<p>My H and I are planning a trip with S and DIL and 18 month old to Vancouver, BC in Sept.
I think an apartment or a suite would work best.
Any information welcome–hotels, apartments, restaurants…
We will be there 3 days.
Thanks</p>
<p>We like to stay by Stanley Park & English Bay.
[Downtown</a> Vancouver Hotel - The Sylvia Hotel on English Bay - British Columbia, Canada](<a href=“http://sylviahotel.com/]Downtown”>http://sylviahotel.com/)</p>
<p>My grandmother was raised in Vancouver and we still have cousins there. We normally stay with them, but have stayed in a couple of hotels over the years, but not in anything with a kitchen. If you can get near Stanley Park it might be the best landmark, but you should have lots of choices between there and downtown.</p>
<p>Some of the favorites:
Stanley Park: it is one of the best city parks anywhere. A wide walkway on the perimeter of the park gives you the water views and a Ramblas/boardwalk style look at the people of the city. The Vancouver Aquarium is inside the park.</p>
<p>Granville Market: the waterbus takes you across the river to a Pike Place type of market in an old industrial area. It has arts and craft vendors, food places, entertainment, etc. In their retirement, my father’s aunt had a condo overlooking the market so this was an easy trip for us.</p>
<p>UBC and their Anthropology Museum (this is CC after all): A nice campus in a beautiful spot.</p>
<p>Chinatown and the Chinese Garden: I’m not sure it is still true, but Vancouver has the 2nd largest North American population of Chinese people after San Francisco. Lots of restaurant choices. There is also an East Indian area around the Punjabi Market.</p>
<p>Gastown: Old Vancouver.</p>
<p>Canada Place and the cruise ship terminals: A neat area to walk and shop.</p>
<p>Day trips: The Sea to Sky drive up to Whistler Village, with a stop at Brandywine Falls and possibly the mining museum. Also, a ferry boat ride to Victoria and a visit to the BC Museum.</p>
<p>Restaurants - gosh, lots of good choices but I can’t remember names very well. Socrates Greek restaurant in Burnaby is one of my favorite greek restaurants even though it gets mixed reviews. English style fish and chips, authentic First Nations fare, previously mentioned Chinese and Indian meals, sushi, fresh seafood - I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.</p>
<p>A special note about Vancouver: It is the only mainland Canadian city that does not freeze solid in the winter, so the countries entire homeless population migrates there. You will see lots of them.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information! I will check these things out.
Looking forward to this trip!</p>
<p>We were in Vancouver for a few days a couple of years ago before going on an Alaskan cruise and absolutely loved it! There are many suite type hotels there–the one we chose was the Landis Hotel and Suites. The location was good (walking distance to the little boat that goes over to Granville Island) and the suite was very comfortable. It had 2 bedrooms as well as a living room, dining room and full kitchen. With a AAA discount it was quite reasonable, especially for Vancouver. I would highly recommend a trip over to the public market and shopping on Granville Island (lots of yummy food!) as well as a trip to Stanley Park. One perk the hotel offered was a free ride in their van to anywhere in the downtown area–one day they dropped us at Stanley Park and on our final day they drove us to the cruise ship terminal. Very nice and convenient!</p>
<p>You might want to see if you can get a place on VRBO.</p>
<p>Loved Granville Island. Stanley Park is a great place to enjoy nature. Kids loved it, too.</p>
<p>Sushi and Chinese food are very good there. But there is also plenty of other food to choose from.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.translink.ca/]TransLink[/url”>http://www.translink.ca/]TransLink[/url</a>] describes the public transportation in Vancouver. Note that there is a convenient train from the airport to the city centre and waterfront (Canada Line, built for the 2010 Olympics). Many of the things to do are easily accessible without needing a car, so you may want to take the train to the city centre and then rent cars only on days you will be driving beyond the range of the the public transportation.</p>
<p>Remember, if you are in the US, you need a passport to cross the border (a passport card is accepted if crossing by land or sea, but not air). When crossing from Canada to the US departing at Vancouver airport, there is US immigration and customs preclearance before boarding the plane, so allow extra time for that when departing to the US from Vancouver airport.</p>
<p>Mom2jl–I have the Landis at the top of my list. Can you say if it is dated or not? It looks good in the pictures. I will pm you.</p>
<p>VRBO is great but I think we will some amenities (a crib if possible).</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the tips! We will have a car as H and I will drive up from Oregon and pick them up. Baby gear too. I think traveling with an 18 month old is the hardest age but, weather permitting, we will be active and out and about.</p>
<p>It is odd we have not visited Vancouver and yet have visited Victoria many times.
