Vancouver realistic agenda with charter tour?

[meajuly5]

Tour through gastown, Chinatown and Stanley park with stop at totem poles and prospect point, 1 hr Granville island, Lon's gate bridge to grouse for two hours and then capilano suspension bridge. Feedback?

 

[ScottFamily2005]

How many total hours and what does it cost?

 

[dizzyr]

I live in Vancouver and I wouldn't pay to go through gastown or china town. Gastown is basically two blocks and its a 5 min walk from the dock. Chinatown is not much further.

Stanley park is BEAUTIFUL but the best part of it is walking the sea wall which sounds like its not part of it. The totem poles are cool. It's pretty easy to get to by bus from the ship though if you wanted to do it on your own.

Capilano is probably what you're paying for - they recently added to it and made it more of a tourist destination but I haven't been there for a number of years so I don't know what it's like now. It's about 30-45 min away depending on traffic.

Granville island is lots of fun - it's for some cute stores with lots of "artsy fartsy" stuff lol. I love going there and watching the glass blowers. There's a really good market with lots of stands selling fresh goods and homemade things. It's also easy to get to from the ship and you could easily do both Stanley park and Granville island in one day.

If you are interested in doing them on your own let me know and I'll give you all the bus info and times etc.

 

[MyYearWithTheMouse]

We don't live in Vancouver but it's one of our favorite cities to visit (plus we honeymooned in Vancouver and Whistler!). I would absolutely not rush through Stanley Park--it's gorgeous. The totem poles are definitely awesome but there's more to see there. We actually really like the aquarium, as we find it nice and small but very well-kept with friendly employees. DS4 is also really looking forward to the train ride there.

We also spend at least a couple of hours on Granville Island. The shops are very unique with lots of stuff I'd never buy but is super fun to look at. Great toys there too! The market part is fantastic with a wide variety of food. We have one full day in Vancouver and plan to spend it split up between Stanley Park and Granville Island, as dizzyr suggests.

The Capilano Suspension Bridge freaks me out. But you should see it at least once.

We usually just rent a car. It's not too expensive and we've found the city to be quite easy to navigate and the traffic is not overly horrendous like many other major cities. It's nice to be able to follow our own schedule.

 

[cwdefouw]

We visited Vancouver in 2011 for a Disney Cruise and did most of those attractions except Gas Town, and China Town. You don't mention how long the tour is, but if it is less than two days, you will not be spending much time at any of those attractions, certainly not enough time to really enjoy them. Granville Island, Stanley Park, Capilano Suspension bridge could pretty easily take a whole day.

I would say that 1 hour at Granville Island and two hours at Grouse Mountain are certainly not enough to really experience those places. To me the tour is too busy trying to hit ALL the highlights with very little time spent at any of them. Personally I would find a tour that allows one to spend more time at the major attractions, Granville Island, Stanley Park, Cap. Susp. bridge, and maybe Grouse Mountain. We spent a total of about three days in Vancouver seeing these attractions at a leisurely pace, biking through and around Stanley park was a highlight.

 

[meajuly5]

Great feedback, everyone, thank you! The tour is in a private van-- from 9-5. Our group has two with limited mobility so long bike-hike not really an option. The tour guide will take the others elsewhere while we spend 1.5 at capilano. Freaks me out but will try just go be able to say I tried! Two hrs at grouse. Planning to go back to walk sea wall the next am before boarding ship--is a few hours enough time?


Any suggestions for a nice but casual family dinner? We have two nights. Is Granville open on Saturday night? We could try to go there sat night and open up some more time at the park and grouse during the tour if we decide not to do it via tour company.

Appreciate all the suggestions!!

 

[dizzyr]

Great feedback, everyone, thank you! The tour is in a private van-- from 9-5. Our group has two with limited mobility so long bike-hike not really an option. The tour guide will take the others elsewhere while we spend 1.5 at capilano. Freaks me out but will try just go be able to say I tried! Two hrs at grouse. Planning to go back to walk sea wall the next am before boarding ship--is a few hours enough time?


Any suggestions for a nice but casual family dinner? We have two nights. Is Granville open on Saturday night? We could try to go there sat night and open up some more time at the park and grouse during the tour if we decide not to do it via tour company.

Appreciate all the suggestions!!

Granville Island is open from 9:00 - 7:00 7 days a week. The restaurants and theatre are open later but all the shops and the market will be closed.

Kobe Japanese Steakhouse

There is a place downtown called Kobe - it's one of those places where they grill the food at your table and do the fancy knife tossing etc. It's fun, good food (best shrimp I've ever had - but avoid the lobster if you are used to Atlantic lobster, it just doesn't compare). It's not great for chatting since you sit at a table with a grill in the centre - you are really limited to talking with the person next to you. It's somewhat pricey but right downtown and my kids enjoyed it.

