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Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - Page updated at 02:15 PM
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Trains, buses and roads. Travel Q&A: Vancouver and B.C.Kristin Jackson answered your travel questions about Vancouver and other destinations in British Columbia in a live Q&A. Thanks to all who participated. Read Vancouver: A personal "top 10" Click here to refresh the page.
Where is the best place for breakfast in Vancouver?
Why would I pay for a waiter to be as surly as I am in the morning? If I did go out for breakfast, I would go to somewhere calm and upscale. Like the Sequoia Grill in Stanley Park (what used to be called the Teahouse Restaurant) where there's a decadent weekend brunch. See www.vancouverdine.com/sgrill And you can walk off the excess on the Stanley Park Seawall, the walking path that's just below the blufftop restaurant. Alright, there is one Vancouver place I actually really enjoyed for breakfast - the Griffins restaurant in the downtown Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. I was staying at the hotel, I was hungry, so I loaded up at its lavish breakfast buffet and sat happily at a sunny table, without having to relate to anybody at 7.30 a.m. www.fairmont.com/hotelvancouver Can you recommend a kid (toddler) friendly place to stay and also some activities (including restaurants) that would be fun for adults/toddlers alike? In general, is Vancouver kid friendly?
Another fun place for kids on the compact Granville Island is Kids Market, a complex of small, child-focused shops on Granville Island, including clothing, toy and book stores plus some little indoor play spaces. Or just sit on the wharf by the market, watch the crowd, the pigeons and the street entertainers, from musicians to magicians. Depending on your child's age, he or she might enjoy Science World, a hands-on museum at the east end of False Creek. (You can see it from Granville Island if you look east; it looks like a giant silver golf ball.) To the west, near Vanier Park, is the Vancouver Maritime Museum which has some fun stuff for little kids, with pirate dress-up clothes and a mock pirate ship plus some kid-friendly displays. If it's sunny, you could spend days in Stanley Park. Its Second Beach area has a good playground by the sandy beach plus a big heated outdoor pool with a sloping shallow end that's perfect for toddlers. Also in Stanley Park is the Vancouver Aquarium. Kids seem to love the beluga whales which always look like they're grinning. Nearby is a children's petting zoo and the miniature railway. The pint-sized open-air train winds through the woods on a 10-minute ride. (Confession: I like the miniature train so much I still make my teenager ride it with me.) Where to eat? Vancouver is full of Chinese restaurants given its big Asian population. Most have a kid-friendly atmosphere and almost any toddler will be happy with noodles or rice. Walk along Denman Street, near Stanley Park in the city's West End neighborhood and you'll find a dozen Chinese/Greek/Japanese restaurants to choose among, plus some cafe/bakeries. Where to stay? For families, a great area is in downtown's West End neighborhood near English Bay Beach Park, at the south end of Denman Street. It's a 10-minute walk from there to Second Beach in Stanley Park. Walk 10 minutes the other direction (east) and you can board the mini, passenger-only ferry that shuttles to Granville Island in about 3 minutes. Two hotels to consider: the always popular Sylvia Hotel, with a great location by the beach and somewhat faded but decently priced rooms, including some suites with kitchens. Or check out the Coast Plaza hotel on the south end of Denman. It's a high-rise apartment turned hotel, with suites with separate bedrooms and kitchens and great views if you're on a high floor. It can be expensive, though, and the architecture is concrete ugly. Another place that's very good for families is Pacific Palisades Hotel on Robson Street. You can get suites with separate bedrooms and kitchenettes and it has a nice pool - always a great thing for kids. Or check out the Blue Horizon, a less fancy high-rise hotel also on Robson Street. Ask for a high-floor room in each for great views. You can get information and book hotels through the Tourism Vancouver Web site, www.tourismvancouver.com Be sure to check out the special hotel offers/packages.
What about inexpensive VIEW hotels? Room with a view!