I think there will be more to do in Vancouver.</p>
<p>AVOID Chinatown in the evening. Shops and most restaurants are closed and the area becomes quite scary and creepy–lots and lots of very obvious drug users and prostitutes.</p>
<p>We were in Vancouver last year and fell in love with this beautiful city. We were at the Hyatt for business trip followed by Alaska cruise. Hotel was very well situated -easy walk to Canada Place, Gastown, and very comfortable. Vancouver a great walking city with many small green spaces. Stanley Park of course. We loved the Museum of Anthropology situated on the campus of the University of British Columbia, Grouse Mountain, Capalano Suspension Bridge (not sure how stroller friendly this might be however). We also went to see the Vancouver Public Library (famous building) and the Vancouver Art Museum. there is a botanical garden that we did not get to in Vancouver but we did go to Buchardt Gardens on Vancouver Island as well as Victoria. We went to sophisticated, not-especially family-friendly restaurants so no recommendations there except perhaps for the micro-brewery right near Gastown and a crepe place that is apparently a chain. We had breakfast there several times. I am sure if you go to tripadvisor or fodors.com you will find info about family friendly things to do.
I will second not to wander too far off main streets in Gastown because the area turns sketchy rather quickly.</p>
<p>I’d also check on Tripadvisor, they have many excellent recommendations and a forum with those who live in the city eager to answer any questions. </p>
<p>And I second the comment to be sure and have your passports and documentation in order, especially when traveling with a baby.</p>
<p>Ive not done alot of exploring at night in Vancouver( we usually go in the fall & November evenings can be pretty cold and miserable.)
I live in an urban environment however & havent noticed a larger safety issue than San Fransisco or Seattle.</p>
<p>This November we are staying at the Skwach</p>
<p>I stayed here once.</p>
<p>[Times</a> Square Suites - Vancouver - Canada](<a href=“http://www.timessquaresuites.com/]Times”>http://www.timessquaresuites.com/)</p>
<p>It was nice!</p>
<p>This was the plushest. Floor to ceiling windows, view of the water & I bought it on Priceline.
[Downtown</a> Vancouver Hotel | Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel](<a href=“Hotel in Vancouver Downtown | Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre”>http://www.sheratonvancouver.com/)</p>
<p>Most of the major Chinese restaurants have been moved out of Chinatown and relocated to Richmond. Never stayed in City of Vancouver so no comments, but perhaps you will consider stay on Victoria Is.? Just a thought.</p>
<p>artloversplus, I think you may mean Vancouver Island. Victoria Island is in the Arctic. :)</p>
<p>oregon101, if you have the chance, make a visit to the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden. A beautiful spot.</p>
<p>[Vancouver</a> Chinese Garden](<a href=“http://vancouverchinesegarden.com/]Vancouver”>http://vancouverchinesegarden.com/)</p>
<p>Magnetron, what does authentic First Nations fare consist of?</p>
<p>Just guessing, but I would say Salmon would be on the menu along with perhaps a nice huckleberry/ salal compote with some grilled Ozette potatoes.</p>
<p>THANKS! Seriously checking every one of your suggestions out.
Talked with DIL and she realized that her passport is not in her married name. She will be in Seattle tomorrow and will figure things out. She can also go to a DMV and get an enhanced license.</p>