How to Spend 3 Days in Vancouver
For Labor Day weekend, we flew out to Vancouver, British Columbia, the 3rd largest city in Canada. This city is extremely multicultural, and that is reflected in everything from the languages on airport signage to the diverse food scene.
This was my fourth visit to Canada, but my first time in Vancouver and I definitely hope to come back. If you’ve never been, be sure to add it to your bucket list ASAP!
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Day 1
We took a late flight from Chicago to Vancouver Friday night, so we just stayed in the Hilton Vancouver Airport to be able to get to sleep as fast as possible (note: there is also a Fairmont hotel in the airport if you want to stay as close as physically possible). Saturday morning, we woke up and headed to the SkyTrain to take the public transit into downtown Vancouver. I was really impressed with how nice and clean the transit system was. It was likely recently renovated and a huge step up from the transit system I’m used to in Chicago.
Tim Hortons
Our first food stop of the day was at Tim Hortons, a quintessential Canadian coffee and donut chain very similar to Dunkin Donuts. Their maple glazed donuts are my favorite (and really the only reason we went), so I was sad when they didn’t have any. We settled for a box of Timbits (their name for donut holes) before making our way in the direction of Granville Island.
Ferries
Vancouver is surrounded by deep fjords, so ferries, bridges, sea planes, and helicopters are all Qumethods of getting from one place to another. We hopped on a ferry in David Lam Park to take us to Granville Island.
There are 2 main ferry companies that operate on this side of Vancouver: Aquabus and False Creek Ferries. Their prices are very similar and they operate on a very regular schedule, so I recommend just hopping on the first one that arrives. We only had to wait a couple minutes before a False Creek Ferry showed up. The ferries are much smaller than I expected and only hold ~10 people. You pay once on board and can buy a one-way ticket or round trip.
Granville Island Food Tour
The history of the “island” (it’s actually a peninsula) dates back thousands of years as it was used by First Nation tribes for gathering and eating. That sentiment is certainly still reflected in the area, as Granville Island is now home to more than 300 businesses, and its iconic public market houses over 50 artisan food vendors.
We took a food tour of the island operated by Vancouver Foodie Tours to get to taste the highlights. Our guide Manuela was great and this was one of the best food tours I’ve ever been on. We started strong with some artisan bread and tasted meats, cheeses, salmon, crab rolls, lemon squares, donuts, coffee, macarons and more. Every single thing we tasted was incredible and there’s no way I could pick a favorite.
After the tour we were in a food coma, so I grabbed another cup of La Colina coffee from JJ Bean (which we had tried on the tour) and enjoyed it while we sat on a bench watching a busker juggle knives on top of a precarious stack of skateboards and suitcases.
While I’d liken Granville Island to Pike Place Market in Seattle, they have some distinct differences, the largest of which being the crowds. On a Saturday morning, Pike Place Market is packed with shoppers and tourists, sometimes making it hard to pass through. Even on a busy holiday weekend, Granville Island had a much calmer atmosphere that made for a much more pleasant visit (maybe it’s just that Canadians really are nicer).
Stanley Park
After the coffee revitalized me, we Ubered over to Denman Street where we rented a tandem cruiser bicycle from Jo-E Cycles. Near the entrance to Stanley Park there are many places to rent bikes, all with very similar pricing. Vancouver also has a bike share all around the city, so you can pick up a Mobi Bike just about anywhere. We rented from a shop so that we could rent helmets as well (plus a tandem bike is just so much more fun!). We did not make a reservation online in advance, but walk ins are very welcome.
Stanley Park is roughly 1000 acres, making it larger than Central Park in New York City. It is a large peninsula on the West Side of Vancouver and there is a biking/rollerblading/walking path that goes all around the sea wall. We pedaled our way around and made a couple stops to take in the views. We also stopped at Second Beach to try the fresh squeezed lemonade. Though we only spent ~2 hours in the park, you could easily spend all day there as there are beaches, a pool, a garden, an aquarium, and more to enjoy within the park.
Vancouver Lookout
We returned our bike and strolled through Vancouver, making our way to the Vancouver Lookout. I had purchased tickets online in advance, but they were also available onsite. Opened in 1977 by astronaut Neil Armstrong, the Vancouver lookout provides 360-degree views of the city and even has a rotating restaurant above the observation deck. There is a free 20-minute audio tour that guides you around the city, explaining major landmarks, and providing city history.
After we finished at the lookout, we grabbed a smoothie and açai bowl from Good Body Energy and walked back to our hotel to finally check in.