If you're looking for backpacker-type prices, the Jericho youth hostel by Jericho Beach Park in the city's Kitsilano neighborhood is a block by the beach. Step out the door of what was once a military building and you have great views of downtown (15 minutes away by car) and English Bay. There are a few private rooms plus bunk rooms; you might be able to nab one with a view. A bunk in a 14-person dorm costs a rock-bottom Cdn. $20 a night. See www.hihostels.ca/hostels/BC/BCRegion/VancouverJerichoBeach/Hostels/. Want a bit more comfort? In summer, some student residences at the University of British Columbia are rented out to visitors on a nightly basis. If you snag a high-floor room in what's called Gage Towers, which are high-rise dorms, you can get a great view of the downtown skyline, bay and mountains. You'll pay more but you can get a private room or even a suite, www.ubcconferences.com. Want more creature comforts in a traditional-type hotel? Check out these downtown hotels: the Blue Horizon is a high rise on Robson Street; high floor rooms have great views, especially the corner rooms that face south and west. Or try the high-rise Century Plaza on Burrard Street. Again you'll have to specify, a high-floor room. Get links to the hotels, which are mid range and comfortable but not fancy, at www.tourismvancouver.com Hi, Kristin. What are the ways to visit Victoria, especially if I'm under budget constraints and have a group of 6-8 people? What are the must-see places in Victoria?
My must see's in Victoria are mostly around the Inner Harbour, the waterway in the heart of the city, including • The Royal British Columbia Museum: excellent displays on the First Nations (native Indian) and pioneer history of B.C. • The Parliament building: Wonderfully grandiose architecture (also on the Inner Harbour) and if parliament is in session you can listen to sometimes raucous debates. • Empress Hotel: Wander through the lobby of this grand old hotel, watch people enjoying their traditional afternoon tea (but too pricey if you're on a budget). • Beacon Hill Park: Just a 10-minute walk from the Inner Harbour puts you at this waterfront park, with great flower beds (Victoria loves flowers) and views across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the Olympics. • Point Ellice: this is a personal favorite of mine, a restored 19th-century home-turned-museum plus a lovely garden where you can have tea outside. You can get to it on one of the little passenger only mini ferries that leave from the dock in front of the Empress. Or you can drive, but it's way more interesting to go by boat up the Gorge Waterway to it. • Cheap sleeps. Check out the hotels (and get more info on all the above) at www.tourismvictoria.com One motel you might consider is the Best Western Inner Harbour, which has some one-bedroom suites in which you can pack more people and divide the price.
Your Vancouver "top 10" was a great list, but you missed one: Capilano Canyon.
Walk the loop across the dam, down the west side, across the bridge and then up to the fish hatchery. Beautiful in the rain, especially if the river is running at its peak. Then drive to Edgemont Village and choose from a half-dozen restaurants for lunch.
Capilano Canyon and the nearby Lynn Canyon were carved by the rivers that drain the steep North Shore mountains that loom above the Vancouver area. In what's called Capilano River Regional Park, there are miles of of riverside and forest trails and the salmon hatchery (open year round and free). The hatchery or Cleveland Dam upstream (which, yes, you can walk across) are good starting points for exploring the park. To get directions, a park map and other details go to the Web site of the Greater Vancouver Regional District which runs the park, www.gvrd.bc.ca/parks/CapilanoRiver.htm The Capilano Suspension Bridge is downstream from the hatchery. It's a privately run attraction, and visitors flock here to walk across the 450-foot long pedestrian suspension bridge which spans the deep gorge that contains the Capilano River. There also are rainforest displays, First Nations wood-carving demonstrations and a big gift shop. It's fun, but my jaw dropped last summer when I had to pay the Cdn $21.95 admission for an adult. And on summer weekends it can be jammed with tour-bus groups. Get info at www.capbridge.com/ To beat the crowds and the price tag, I head to the similar (although shorter) and free pedestrian suspension bridge in nearby Lynn Canyon Park, also in North Vancouver. The District of North Vancouver Web site — www.dnv.org/ecology — has lots of info on the park, which has nice walking trails and hundreds of acres of forest. The small Ecology Centre in the park has displays and info for visitors. Edgemont Village - I've never stopped in that North Vancouver neighborhood since I usually take a picnic with me when I head to either of the parks or suspensions bridges. But it looks like fun and there are lots of restaurants, cafes and shops. Get details and directions at www.edgemontvillage.ca. Thanks for getting me thinking of these fun places.
The area that borders Gastown and Chinatown is a horrific wasteland of drug addicts, prostitution and street zombies. It feels as if I'm walking through the movie "Escape from New York." Why haven't Vancouver officials done anything with this area, which is between two of Vancouver's most popular tourist neighborhoods?
