldn't stay on Granville Island instead of near Stanley Park. Note that I generally don't eat before 8, at least on the East Coast.

you should stay near or at UBC/Jericho Beach/Kits area and eat at Aphrodite Cafe on 4th at least once. you must have a piece of pie.

don't even bother crossing the bridge to the downtown core. everything you need is in Kits. take Broadway over to Main and head south a bit. more goodness awaits you there.

Convenience.

If cost isn't a consideration, stay in lower downtown near Granville Island. So that, just in case, you need to rush back to the airport or what have you, you don't miss you chance on the not-so-frequent little twirling ferryboats.

However, if you're very sure you know the ferry schedule between Granville Island and Crescent Cir(?) or whatever that little street is with the pimped out penthouses at the bottom of Richards St., then just stay on Granville Island.

Note that I generally don't eat before 8
Good thing, since you might not get a table to Vij's before 10 or 11.