Day 1 - Pre-ski Eats
By the time we flew in and checked into our hotel for the night, it was already mid-afternoon. We had an early bus up to Whistler the next day so we couldn’t stay out too late, but there was still plenty of time to head over to Granville Island and get a first taste of the local cuisine. Our first stop was the Granville Island Public Market where we were completely blown away by the sheer number of food vendors and produce stands. The original plan was to snack a little bit here and then later get dinner back in downtown, but we ended up snacking so much that it basically became our dinner. Highlights were the donuts from Lee's Donuts and fresh made meat bagels from Siegel's Bagels. Yup, donuts and bagels. We are simple people.
Granville Island Market
We did leave some room for a little beer tasting at Granville Island Brewing. You could order their “Full Map” tasting flight which includes samples of all ten of their current beers on tap. We weren’t quite up for that much beer, so we just got a normal flight of four. This being Canada, we obviously had to try their maple flavored beer. It was pretty good, but my favorite was the seasonal Winter Wit. We didn't stay too long because we still needed to get up early the next morning to head up to Whistler, but I would be down to come back and try more of their beers sometime. At $7 CAD for a flight of 4, the price really can't be beat.
Beer and poutine from the Granville Island Brewery
Day 2 - Post-ski Sightseeing
One of our must-do’s while in Vancouver was to head over to Richmond and have some good dim sum. After getting back from skiing at Whistler, we decided to go to Kirin Seafood Restaurant, the second highest rated dim sum restaurant there on Yelp (their opening hours worked better for our schedule than the highest rated one). Despite it being a weekday morning, the restaurant was almost completely full. We were able to get a table, but the hostess told us we would only have an hour to eat. Challenge accepted. We ordered all the typical dim sum dishes. Surprisingly, they did not have XLB on the menu, but they did have some amazing spring rolls and shrimp dumplings.
Vancouver's famous dim sum
After dim sum, we went over to the Aberdeen Center mall to walk around and digest. This being Richmond, it made sense that the mall would cater to Asians, but I was surprised just how Asian it was… It’s definitely the most Asian mall I’ve seen outside of Asia with stores selling massage tables and ginseng, and even a multi-story Daiso - it was actually kind of disorienting. We grabbed a drink from the food court (consisting entirely of Asian vendors) and continued on our way.
It was raining so we didn’t spend too much time outside, but we did make a stop at Queen Elizabeth Park to take a few pictures and see all the tropical birds at the Bloedel Conservatory. Once it got to evening, we made our way over to the UBC Museum of Anthropology where they were having their weekly discount night of $10 admission instead of the usual $18. The museum was pretty big and had a massive collection of artifacts from cultures all around the world. The main focus is still on Canada’s First Nations cultures, with lots of towering totem poles and ceremonial wood carvings to see. You could easily spend a few hours here exploring all the different exhibits, and if you’re only going to see one museum in Vancouver, this is the one I would recommend.
Wood carvings at the Museum of Anthropology
Day 3 - Fun in the Sun
With sun and clear skies in the forecast for our last day in town, we decided to spend the day mostly outdoors, checking out a few of the best parks in and around Vancouver. First stop was Stanley Park, a must-see for anyone visiting. If we had more time, I would have liked to do a walk or run around the perimeter of the park along the seawall trail. The park is pretty big, around ten kilometers around, so it would’ve taken awhile. Instead, we picked a few segments of the trail to walk, and the views were absolutely stunning. We parked by the totem pole area and walked out to the eastern tip of the park, where we could get a great panoramic view of downtown Vancouver on the right and North Vancouver on the left, separated by the deep blue waters of Vancouver Harbor.
View of downtown Vancouver from Stanley Park
When it got close to noon, we drove north across the Lions Gate Bridge and over to Lonsdale Quay, another indoor food market. The selection of food there was great, but it was surprisingly much less crowded or touristy than Granville Market. It’s probably because Lonsdale Quay is much farther from downtown and basically requires a car to get to. In any case, we appreciated the fact that we had a rental car and enjoyed a nice quiet lunch of salmon chowder, artisan pizza, and Korean fried chicken, for once not having to jostle with other tourists to get food.
Lonsdale Quay Market
Last stop of the trip was Lighthouse Park, a small hiking area way over in West Vancouver. The park is pretty well hidden in a residential area and definitely had a locals feel, with groups of students hanging out and rock climbers hiking out with all their gear. The trails were short, but the vista points were spectacular. On one side of the park you could see Stanley Park and downtown Vancouver across the bay. On the other side were breathtaking views of Bowen Island and the vast Salish Sea. It was a bit of a trek to get out here, but I thought the views were worth it. Just don’t try driving back into the city at rush hour like we did…
View of the Salish Sea from Lighthouse Park
Overall we had a great time in Vancouver. The food was delicious, the sights were great, and the people were all super nice (especially the elderly British lady running one of the restaurants we ate at who assured us she would personally make a call to Trump if we had trouble getting back into the US). I’m glad we took the few extra days to explore Vancouver after getting back from Whistler, and I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to a dedicated Vancouver trip in the future!
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