Vancouver Bound - Suggestions for Fun Things To Do
September 3, 2013 12:34 PM Subscribe
I am thinking of taking a Monday - Friday trip to Vancouver at the end of this month. Looking for personal suggestions of good places to stay and fun things to do. (Boat trips, museums, nice restaurants, etc.)
My personal trip ritual (if available) is to have a good bookstore near a good coffeehouse as home base.
Our two don't misses every time we go are Granville Island, which is a wonderful combination of food market, restaurants, art galleries and other shops, and Stanley Park, which is great for walking, hiking, people watching, and garden enjoyment. We are also big fans of the Vancouver Aquarium. And we eat Asian, nothing but Asian, when we go, because the Asian food is so incredible all over the city.
posted by bearwife at 12:45 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by bearwife at 12:45 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
If coffee and books are your thing, go to Mt. Pleasant, which is the section of Main St. between 7th and 16th. Nearer to 7th you've got Pulp Fiction books, one of the best used bookstores I've ever seen (they can order almost anything you want, including Moleskine products, for a significant discount, so call ahead if you want a bunch of stuff). Around there you have Gene, JJ Bean, 49th Parallel and The Last Crumb for coffee or hot chocolate and baking.
posted by fatbird at 1:21 PM on September 3, 2013
posted by fatbird at 1:21 PM on September 3, 2013
I really like the Capilano Suspension Bridge and the Vancouver Art Gallery.
For food:
Kirin for dim sum.
Nuba for Lebanese in Gastown.
There are a dozen Korean restaurants on the west end of Robson; look for great fried chicken.
I recently asked a good friend who lives in Vancouver about new vegetarian recommendations. Here is his response:
"heirloom on 12th/granville and acorn on main/24th have both been recommended as good veggie/foodie restaurants. if they want a place closer to the action in gastown i'd try the alibi room which has awesome beer and good food with lots of choice."
posted by frizz at 3:00 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
For food:
Kirin for dim sum.
Nuba for Lebanese in Gastown.
There are a dozen Korean restaurants on the west end of Robson; look for great fried chicken.
I recently asked a good friend who lives in Vancouver about new vegetarian recommendations. Here is his response:
"heirloom on 12th/granville and acorn on main/24th have both been recommended as good veggie/foodie restaurants. if they want a place closer to the action in gastown i'd try the alibi room which has awesome beer and good food with lots of choice."
posted by frizz at 3:00 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
If you are on Main in the area fatbird recommends, and you like stationery/letterpress, visit the Regional Assembly of Text.
Lucky's is a good comics/graphic novels shop.
Then you can go down the street to the Acorn and have a delicious meal. Or try Grub--it's good too.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:29 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Lucky's is a good comics/graphic novels shop.
Then you can go down the street to the Acorn and have a delicious meal. Or try Grub--it's good too.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:29 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Lynn Canyon Park has a free suspension bridge and I would also recommend a trip to MacLeod's Books would be on my list.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 3:55 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 3:55 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
I notice you mentioned boat trips. If you take bearwife's suggestion above for Granville Island, there's a nice little water taxi that runs you to different points along False Creek. It's an inexpensive way to get a little boat ride in and go somewhere else interesting all at the same time. Potential points of interest based on your description would be stops 3, 7 and 8 which are Yaletown (shopping/restaurants), the Plaza of Nations and Science World respectively.
Or you can take the SeaBus across Burrard Inlet and go to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, and from there, buses and shuttles depart for Grouse Mountain and the Capilano suspension park as well.
posted by barc0001 at 4:51 PM on September 3, 2013
Or you can take the SeaBus across Burrard Inlet and go to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, and from there, buses and shuttles depart for Grouse Mountain and the Capilano suspension park as well.
posted by barc0001 at 4:51 PM on September 3, 2013
We were just in Vancouver this past week. Seconding Granville Island Public Market. We easily spent a couple hours there. Lots of good things to eat and artist/crafter booths.
And also second the cool little Aquabus boats. We walked across the Granville Bridge and while it has nice views, it's a long walk in the rain when you've had too much coffee. We took the Aquabus back across and would have taken their longer tour if we'd had time.
We had a really good dinner at Banana Leaf on Robson. The Tofu Goreng and Roti Canai were good I'm told by my dinner companion the Gulai Seafood was tasty, too.
posted by Beti at 5:20 PM on September 3, 2013
And also second the cool little Aquabus boats. We walked across the Granville Bridge and while it has nice views, it's a long walk in the rain when you've had too much coffee. We took the Aquabus back across and would have taken their longer tour if we'd had time.
We had a really good dinner at Banana Leaf on Robson. The Tofu Goreng and Roti Canai were good I'm told by my dinner companion the Gulai Seafood was tasty, too.
posted by Beti at 5:20 PM on September 3, 2013
I was a tourist too, so I can really only speak to the really touristy stuff.
Rent a bike and ride around Stanley Park. So touristy, but so awesome! I really enjoyed the UBC Museum of Anthropolgy. Bard on the Beach is going on now, which was really fun. I enjoyed hanging out in Kistilano. I took the ferry to Victoria and Butchart Gardens, which was also cool. Grouse Mountain has beautiful views of the city, and they have lots of activities up there this time of year.
posted by cnc at 5:28 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Rent a bike and ride around Stanley Park. So touristy, but so awesome! I really enjoyed the UBC Museum of Anthropolgy. Bard on the Beach is going on now, which was really fun. I enjoyed hanging out in Kistilano. I took the ferry to Victoria and Butchart Gardens, which was also cool. Grouse Mountain has beautiful views of the city, and they have lots of activities up there this time of year.
posted by cnc at 5:28 PM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Ditto the Museum of Anthropology and Granville Island. Stanley Park too if weather holds up, but not sure if you want to walk around there if it's rainy.
Also, take a minute to slow down and check out the First Nations sculpture stuff when you arrive at the airport.
The Vancouver International Film Festival is on at the end of the month. Tickets for individual shows/online purchases go up Thursday (you can already get the expensive see-everything passes now I think).
posted by juv3nal at 7:41 PM on September 3, 2013
Also, take a minute to slow down and check out the First Nations sculpture stuff when you arrive at the airport.
The Vancouver International Film Festival is on at the end of the month. Tickets for individual shows/online purchases go up Thursday (you can already get the expensive see-everything passes now I think).
posted by juv3nal at 7:41 PM on September 3, 2013
I think the old movie houses remaining in operation as cinemas are the Rio at 1660 East Broadway, the Dunbar at 4555 Dunbar Street, and the Park at 3440 Cambie Street. If you are just looking at them architecturally, Granville Avenue downtown was the site of a bunch of movie palaces, many of which still stand as live performance venues.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:07 AM on September 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:07 AM on September 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
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posted by goalyeehah at 12:38 PM on September 3, 2013