I love Vancouver!!
I arrived about 2 weeks before Canada's 150th birthday celebrations, so there was a buzz of expectation in the air, but even so, I found so much to do in Vancouver that I didn't get to do everything before I had to move on.
Vancouver is a very easy city to negotiate if you don't have a car. The public transport system is very good (and relatively cheap), especially the fully automated, driverless Sky Train system. I was able to get to some very out-of-the-way places easily using buses and/or trains, although I did a lot of walking because that's what I like to do.
I stayed out of the city, in Collingwood, about 8 Sky Train stations from the waterfront, but that wasn't a problem because the trains ran about every 5 mins, so if you missed one you didn't have to wait too long. No problems with timetables, either. Love it!
On my first day, I walked around the sea wall from Waterfront up to the Lions Gate bridge, then up the hill into Stanley Gardens. What a great place to walk. It feels as though you're out in the forest, but it's a stone's throw from the city. I spent about 4 hours walking through the many trails just soaking up the pleasure of the surroundings.
I'd been advised by a young girl in Flagstaff that I shouldn't miss Lynn Canyon. Well, if Stanley Gardens was great, then Lynn Canyon was fabulous. This time the subtropical rainforest was for real, with walking trails that passed beside and across a fast flowing river/stream, with a suspension bridge, crystal clear pools, waterfalls and Rice Lake. They used to log this area for Red Cedar and float the logs in the lake before moving them down to Vancouver. The 5 hours I spent walking was one of the highlights of my stay in Vancouver.
I'd also been told that I mustn't miss the markets at Granville Island. I'm not really into markets, but I decided that I'd go along and see what the fuss was all about. As I said, I'm not into markets, so I didn't get much from it at all. I walked around and looked for about half an hour and then left again, but if it's your go, then it would be the place to spend hours. The best thing for me was the walk across the Burrand bridge to the markets and then back to the city again across the Granville Street bridge.
I spent a lot of time walking and exploring in Vancouver, but one day I decided to go to Whistler.