Why hasn't it been cleaned up? That's been a political hot potato in Vancouver for years, with various revitilization efforts coming and going while the root problems of crushing poverty and drug and alcohol addiction remain unsolved. The neighborhood was Vancouver's traditional "Skid Road" long before Chinatown and Gastown became tourist attractions, with bare-bones rooming houses and bars. That's little consolation to hapless tourists who, when walking directly between the two neighborhoods, may see more than they'd ever want of grim street life. It was bad when I used to work and volunteer in the neighborhood decades ago, and that was before hard drugs like heroin and crystal meth and desperate street prostitution hit so hard. My advice: Detour about four or five blocks west of Main Street if you're walking from Chinatown to Gastown rather than cutting straight through on Main or streets farther east. Police do keep a close eye on Chinatown and Gastown, and Chinatown businesses have security personnel who sometimes stroll the streets.
Which are the top three Chinese restaurants you think are the best.
For fancier Chinese dining, I can tell you of two upscale places I've eaten at and liked: • Imperial Chinese Seafood, on Burrard Street in the downtown business district. It's an ornate 300-seat restaurant that specializes, obviously, in seafood. www.imperialrest.com • Sun Sui Wah is a locals' favorite for dim sum and much, much more. There are two restaurants, one in Vancouver (on Main Street near King Edward Avenue - not in Chinatown) and south in suburban Richmond, where there's a thriving stretch of Chinese-oriented malls and big and small restaurants along No. 3 Road. www.sunsuiwah.com Any recommendation for good food in the Salmon Arm area and Vernon? Thank you!
I pass through Vernon when headed to nearby Silver Star Mountain for skiing, and stop only to get groceries, not eat, in the town. At Salmon Arm , I ate at a place best forgotten along the Trans Canada Highway during the long drive to the Canadian Rockies. Probably the best way to track down the best restaurant in either town is to ask a lot of locals and head for the one that gets the most recommendations. Or you can see restaurant listings for Veron at its tourism Web site, www.vernontourism.com. For Salmon Arm, go to www.salmonarm.worldweb.com
Many years ago I traveled to Vancouver with my son's school group for an educational field trip. We visited Chinatown and the Sun Yat Sen garden. It was very lovely. Later in the day, the group drove to an area of Vancouver called "Pakistani town." I distinctly recall folks in turbans and interesting shops. The restaurants were great with foods that our Seattle kids had never seen.
Now I am trying to repeat that trip with my teenaged granddaughter and her friends. Can you help me on the location of this area?
To get there, just drive south on Main Street from downtown. Tens of thousands of Vancouverites of Indian descent now live throughout the city, although "Little India" remains a popular shopping district. Many are Sikhs (and the men traditionally wear turbans), some of whose ancestors immigrated in the late 1800s to build the railroads and work in the timber industry in British Columbia. Just wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoyed your Vancouver article. I lived in Vancouver for over 15 years and have experienced many of the attractions you have written about. Now that I've moved away it's still fun to go back and be a tourist. It gives me a entirely new perspective of this busy, bustling gem.
Have you ever written a similar article about Seattle that we could refer to? My wife and I love your city but have not visited for quite some time and would be most interested in your personal favorites.
Yet funny you should ask …. as we are planning a Sunday Travel cover story in early May about top sights to see in Seattle in a day or two. It's aimed at the many cruise-ship visitors who will start coming to Seattle in May for Alaska cruises and will have a short time to see the city. (Yup, Seattle is getting more and more of the Alaska cruise business that once went just out of Vancouver.) Watch for that Seattle sights story at www.seattletimes.com/travel as it probably will help you out. If wanting to enter Canada (clear customs etc.) by private yacht, is there a "best" government dock in Vancouver? We have our CANPASS but never cleared into Canada at Vancouver usually entering at Sidney or Victoria. Thanks.