There's also Joey's which is my favorite restaurant. Not exactly kid friendly although I've taken my kids there on occasion as a treat. There's a couple of different ones in the downtown area.

Do you know yet where you are staying? How many kids and what ages are in your party and I can give you a better list.

 

[lbgraves]

My family spent the entire day at Grouse Mountain. It was beautiful and I don't see how it would be possible to see everything. They have the same lumberjack show that is in port, and it is included in the cost of admission. The bears are fun to watch. We possibly spent over an hour just watching them combined. There are beautiful totems there as well. We spend several hours riding bikes along the sea wall at Stanley Park and walking through other areas there.

 

[meajuly5]

Granville Island is open from 9:00 - 7:00 7 days a week. The restaurants and theatre are open later but all the shops and the market will be closed.

Kobe Japanese Steakhouse

There is a place downtown called Kobe - it's one of those places where they grill the food at your table and do the fancy knife tossing etc. It's fun, good food (best shrimp I've ever had - but avoid the lobster if you are used to Atlantic lobster, it just doesn't compare). It's not great for chatting since you sit at a table with a grill in the centre - you are really limited to talking with the person next to you. It's somewhat pricey but right downtown and my kids enjoyed it.

There's also Joey's which is my favorite restaurant. Not exactly kid friendly although I've taken my kids there on occasion as a treat. There's a couple of different ones in the downtown area.

Do you know yet where you are staying? How many kids and what ages are in your party and I can give you a better list.

We are seven people ranging from 7-73. Staying at fair mint waterfront at the port. Is it easy to get from there to Granville? The kids are well behaved in restaurants but it will be a long day so a formal meal may be pushing it. We will have two dinners on Vancouver.

 

[meajuly5]

Gastown and Chinatown are drive throughs. Capilano 1.5 hrs, grouse 2 hours. Sounds like its too ambitious based on the feedback. I think we'll do Stanley park the following day.

 

[dizzyr]

We are seven people ranging from 7-73. Staying at fair mint waterfront at the port. Is it easy to get from there to Granville? The kids are well behaved in restaurants but it will be a long day so a formal meal may be pushing it. We will have two dinners on Vancouver.

I have gotten so much info from this board that I'm excited to be able to give back so I'm making you my mission lol. I'll look up at the restaurants in the area and let you know. And yes it's easy to get to Granville from anywhere downtown.

 

[dizzyr]

Oh and when are you coming? Time of year makes a difference.

 

[meajuly5]

Oh and when are you coming? Time of year makes a difference.

July! Thanks again! One more question-- dies the sky ride at grouse take you to the area where the bears and lumberjack show are or do you have to take the additional chair lift to access those?

 

[meajuly5]

My family spent the entire day at Grouse Mountain. It was beautiful and I don't see how it would be possible to see everything. They have the same lumberjack show that is in port, and it is included in the cost of admission. The bears are fun to watch. We possibly spent over an hour just watching them combined. There are beautiful totems there as well. We spend several hours riding bikes along the sea wall at Stanley Park and walking through other areas there.

Thanks! Bikes for children are avail for rent?

 

[lbgraves]

July! Thanks again! One more question-- dies the sky ride at grouse take you to the area where the bears and lumberjack show are or do you have to take the additional chair lift to access those?

The main sky ride at Grouse takes you to the main section where you can see the bears, the lumberjack show and the bird show. The additional chair lift only takes you to the higher view.

Thanks! Bikes for children are avail for rent?

Yes, they had them in all sizes and provide helmets. There are bike rental places all over. We rented from a place near the Pan Pacific along the waterfront.

 

[meajuly5]

The main sky ride at Grouse takes you to the main section where you can see the bears, the lumberjack show and the bird show. The additional chair lift only takes you to the higher view.

Yes, they had them in all sizes and provide helmets. There are bike rental places all over. We rented from a place near the Pan Pacific along the waterfront.

Great! We'll plan on a ride before boarding.

 

[dizzyr]

Just wanted to say I haven't forgotten about this thread! It's been a busy couple of weeks abd my laptop died. I'll try and find out all the info for you this week

 

[meajuly5]

Just wanted to say I haven't forgotten about this thread! It's been a busy couple of weeks abd my laptop died. I'll try and find out all the info for you this week

You are so kind! No rush at all. I appreciate the scoop!

 

[dizzyr]

I’ve lived here since 1995 and I’ve never been to Grouse so I don’t have any advice on that. I did just look it up and it looks interesting if you can see the bears. Not sure if it is guaranteed sightings or not. I may actually take a trip to see this summer. It’s always struck me as pricey if you weren’t going there to either ski or do the Grouse Grind (hike up to the top).

