What Travelers Say About Vancouver
Vancouver is where the wilderness meets the city — a glassy, green metropolis cradled between the Pacific Ocean and the snow-capped Coast Mountains. You can ski in the morning and sail in the afternoon, and the natural setting is so spectacular it routinely tops “most liveable city” lists. Add a strong Asian-Canadian influence (some of the best Chinese and Japanese food outside Asia) and a laid-back West Coast vibe, and you have one of North America’s most appealing cities.
The outdoors is the headline act: Stanley Park, a 400-hectare forested peninsula laced with a seawall path, sits right beside downtown; Capilano’s swaying suspension bridge crosses a rainforest canyon; and Grouse Mountain or the Sea-to-Sky highway to Whistler put real mountains within reach. In the city, Granville Island’s public market, the historic brick streets of Gastown, and a vast multicultural dining scene keep you busy when the rain rolls in.
Vancouver is clean, safe and easy to navigate, with good transit (SkyTrain and SeaBus). The catches: it’s one of Canada’s most expensive cities, and it rains — a lot — from November through March, so pack a waterproof layer. The Downtown Eastside near Gastown has a visible and serious homelessness and drug crisis; it’s not aimed at tourists but can be confronting, so be aware of which blocks you wander into.