Vancouver City Break!
We flew out of Heathrow with Air Canada, Economy Class, very comfortable, no delays, good service on board. On arrival it took about 30mins to drive to the hotel.We stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront (4-5*). We had booked a standard room but were upgraded to waterfront view room, extremely spacious with lovely views of the waterfront and majestic Pan Pacifc hotel opposite.
First stop was the rooftop pool area, to relax and grab the last rays of sunshine after our long trip. Although there is a main road alongside, the pool area was surprisingly quite sheltered by screens. Pool is a good size for a city hotel with plenty of sun loungers, towels supplied for both gym and pool, and waiter service.
Breakfast at the hotel was delicious, although rather a strange location just off the reception area ( turns into bar area later ) but you can watch the world go by... as with most american hotels we were on room only basis so breakfast on the first morning proved rather expensive ( $65 for two people). After we explored a little that day we found a food court next to the hotel which catered for all tastes and budgets so there were plenty of alternative choices.
We had no problems at all, filling our five days in Vancouver.The first day we set off walking along the waterfront promenade to Stanley Park (about 20mins walk) passing the marina and watching sea planes landing... We spent hours in Stanley park itself, visited the Aquarium, Totem Pole display and walked round the headland to Lion's Gate bridge which connects crosses to the north shore - plenty of waterfront cafes and restaurants to choose from for lunch.
The next day we purchased tickets for the Vancouver Trolly which stopped right in front of our hotel. The trolley busses circuit around the city with about 20 different stops to jump on and off at your leisure. We chose to make stops at English bay to go to the beach for a couple of hours and grab fresh fish for lunch, then went on to Granville Island to wander around the market and craft shops before travelling back through China Town and Gas Town back to the hotel.
Our third day was really exciting - we had pre-booked a full day excursion whale watching from Vancouver Island so boarded the sea plane over to Victoria, put on our survival suits and sped out to sea in a large rib. Absolutely fantastic experience not to be missed if you are in Vancouver in the summer time when the whales are around. We were lucky enough to encounter a large pod of killer whales who even obliged by jumped out the water for us - twice! The photos are unbelievable! Fish and chips in the harbour gave the perfect end to our day at sea.
On our penultimate day we caught the shuttle bus running outside the hotel over to the north shore. About 20mins later we arrived at Capilano Suspension Bridge 70m high over the gorge. Awesome sight but as I am scared of heights, I did not take full advantage of the tree top walks. We jumped on the bus again for 10mins to Grouse Mountain and went up in the cable car,watched a lumberjack show and flying displays from eagles and owls.
The last day we went down to Robson street for bargains and gift shopping. Great array of clothes shops but neither of us are great city people or shoppers so after a couple of hours we headed back to the pool! Most of our evenings were spent in Gas Town area, only 5mins walk from the hotel - a rejuvenated area 'old style' with fake gas lamps, tourist shops, restaurants and a steam clock which whistles. Lots of restaurants to choose from, we liked the ambience in the Waterfront Cafe and the French Onion soup at the Spaghetti Factory is to die for!
we only scratched the surface of what Vancouver area offers and regret not spending more time on Vancouver Island. We had a fantastic time, plenty to see and do and I would recommend anyone transiting through Vancouver or joining an Alaskan cruise to spend 3-4 days here.