I have been to Stanley Park and Granville Island many times though and in July with the beautiful summer weather I would spend the whole day at those two places.

One of the most popular things to do in Stanley Park is to walk and or bike the seawall. The entire seawall is about 21km long I think – it takes 2-3 hours to walk the Stanley Park portion. You start at lost lagoon and make your way around the outside of the park.

In Stanley Park itself there is lots to do to keep all ages entertained.

At one end of the seawall is second beach which is a nice beach with concession stands, a playground, washrooms and lifeguards. There’s a floating dock that you can swim out to and dive off of. The celebration of lights fireworks can be seen from there – they are July 27 and 31st in case those coincide with your dates. It’s obviously not comparable to the Caribbean but it’s a nice place to swim in the Pacific ocean.

If the beach is not your thing there is also second beach outdoor pool right beside it. It can get crowded on super sunny days but my kids like to go there for an hour or so to cool off after walking the sea wall. The family rate is $2.67 a person so it’s pretty inexpensive even if you’re only going for a short time.

On another section of the seawall is a waterpark with concession stands and picnic tables. It’s also close to the miniature train and aquarium (more on them in a bit). A little further along is third beach (not sure why there isn’t a first beach!) which is a little quieter then second beach but still nice. There are also concession stands and lifeguards there.

If you don’t want to walk the seawall or if the less mobile members of your party aren’t up for it but still want to see the whole park then they can take one of the horse drawn carriage tours or the shuttle bus. The horse drawn carriage tours are an hour long from start to finish and they can take 20 passengers at a time. It’s fully narrated and stops at the Totem Poles, the Girl in a Wet Suit Statue, the S.S. Empress of Japan Figurehead, and the Rose Garden. It’s $31.99 for adults, $16.99 for children and $29.99 for youth and seniors. If you buy a combo ticket with the aquarium you save $5.00. They run every 20-30 min or so.

The trolley is a 45 minute narrated tour that stops at 15 different places in the park. The family rate is $22.32. It’s a hop on, hop off kind of ride so you aren’t forced to stick to someone else’s schedule. Once you buy your ticket you can get on or off at any of the stops so if you want to spend a lot of time at one place and not at another you can. It passes by each stop every half hour or so. It’s not expensive $8.93 for adults, seniors and youth and $4.46 for child. I won tickets for this once but wasn’t able to use them so I gave them to my parents and they loved it.

There is a mini train there as well that winds through one area of the park. In the fall it becomes a ghost train and in the winter a Christmas train. I’ve done both (the Christmas one we do every year!) I haven’t done the summer one yet but I am going to this summer. It becomes a Spirit Catcher train and transform into Klahowya Village that showcases some of Vancouver’s unique aboriginal culture. At the village there are artisans working you can watch, traditional story and legends at the Story Telling Circle, a 11:00 daily opening prayer and at 2:30 a smudging ceremony (not sure that that is). From June 29 – July 2nd is Metis Nation Day and from July 27-29 its Squamish Nation days. A family pack for the train is $25.00 (up to 4 people). The entire site is wheelchair accessible and the train has a specially designed carriage that can seat up to two wheelchairs.

In Painters’ Circle, landscape artists display their paintings in an outdoor gallery. Closer to the aquarium, portrait artists draw pictures and caricatures. The do black and white or full colour and they usually do them pretty quick.

The aquarium in Stanley park is a nice size. It’s not the best aquarium I’ve ever been to but it’s quite nice. We have been a few times and the kids still ask to go. My youngest just recently did a sleepover there and slept beside the dolphins. I was jealous! It’s sort of in the center of the park – close to the mini train.

There are 4 restaurants at Stanley park – The Teahouse, The Fish House, Prospect Point Café and Stanley’s Park Bar & Grill. I have never eaten at any of them so don’t have any reviews on them.

There are two gardens – the Rose Garden and the Shakespeare Garden

Malkin Bowl (outdoor theatre) does Theatre Under the Stars which is lots of fun - the two shows for 2013 so far are Legally Blonde the musical and How To Succeed in Business without even Trying. They also have outdoor concerts there fairly regularly I believe The schedule should be released soon.

Fresh Air cinemas did free movies in Stanley Park in 2012 and I’m sure they will again this summer but they haven't announced any dates yet. If you haven’t been to one before it’s kind of like a drive in without the car! It’s a perfect way to end the day!

That’s it for Stanley Park – I will work on Granville Island, Denman Street (where you can rent the bikes for Stanley Park) and dining next 

 

[tink too]

Dizzyr - Wow - lots of useful information here! I'm so glad I checked in on this thread today.

We're also visiting in July, and can't wait!