Disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Vancouver: a vibrant city on the west coast of Canada, and home to one of the main ports for Alaskan cruises. It's much more than simply a place to begin or end a cruise, and we highly recommend extending your break so you can take time to explore everything this fabulous city has to offer.
Although it may not spring to mind when holidaying with children, we spent 3 days in Vancouver as a family, once we'd disembarked from our LA to Vancouver cruise. We discovered an abundance of activities on offer and fell in love with the place immediately.
As Vancouver is a port of call for Disney Alaskan Cruises, it's inevitable that plenty of youngsters will be passing through, so, we've put together our trip report in the hope it helps you plan a couple of extra days of fun.
Our base was the Pan Pacific Hotel, located within Canada Place - where the cruise terminal is situated, and instantly recognisable by the huge sail structures along the side, hence, getting from the terminal to our hotel couldn’t have been easier.
Checked in and luggage left with the Concierge desk, we headed back outside to begin our Vancouver experience.
Due to its location and facilities, Canada Place has the added advantage of having information and booking kiosks on the paved area just at the front of the main building, so from here we were able to purchase tickets for the Capilano Suspension Bridge.
Hint: Do some research before you arrive in Vancouver, especially if you’re planning to use the Hop-On Hop-Off buses. There are a number of packages available which include admission to various attractions, so you need to work out whether it’s cost effective. These can be found on www.westcoastsightseeing.com
For example, we wanted to visit the Capilano Suspension Bridge and also use the Hop-On Hop-Off buses to explore the rest of the city, so considered buying the Sea to Bridge Experience. This ticket for the 4 of us would have cost $510 (approximately £295), and includes admission to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, a 48 hour Hop-On Hop-Off bus ticket, plus entrance to the Vancouver Aquarium.
On further investigation, we realised the Hop-On Hop-Off buses don’t travel out to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Instead, there are complimentary buses, with pick up points around the city. As we would be spending a few hours at the bridge and be dropped back off in the city within walking distance of the hotel, we realised that we could manage with just a 24 hour bus ticket and to buy separate admission to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. We were happy to forgo visiting the Vancouver Aquarium, as we had other areas of interest we were more keen to see. By buying these two separate tickets - saving the purchase of the 24 hour bus ticket until we needed it on our second day, and by not visiting the Aquarium, we saved ourselves nearly £120.
So, Capilano Suspension Bridge tickets purchased from the West Coast Sightseeing kiosk at Canada Place, we caught the complimentary bus.
Buses run every 15 minutes (every 30 minutes out of season) and pick up from Canada Place, Hyatt Regency, Blue Horizon and Westin Bayshore. The full journey takes approximately 30 minutes and you obviously still get chance to take in some sights as you drive through Vancouver, including crossing the amazing Lions Gate Bridge.
Capilano Suspension Bridge
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park was spectacular. We spent a fabulous 3 hours taking in stunning views as we braved the suspension bridge, crossing over to the fun Treetops Adventure walk, which takes you on a less terrifying journey around the fir tree forest. Before you begin your treetop walk, take the time to browse the exhibits in the treehouse. Here you can closely inspect the displays of skulls, claws and skeletons of various creatures, as well as learn what the weather is planning to do. We were extremely lucky, our rainy morning gradually turned into a beautiful sunny afternoon, which afforded us some magnificent views as we wandered through the forest.
As well as the Treetop Walk, you can explore at ground level along the Natures Edge Boardwalk. Here you'll also find Raptor's Ridge, which was closed during our visit, but on weekends from mid April to early October, and everyday from Mid June to the beginning of September, you can meet the resident raptors while learning how to look after the environment.
If all that walking generates an appetite, there’s a picnic area on this side of the river, or you can purchase a snack from Dr Wood’s Cabin. We can highly recommend the Beaver Balls, delicious maple syrup covered pancake discs, sprinkled with icing sugar. The hot chocolate was pretty good too.
Back on the other side of the bridge, make sure you leave enough time to experience the fantastic Cliffwalk, which takes you along a narrow walkway, including some adrenaline inducing mesh bottomed platforms, jutting right out over the river and trees below.
The Cliffwalk exit brings you out through the fun water exhibit section with a more educational focus on the importance of this vital element.
