Vancouver & Victoria
City Stays in British Columbia
Following on from my Yukon Travel Blog (on this page) and after dropping the RV back at Vancouver, we had time to enjoy Vancouver. We cycled around Stanley Park, used the little water ferries to visit various areas including the vast food market of Granville Island. We visited Grouse Mountain, the Capilano Suspension bridge and saw the Famous Steam clock in Gastown. Vancouver, with the mountains and ocean always in sight and Victoria which was calmer and more traditional, with a gentle seaside charm. Travelling between the two was straightforward and the contrast made the whole trip feel very special.
Vancouver
Vancouver immediately impressed me with its outdoorsy vibe. You have the harbour and ocean on one side, and then the mountains rising up behind the city. Downtown is easy to walk and each area has its own feel, from stylish waterfront spots to older, characterful streets.
We stayed in Yaletown at the Level Suites – probably one of the best rooms we have ever stayed in, we chose it because it had a washing machine and dryer so we could do all our washing from our RV adventure, but the room and property itself had everything you needed. Yaletown was our favourite area actually, the elevated sidewalks and up market food options really appealed to us.
All the excursion companies are at Canada Place, by the waterfront, where you pick up your shuttle buses to Grouse Mountain, Capilano Suspension Bridge and other tours.
One of the real highlights of our stay was cycling around Stanley Park. We hired bikes for half a day and followed the seawall route that loops all the way around. It is a lovely, gentle ride with constant views of the water, beaches, harbour and mountains. There are plenty of places to stop for photos and the totem poles and viewpoints are well worth a pause. It is a brilliant way to get your bearings and see just how beautiful the city’s setting is.
We also spent time at the waterfront, exploring different neighbourhoods and enjoying the food scene. Bars and restaurants are easy to find and there is a strong focus on fresh, local ingredients, seafood and Asian influences.
For active travellers and anyone who enjoys being outdoors, Vancouver has 28kms of walking and cycling paths, I don’t think I have ever seen so many people outdoors in a city, even dedicated dog parks, split by large and small dogs.
And of course, you have to see the Gastown Steam clock, chiming every 15 minutes.
Victoria
Approx a 45 minute drive from Downtown Vancouver you will find the ferry terminal where you catch the ferry to Vancouver Island, from the ferry port you grab one of the many taxis down to Victoria (approx 40 mins).
What an amazing town this is, clean, compact, lots of quaint buildings, shops, eateries and just a place where you can mooch about quite happily.
This town was our favourite of everywhere we had been on our RV Trip (closely followed by Fort Langley near Vancouver), it is very walkable with different areas to explore, we took to the water once more on a kayak, we went whale watching and saw Orca’s and humpbacks. The below picture was taken by our guide on our trip and we saw 4 Orca's in total!
After a couple of nights here, we treated ourselves to a float plane back to Vancouver airport, which was every bit as exciting as it sounds. Taking off from the water, circling above the city and coastline and coming back in for a water landing was a fitting way to end our adventure.
We spent 4 nights in Vancouver and 2 nights in Victoria and that felt about right, but you could easily spend more time in each place to slow the pace down and explore more.
Always happy to have a chat if its something you wish to explore yourself.
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