Top things to do in Vancouver

[tanya0369]

..I keep reading Vancouver is a great place to spend a few days before/after the Alaska cruise.
Besides visiting Stanley park and the suspension bridge what are some other great sights to see? Thanks!

 

[dvcdisney]

We, absolutely, love Vancouver. There are a lot to places to visit, but it depends on your interest.

Other than the ones you mention (Stanley Park and Capilano Suspension bridge) and if you like outdoors, then:
Whistler
Ziplining in Cougar Mountain
Grouse Mountain
Skiing in winter in Whistler
Cypress Mountain (not as popular as Whistler)
Gastown
Granville
Kitsilano Beach and Pool
Botanical Garden (sorry can remember the name but it's midway between cruise port and Richmond (airport))
Squamish - Sea to Sky Gondola and Shannon Falls
Drive on 99 from Squamish to Pemberton...very scenic, beautiful

I'm sure there's much more, but these are what we've done.

 

[Dopey416]

SeaPlane to Victoria, amazing!!!!

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

I live here and recommend Granville Island. We still go there as locals quite often! Kids market is fun even if you don't have kids. The food market is great - try the crepes! You can take the boat to/from downtown for about $2. It is a nice relaxing time and really gives you a good Vancouver vibe

 

[lilsonicfan]

All of the above suggestions are great! If already at Stanley Park, check out the Aquarium. Also consider biking around the seawall. Tons of shopping in downtown.

If you have a free day/afternoon, check out Steveston in Richmond - it is where Once Upon a Time was filmed - there is a great park area to walk along the water (Garry Point Park), lots of cute stores and places to eat, a big playground/splash park for kids, you can take whale watching tours from the pier, get some great fish & chips... Richmond also has a great Night Market on weekend evenings where you can go experience Asian street market culture and eat an amazing amount of delicious foods. Richmond is also the place to go if you want to try out dim sum.

Beaches are great and there are lots on the west side.

Science World is a lot of fun for kids and is a great one for rainy days especially.

If you have a car, the UBC campus is worth a look, UBC is one of our main universities and it is massive, like a city in itself. There is a botanical garden at UBC with a really cool canopy walk. The Museum of Anthropology is also on or near the UBC campus.

 

[Pens Fan]

I also vote for Granville Island. It's funny because we originally had it on our "do it if we have time" list. It ended up being our favorite afternoon of the three days we spent in Vancouver. We loved all of the great shops with hand made items - many being made by the artist on site. There are tons of great restaurants and you could make a fabulous meal just snacking your way through the market. If I lived in Vancouver, we'd be there all of time.

We also did a ghost tour of Gastown which was a hoot. We enjoy ghost tours of new cities we visit as you get a lot of historical information, but it a fun, interesting way. This one https://www.ghostlyvancouvertours.com was really good.

One thing I would NOT do again is the HOHO busses. We did this on a Saturday which was a huge mistake. They simply didn't have enough busses for the number of people that had purchased tickets. If you got off the bus (which is kind of the whole point), you'd wait forever for another bus to come by with empty seats. Eventually we just gave up, stayed on the bus and ended up with a bus tour of the city on a bus with serious transmission issues (or a driver that didn't know how to shift gears). Never again.

Vancouver is just a wonderful place to visit. I'd love to go back there even if we weren't going on a cruise.

 

[EllinK]

One thing I wouldn't do again is Grouse Mountain. We loved renting bikes and riding around Stanley Park.

 

[Racer X]

This was an amazing day trip!

https://www.seatoskygondola.com/

 

[Aby]

Don’t forget Fly Over Canada in the cruise terminal! An amazing experience especially if you love Soarin’!

Aby

 

[Intr3pid]

For longer day trips, try the following:

1. Rent a car and head east to the Harrison Hot Springs. Relax in the mineral-rich water pools at the springs and/or take a boat cruise on the Harrison Lake. There's also a waterpark in that vicinity for kids, and you can stop by at the Bridal Falls for photo op.

2. Head north along the Sunshine coast taking your car on the ferry. Drive as far as Earls Cove/Egmont, and hop on the boat tour to Princess Louisa Inlet. Think of the inlet as a very narrow Tracy's Arm (minus the ice, of course) with a cute boarding school at the mouth and a glorious waterfall at the end.

3. Take the Vancouver Island ferry to hit the Tofino beach on the far side of the island. On your way, you will drive through some spectacular mountain scenery, and you can also do an afternoon hike to Della Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in Canada. Tofino is a prime spot for some amazing storm watching in the fall/winter.

 

[ninergrl6]

I concur about Granville Island. My friend and I took an orca whale watching trip from there years ago, and we liked the island itself MUCH better than the whale watching.

I also HIGHLY recommend making the trip to Victoria. You could spend several days there. I love the Empress Hotel.

If you're into the tv/film industry, there are TONS of filming locations in and around Vancouver. A lot of the information is online for you to find yourself, but there are also individuals who offer private tours to drive you around to filming locations of specific shows/movies.

It's also lovely to just walk along the waterfront in Vancouver.

 

[TXAg83]

Everything mentioned is great. If you are there several days, rent a car or sign up for a van tour to take the ferry to Vancouver Island and visit Victoria and see Butchart Gardens.

Vancouver is a great city and area. Grouse Mountain and the Suspension Bridge can get very crowded.

 

[DisneyB]

Last August we spent nearly an entire day on Grouse Mountain. We arrived early so it wasn't too crowded. The Lumberjack Show, Grizzly sanctuary, bird show, axe throwing and ascending the Wind Turbine were some of my kids favorite parts of a truly unbelievable trip. They have a family pass that makes it very reasonable and free shuttle from Canada Place. On the day we returned to Vancouver we did the HOHO bus tour and got off at Granville Island to explore the market. It was full of little treasures with amazing food to be had. We had no problems with the busses. I guess it depends on how many ships are in port. We did that on a Monday.

 

[mocodis]

Loved Grouse Mountain. Its a nice tram ride up the mountain. You get to visit and see the 2 bears. The guide provides food such as apples that you can feed the bears with. Look it up on the web, there is a live stream to show you the bear sanctuary and more. we also did "fly over Canada". Its there next to the ship.

 

[Shanti]

..I keep reading Vancouver is a great place to spend a few days before/after the Alaska cruise.
Besides visiting Stanley park and the suspension bridge what are some other great sights to see? Thanks!

We visited VanDusen gardens today and it's an extraordinary & huge botanical garden. Plus, it has a fun hedge maze.

Fly Over Canada is right at the port, and is a ride very similar to Soarin', except that it's Canada-themed. We really liked it.

 

[Racer X]

We did the same the night before... not cheap but still fun and convenient. (they do have a book ahead option just in case anyone is interested... you can purchase a ticket for a specific time and goto the front of the wait area) I really just liked walking the wharf area in the evening and people watch and watch the sunset. Oh and don't forget the gelato...