You’ll also find a large souvenir shop and the new Cliff House Restaurant nearby. The menu was limited, but looked interesting. However, we were after something a little lighter, so sought out the Capilano Coffee Company, near the entrance, which had a good selection of sandwiches, wraps, soups, cakes and drinks.
While here, we took the opportunity to admire the totem poles, before catching the bus back towards the centre of Vancouver. Prior to setting off, the extremely friendly bus driver asked each passenger group where they wished to go next, then very helpfully dropped some of us off near Stanley Park. Absolutely fantastic service. We were impressed and extremely grateful we then only had a short walk to the start of the Stanley Park seawall walk.
Beginning near Devonian Harbour Park, we wandered in an anti-clockwise direction, taking in the views of the Vancouver skyline, admiring the totem poles at Brockton Point Interpretive Centre and Gift Shop, the Brockton Point Lighthouse, the Empress of Japan Figurehead and the Girl in a Wetsuit Statue.
Becoming a little jaded now, and realising we still had some distance to cover back to the hotel, we cut through the rose garden, back toward our start point. The Rose Garden looked stunning with the trees in full blossom and the carpets of spring flowers - a fabulous time to visit.
Another hour of walking, via one of the ice-cream shops further along the sea wall, brought us back to our hotel, where we collected our cases and headed up to the room. A corner room on the 11th floor provided some spectacular views of the mountains and Vancouver waterfront.
The room itself was fabulous. It had plenty of space, 2 double beds, a large desk and TV, chairs, a big wardrobe and a modern bathroom with toilet separated behind an adjoining door. Perfect.
We quickly unpacked, then after a short rest, headed out to find somewhere to eat for dinner. Thanks to a good Trip Advisor rating, we settled on the St Regis Bar & Grill, which upon first inspection, looked rather too much like a bar for my liking, but we went in anyway. I’m glad we did. We were seated in a booth away from the main bar and, considering we’d just spent 7 nights on a cruise - renowned for top food and service, we had the most fantastic service and food we’d experienced since our holiday began. Our friendly server was extremely lovely, chatty and helpful. The food was delicious. We enjoyed our first taste of poutine, plus spicy hot chicken wings, followed by a superb quinoa salad, spicy noodle bowl, curry beef bowl, a great burger (always a good sign when they get a burger right), then finished it all off with a warm cookie skillet. The perfect end to a fabulous day.
Day 2
As breakfast wasn’t included in our room tariff, we bought coffee and pastries from the Starbucks located next to the hotel entrance before purchasing our 24 hour Hop-on Hop off bus tickets from the Canada Place kiosk.
There are 2 bus routes - the Park Route (green line) has 21 stops including Robson Street, Stanley Park, Granville Island and the Entertainment District. The City Route (blue line) has 15 stops and takes you through the Art Gallery District, Sports District, Science World and the Olympic Village. Both bus routes include Canada Place, Chinatown and Gastown.
Hint - There are also 2 types of bus. The traditional looking trolley style is aesthetically pleasing but more enclosed, so the open roofed buses are better for taking in the views of the city.
We purchased our 24 hour Dual Route Passes, which are priced at $54 (approx £30) for adults and $27 (£15.50) for children 3-12 years. The pass includes both routes and you can swap between the two as much as you wish. A rainy morning had us heading straight for the park route bus, where we spent the next 90 minutes enjoying the sights as we travelled from Canada Place, down Robson Street and around the edge of Stanley Park, before crossing over the Burrard Bridge to the Planetarium & Museum of Vancouver and the Maritime Museum. All looked great but our destination was Granville Island, where the bus stop is just a short walk to the bustling public market.
After spending time admiring the abundance of splendid produce displayed in the main market, we grabbed a bite to eat from the food court area. Here, there are various cuisines on offer including: Thai, Indian, Japanese, Italian, Chinese and local dishes. The generous portions were all extremely tasty. There are a limited number of tables in this area, including some on a small raised platform overlooking the market.
Fans of unique gifts and handmade produce will love the boutiques at Granville Island, there were some lovely looking shops, which on any other day we could quite easily have spent a few hours perusing, but the torrential rain and the fact that we knew the kids would get bored easily had us heading to the Children’s Market instead.
