[youthoftomorrow]

i'm going on vacation there at the end of July and would like some ideas on where to go. cool/interesting museums, record/book shops, any other interesting locales you might know of. thanks.

[jon boy]

i know that there are plenty of canadian boardies that might be able to help you out.

[Danny Himself]

Stay in North Vancouver. There's an excellent Travelodge on the intersection of Marine Drive and Capilano Road. I've stayed there and it was very nice. It's next door to a Denny's so you get discount food there. It's in a quiet area so you'll sleep soundly. Also, if you take Capilano Road north for a mile or so, you'll find the Capilano Suspension Bridge, which, if you dare, you can cross to a nice forest and some tree-top walks (like the ewok village in Return of the Jedi). If you take Capilano Road even further up north, you'll reach Grouse Mountain, which is stupendous. You can take a cable car up there and theres a bear enclosure to check out, as well as amazing views.

Once you're back down on Marine Drive, drive east and you'll get to Indian Arm, which is a park near the Indian Arm river. It's nice and quiet and theres some pretty views from the beach there.

I did all of that, and I'm not the outdoorsy kind of person at all but it was very enjoyable.

Stanley Park is great for a day out. The best way to enjoy it is the bike trails that run around the park. There's a couple of bike hire stores on Denman Street, which is right by Stanley Park- I reccomend going to the smaller one, no fuss. If you cycle around the bike lanes that go around the park you'll see a lot of the bay, the weather is lovely and you'll go under Lions Gate Bridge which is an amazing example of a bridge, sorta like the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco except smaller and green. Oh. and there's an aquarium in the middle of the park, with dolphins!

If you do that in the daytime, then in the evening go back to Denman Street. Thats where all the cafes and bars are, and if you walk the length of it you're sure to find somewhere you want to chow down.

Further South in Vancouver is Granville Island, which is hidden underneath a bridge. It's a nice marine-themed outdoor mall and there's lots of interesting shops to look around. Another cool shopping area is Gastown, which is a tiny bit east of the center of town. Theres some excellent restaurants and bars there, including a place that advertises 'nightly jazz', and a shop that sells old board games and puzzles.

One thing I have to stress about Vancouver, it's the only bad part of it: STAY AWAY FROM EAST VANCOUVER, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. There is nothing interesting there and the streets are full of junkies, hookers, and hobos. Write off anything east of Main Street.

--

These are the bears at the top of Grouse Mountain, I took this picture

 

You can get that close- God bless whoever invented fences.

[tesla69]

hey is east van where you can find that sinse I always hear about?

[Danny Himself]

Probably. I found a lot more..

[SpectralJulianIsNotDead]

Originally Posted by Danny Himself

One thing I have to stress about Vancouver, it's the only bad part of it: STAY AWAY FROM EAST VANCOUVER, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. There is nothing interesting there and the streets are full of junkies, hookers, and hobos. Write off anything east of Main Street.

--

junkies, hookers, and hobos not interesting? Whaaaaaa?

I've never been to Vancouver, but I heard they have an amazing Chinatown.

[Danny Himself]

It's not interesting, it's intimidating and uncomfortable.

But yeah, the Chinatown is cool if you're into that kind of stuff, but its situated very close to East Hastings Street, which is generally what I meant by East Vancouver.

[zedius]

Chinatown is cool. You can buy lots of bootleg porn. Also you can't count all the needles on the ground with just your fingers.

I would also suggest science world, since they have a crab shell you can wear on your back like a backpack. That makes you feel like a real crab.

[Danny Himself]

Oh, you're from Victoria. I got lost there on my way down to Seattle from Vancouver. Its a nice town.

[youthoftomorrow]

Originally Posted by Danny Himself

Stay in North Vancouver. There's an excellent Travelodge on the intersection of Marine Drive and Capilano Road. I've stayed there and it was very nice. It's next door to a Denny's so you get discount food there. It's in a quiet area so you'll sleep soundly. Also, if you take Capilano Road north for a mile or so, you'll find the Capilano Suspension Bridge, which, if you dare, you can cross to a nice forest and some tree-top walks (like the ewok village in Return of the Jedi). If you take Capilano Road even further up north, you'll reach Grouse Mountain, which is stupendous. You can take a cable car up there and theres a bear enclosure to check out, as well as amazing views.

Once you're back down on Marine Drive, drive east and you'll get to Indian Arm, which is a park near the Indian Arm river. It's nice and quiet and theres some pretty views from the beach there.

I did all of that, and I'm not the outdoorsy kind of person at all but it was very enjoyable.

Stanley Park is great for a day out. The best way to enjoy it is the bike trails that run around the park. There's a couple of bike hire stores on Denman Street, which is right by Stanley Park- I reccomend going to the smaller one, no fuss. If you cycle around the bike lanes that go around the park you'll see a lot of the bay, the weather is lovely and you'll go under Lions Gate Bridge which is an amazing example of a bridge, sorta like the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco except smaller and green. Oh. and there's an aquarium in the middle of the park, with dolphins!

If you do that in the daytime, then in the evening go back to Denman Street. Thats where all the cafes and bars are, and if you walk the length of it you're sure to find somewhere you want to chow down.

Further South in Vancouver is Granville Island, which is hidden underneath a bridge. It's a nice marine-themed outdoor mall and there's lots of interesting shops to look around. Another cool shopping area is Belltown, which is a tiny bit east of the center of town. Theres some excellent restaurants and bars there, including a place that advertises 'nightly jazz', and a shop that sells old board games and puzzles.

One thing I have to stress about Vancouver, it's the only bad part of it: STAY AWAY FROM EAST VANCOUVER, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. There is nothing interesting there and the streets are full of junkies, hookers, and hobos. Write off anything east of Main Street.

--

These are the bears at the top of Grouse Mountain, I took this picture

 

You can get that close- God bless whoever invented fences.

thanks. great picture.

[alteredcourse]

north van is insanely sterile and boring .

east van is nice . there are a bunch of interesting bars . some good music is played at the lampliter in gastown, near chinatown . yes, it's the skuzzy area, but much more interesting and hardly as harmful and intimidating as DH claims . there arent even gangs ! just the not-high-enough and homeless .

if you want to do the punk/metal/scareoke thing , go to the cobalt in east van .

stanley park is actually pretty neat right now , since last winter it sustained huuuuuuge storms and half of the forestry is still hacked up in pieces on the ground . quite a sight to see these gigantic trees' 50 foot wide root bearings tipped right out of the earth and looking over at ya .

commercial drive is pretty hip and central . lots of places to see and shop and eat at . id recommend there the most .

the art gallery is on robson street . theres usually somethign goign on there . macleod's books and scratch records might be worth your interest .

[Danny Himself]

I forgot to mention the Museum of Anthropology. Also definitely worth seeing for a few hours. Theres a parking garage across the street from the museum so it's all easy.