If everyone on your boat is covered on your CANPASS permit, you could go the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club dock by Jericho Beach on the south shore of English Bay. It's scenic, calm, and doesn't have a lot of vessel traffic. Or you can go to the RVYC dock at Coal Harbour by Stanley Park. But you need to cross under Lions Gate Bridge to get there, which gets busy with the Burrard Inlet harbor traffic which can include freighters and cruise ships. Docks that accept both permit holders and non-permit holders include the fishermen's dock at False Creek, which is a government wharf (on the south shore near Burrard Bridge). It's a great location in the heart of the city; you'll find lots of pleasure boats and some fish boats, but no giant commercial ships. If you can tie up at one of the civic marinas in False Creek, or anchor farther east in False Creek, you can go ashore to snack and sightsee at Granville Island. Another government dock where permit and no-permit boaters can get customs inspection is the Harbour Green dock in Coal Harbour (near the RVYC but at the foot of Bute Street). You can get free moorage for the day and you're in the heart of downtown: see www.harbourgreen.com/ for lots of info on the dock. A good source for information on the Canadian regulations for boaters is the Waggoner cruising guide, www.waggonerguide.com
Hi, Kristin, I'm in New York and just saw your chat online. I'm coming to Seattle for the first time in a long time this summer and want to get to Vancouver Island. I saw your answer about travel but wonder if there are other options for getting to this island. Is it far?
You have lots of options for getting to Vancouver Island from Seattle; figure on anywhere from under an hour (by float plane from downtown Seattle to downtown Victoria, the capital city of B.C. on southern Vancouver Island) or about five hours if you go by car and ferry from Seattle to Victoria. Your transportation options: Float planes: A wonderfully quick and scenic but expensive way to go: see Kenmore Air, www.kenmoreair.com High-speed ferry: Clipper Navigation has high-speed passenger-only boats between downtown Seattle and downtown Victoria: www.victoriaclipper.com. Ferries: If you are taking a car with you, check out Washington State Ferries, with service from Anacortes to Sidney, B.C. near Victoria. B.C., www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries. B.C. Ferries has lots of ferries daily from Tsawwassen, south of Vancouver, B.C. to Swartz Bay near Victoria, www.bcferries.com And Black Ball Transport has ferry service from Port Angeles, on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, to downtown Victoria (you can't make a reservation for vehicles on it, but you should on the other two for summer travel), www.cohoferry.com.
With regard to the question asked about the best breakfast in Vancouver, I'd have to say it's Paul's Omlettery located at the south end of the Granville Street bridge. It would be on the right-hand side of Granville street just as you come off the bridge from downtown; plenty of metered street parking and some free two-hour spots (if you're lucky) off on the numbered side avenues. I hesitate to have even more people know about this gem as the breakfast line-ups for a table (especially on the weekends) are already substantially long. Well worth it though.
I am joining my granddaughter for a college open house in Bellingham this coming weekend and we plan to spend an over-night in Vancouver. We want to purchase a prom dress. I have your Sunday article and map. Where should we go to see wonderful shops?
Thank you.
For fancier stuff, and good shoe shops, I'd head to South Granville Street between Broadway and 12th Avenue, a few blocks south of the south end of the Burrard Street Bridge. It's a compact and upscale shopping area of boutiques, with some nice cafes where you can refresh yourselves after some hard shopping. There are some designer shops along with some more reasonably priced shops. Be sure to keep your receipts since you can get a refund at the border at duty free shops or by mail of the seven-percent Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Kristin, your article was very informative and timely. We are taking our 7-year-old grandson to Vancouver for a week and need any additional ideas you may have. Help!
One important thing to know: Be sure that you have a letter of permission from his parents for him to travel with you, and you should also have his birth certificate. You may not be asked for the letter at the border crossing into Canada, but according to Canadian regulations you should have it with you (it's to prevent child abductions). Get details at www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/newsroom/factsheets/2004/0816duty-e.html Onto the fun stuff - see my reply to a reader below about kid-friendly places and hotels and consider these, too: If you and your grandson are feeling energetic, rent bikes and pedal around the Stanley Park Seawall. It's flat and wonderfully scenic. For indoor fun, consider the Storeyum museum in Vancouver's Gastown, a theatrical recreation of Vancouver's history: see www.storyeum.com. Right now there's a dinosaur exhibit, too, at Storyeum, always a kid pleaser.
A child-friendly destination on the outskirts of Vancouver is Fort Langley National Historic Site. It's a reconstructed fort, much like Fort Vancouver in Vancouver, Wash., with staff in period costume and lots of old-fashioned buildings to poke around in. See www.fortlangley.com.
Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company
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