Travel to Vancouver, British Columbia – Episode 739

Hear about travel to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada as the Amateur Traveler talks to David Brodie from the Travel In 10 podcast about his hometown.

David says, “It’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world. You’ve got mountains, you’ve got rainforest, you’ve got ocean all side by side. You can do everything from golf to skiing to whale watching in a day. It’s really got everything especially for someone who enjoys nature and the outdoors. A lot compacted in a very small area but then also a ton to do from a cultural perspective, great restaurants, a mix of different cultures from around the world.”

David starts us in some of the iconic neighborhoods of Vancouver like Grandville Island with its market, restaurants, and artisans. From there you can grab an Aquabus and cross False Creek to get to Yaletown and the shopping on Robson Street or continue further inland on False Creek to the Science Center which is left from the 1986 World Expo.

Also built for the ’86 Expo was Canada Place with its iconic sails. It was once the Canada Pavilion and is now Vancouver’s cruise terminal and a major event venue. Canada Place sits on Vancouver’s Inner Harbor (part of the Burrard Inlet). Further west along the harbor you will come to the legendary Stanley Park with the Vancouver Aquarium, a concert venue, a collection of first nations totem poles, horse-drawn carriages, and green space. Further east along the harbor from Canada Place you come to Gastown with its Steam-powered clock and Chinatown.

David names from of his favorite museums like the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, and the Bill Reid Gallery of contemporary Indigenous Northwest Coast art.

Whether you are playing beach volleyball on Kitsilano Beach, kayaking Deep Cove in North Vancouver, hiking the Quarry Rock hike, walking the tree walk at Capilano Suspension Bridge, or biking the seawall at Stanley Park you don’t have to go far to get into the outdoors in Vancouver. You can see bears if you are lucky on a hike in the area or always if you visit the Bear Discovery at Grouse Mountain.

If you do go further afield David recommends skiing or mountain biking up at Whistler. On the way there make a stop in Squamish and in Shannon Falls Provincial Park. In the summer you can tour the Britannia Mine Museum and see if you recognize it from one of the many TV shows that have filmed there.

Or get on a boat and cruise out to the Gulf Islands or to majestic Vancouver Island. Many of the Gulf Islands like Pender Island can be explored in a day. Vancouver island would take much much longer.

David recommends two of his favorite hotels downtown the Fairmont Pacific Rim and the Opus Hotel. We also learn about his favorite restaurants and ice cream parlors.

Listen to this episode and find out why so many people have fallen in love with one of the prettiest cities in the world.

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Show Notes

Travel in 10
Vancouver, British Columbia (plus Victoria, Whistler) – Episode 60
Fairmont Pacific Rim
Opus Hotel
Edible Canada
Chinatown
Bao Bei
Robson Street
Vancouver Art Gallery
Museum of Anthropology at UBC
Bill Reid Gallery
Science World
Expo 86
Gastown
Canada Place
Blue Water Cafe
Yorktown
Flying Pig
Rodney’s Oyster House
SkyTrain Schedules
Kitsilano Beach
Celebration of Light
Stanley Park
Vancouver Aquairium
Vancouver Tours
Stanley Park Horse-Drawn Tour
Malkin Bowl (Stanley Park)
Surrey Vaisakhi Celebrations
Steveston Village in Richmond
PNE – Pacific National Exhibition
Hiking and Kayaking Tour Deep Cove
Deep Cove (North Vancouver)
Quarry Rock hike in Deep Cove
Gulf of Georgia Cannery
Coquitlam
Whale Watching Trips
Vancouver Lookout
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
Grouse Mountain – The Peak of Vancouver
Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge
Rain or Shine Homemade Ice Cream
Earnest Ice Cream
La Casa Gelato
Whistler
Scandinave Spa Whistler
Britannia Mine Museum
Squamish
Shannon Falls Provincial Park
Sea to Sky Gondola
Porteau Cove Provincial Park
Pemberton, British Columbia
Pender Island
WOODS on Pender | Glamping Resort
Vancouver on Travel in 10

Community

Hey Chris great episode on Slovakia Even though I have been to two cities in Slovakia, Bratislava and Banska Stiavnica it is nice to hear about things I missed while I was there. With both cities, I was only there for a few hours. Another way to get to Bratislava is to take the high speed ferry from Vienna. The trip took 1 and 1 half hours by boat. I have also walked to the train station. It was not as bad as they mentioned in the podcast but it is a long walk from the old town. By the train station you are close to an interesting colored tv tower. Every city that used to be part of the iron block seem to have one. I hope to get back to Bratislava because I really love it and thanks to this podcast I might be motivated to get back to Banska aswell since I see I can get there easily from Bratislava. I love that even with places I been to I always learn something new about a place and I am known to really cover a city. Thanks

Darrel

Hi Chris

Thanks for your podcast – I’ve been an avid listener since Covid steered me towards dreams of travel rather than the real thing.

I just listened to your Slovakia edition and had a couple of thoughts of things I might have added from my very limited 48 hours experience there six years ago.

The first thing was practical. We arrived by train from Vienna and suddenly realised we had no idea which direction the centre of Bratislava was from the train station. We managed to catch a bus but only after finding someone who spoke English well enough to tell us which bus headed that way. That train station is nowhere near the city centre, and the Slovakian language – as you suggested during the podcast – gives few clues!

I’d love to have heard some locals’ tips on getting from the train into the centre in the easiest way.

Your Bratislava lady had good suggestions for budget accommodation, but your listeners might like the hotel we stayed in, which was mid-range and great for film buffs like us. Called the Film Hotel, it has lovely 1930s architecture, but also hallways with walls covered in photos of Hollywood movie stars, and each room has a theme of a movie star.

But our highlight in Bratislava was discovering the connection to a former US president. I’m sure your American listeners would love to know that Bratislava was for a short period just after World War 1 called Wilsonov, in recognition of Woodrow Wilson’s work for Czech and Slovak independence.

When we visited in 2014, there was a big memorial covered in Stars and Stripes devoted to Wilson. That seems to have gone now, but there is still a memorial bust to him in the centre of the city, and I’m sure many American visitors would love to pay their respects if they went.

Keep up the good work and I hope you don’t mind the occasional suggestion if I hear shows missing something we have liked on our own travels?

All the best

Simon

Hey Chris,

I wanted to mention rafting the Dunajec River Gorge between Poland and Slovakia.  This is a great easy float trip!

Cheers,

Jeff

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