This is a must do for anyone visiting Granville Island with children. As well as a number of outlets selling various kids produce, there’s an indoor playground, an arcade - where the kids can win tickets to exchange for a small gift, and the one our older children really enjoyed was the VR Funtastic World, where they experienced a virtual motorbike race and rollercoaster ride. Great Fun.
Back on the bus a little later, we continued our journey past the Vancouver Public Library, through China Town and eventually got off again in Gastown to see the famous Steam Clock. The advantage of a rainy day meant one of the most photographed clocks in the world was easy to snap a picture of, due to the lack of people around.
After a short walk back to the hotel from Gastown, we changed for dinner, then caught a taxi to our restaurant of choice for the evening, Cardero’s at Coal Harbour. The restaurant was buzzing and a great evening was had by all. The service was good and the food delicious. We enjoyed the quinoa salad with chargrilled vegetables, the Coal House Burger, the spaghetti and one of the fish specials.
Despite the rain, we decided to walk back along the sea wall to the hotel, so we could witness the amazing Vancouver landscape at night. Even with the children, it felt safe and we had fun walking past the sea planes and other sights we'd seen during the day.
Day 3
The following morning dawned a little brighter, so after checking out and leaving our luggage with the porters once again, we caught a City Route bus to take us around some of the areas we hadn’t yet seen. These included: BC Place - the impressive looking stadium which held many events during the 2010 Winter Olympics and Science World - a science museum which would be another good place to visit if we’d had more time, but instead, we continued on through Chinatown and Gastown again before disembarking near the Vancouver Art Gallery and walking the short distance to Robson Street for a look at the main shopping district.
Our aim was to eat lunch in this area. We found the choice a little limited, and ended up eating at Abode, which is a restaurant located under the Blue Horizon hotel. The service was fabulous and the food delicious, so it was a good choice. For dessert, we popped over the road to an amazing sweet shop, The Candy Store, which had the biggest Pick & Mix selection we’ve ever seen!
A leisurely walk back towards the waterfront in the sunshine, then along the sea wall once again allowed us to take in the stunning mountain landscape one last time as we made our way to the Olympic Cauldron and back to Canada Place, where the children experienced the Fly Over Canada ride.
At $27 (£15.40) for anyone aged over 13, $21 (£12) for students and $17 (£9.70) for children up to the age of 12, it would have cost $92 (over £50) for all of us to ride, which we considered a little pricey. Having experienced Soarin’ in Epcot a number of times, which Fly Over Canada is very similar to, we were happy to let the children enjoy the experience together, while we adults waited outside in the sunshine, admiring the cruise ship which was currently preparing to leave port.
Half an hour later, the children emerged having enjoyed the attraction. As expected, they claimed it was very like Soarin', without the associated music. They liked the experiences such as the smells and mist that occurred during the ride and said the pre-show, which takes place in a 360 degree cinema, was a good way to build up anticipation of the attraction.
As the afternoon was marching on, we had just enough time to wander back through Gastown in search of the famous Canadian Beaver Tail Pastry, which we were hoping to sample before we left Canada. Unfortunately, we didn’t find what we were looking for but we did discover an amazing bakery, Purebread, which had a huge assortment of baked goods on offer, so we decided to try these out instead.
Back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, then we wheeled our cases to Waterfront Station, to catch the train to the airport.
Hint - if travelling to the airport from the Waterfront Station, you need to use the entrance on West Cordova Street and select 2 Zones on the ticket machines.
We had the most fabulous time in Vancouver during our few days here. We took away so many wonderful memories - there are some stunning views, fun places to explore and delicious food, but what stood out for us was the people. We encountered so many helpful, warm and friendly individuals, who are (rightly), extremely proud of their fantastic city and endeavour to help you have the best time during your visit.
Thank you Vancouver, we hope to visit you again very soon.
You may also like:
That suspension bridge looks amazing! Fancied visiting Vancouver for years <3
It’s an absolutely fabulous city with so much to see and do. If you ever get the chance to visit, it’s definitely worth taking the time to experience the suspension bridge, as the views are stunning – just hope you’ve got a head for heights!!