Hotel Blu
We stayed at Hotel Blu and were surprised at check in to find that we’d been upgraded to a loft suite, which featured two story windows and an outdoor deck (which was revealed in dramatic fashion when we opened the two-story automatic blinds at the touch of a button).
I chose this hotel because it was centrally located in downtown Vancouver and had good reviews about noise levels (other hotels had many people complaining about how loud they were). Thankfully, the reviews didn’t steer me wrong and this hotel was very quiet. It definitely wasn’t the cheapest place to stay in the city, but we were very happy with our choice.
If you book directly on the hotel’s website, you can get breakfast included (AAA pricing excluded, which we found out the hard way). Hotel Blu also has onsite parking, a pool/hot tub, fitness center, and even bikes & electric scooters you can take around the city.
Joe Fortes
For dinner, we walked down Robson Street to Joe Fortes Seafood and Chophouse because my parents have spent the past 25 years raving about the linguine and clams they ate there before I was born. Linguine and clams is no longer on the menu, so I ordered the seafood linguine instead. We enjoyed all the food, but found it to just be very in line with any other nice steak/seafood restaurant in the same price range. It certainly isn’t a meal I’ll be raving about decades from now.
The meal was also overshadowed by the extremely unfortunate lighting situation. We were at one of ~3 tables where there was a fan rotating between the light and us, resulting in a strobe-like effect that made reading the menu painful and gave me a headache throughout the meal. I’m not the kind of person to complain to the waiter about these things, but I really wish I’d asked to be reseated.
After we finally escaped the strobe light, we walked back to our hotel where the day’s constant food coma + 16K steps finally caught up to us and we were asleep by 8:30PM.
Day 2
Going to bed early came back to bite me when I woke up at 4:30AM, but I got to enjoy a very lazy morning in our hotel room. Thomas even went out and brought me back coffee and an açai bowl for breakfast.
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
We walked to the Hyatt Regency to get on the free shuttle that runs between downtown Vancouver and Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. The park is just on the other side of the Lionsgate Bridge, so it was a quick journey. The bus schedule is available online and they leave each location precisely on time, so be sure to arrive a couple minutes early to avoid missing it.
The park opens at 9AM and we arrived at 9:05, allowing us to be among the first to cross the bridge that day. It wasn’t crowded and we were able to take our time braving our way across the hanging bridge hundreds of feet above the gorge below. It was raining off and on, so the bridge was wet and the wood was slick, adding to the nerves. There was a sign on the far end of the bridge explaining that during a big storm a massive tree fell onto the bridge and the tree snapped while the bridge was completely un-damaged. This made me feel a lot more confident about making my way back.
While the big suspension bridge is the main draw of the park, there is also more to explore to make the ticket worth the price. The Treetop Adventure section features a handful of smaller suspension bridge, and they also have birds and do regular nature talks.
On the way back across the bridge, there was 2-way traffic and it was a more chaotic experience. Plenty of people were outwardly nervous as the bridge swayed and there was plenty of merchandise in the gift shop to commemorate surviving the bridge. We didn’t buy any of that, but we did pick up a slice of chocolate maple fudge which may rank among the best things we ate in Vancouver (ok everything we ate was amazing how am I supposed to pick?!).
Gastown Steam Clock
One of the most visited sights in Vancouver is the Gastown Steam Clock located at the intersection of Water St and Cambie St. This steam clock is one of the last remaining clocks of its kind in the world. While steam constantly comes out the top of the clock, every 15 minutes it blows steam out of each of its five whistles and at the top of every hour it plays a version of the Westminster chime (the same tune as Big Ben in London). We lucked out and walked up right as it went off at the 15-minute mark, but I wouldn’t consider it worth waiting for unless it was almost the top of the hour.
Vancouver is a pretty young city, dating back to only the 1870s, but Gastown was the original part and it definitely retains the feel of an old town. The sidewalks (and some of the streets) are made out of brick and at night the old-fashioned street lamps light up the neighborhood. Despite its Victorian appearance, the Gastown Steam Clock was only built in 1977 as part of a city revitalization project, but it seamlessly fits into the area.
Lunch at MeeT
Just a couple blocks from the steam clock is MeeT in Gastown. Despite what the name sounds like, MeeT is ironically a vegan restaurant featuring vegan versions of many popular meat-based dishes, from BLTs to burgers. We ordered the artichoke spinach dip, the mighty mac burger, and the butter chikkin, all of which were surprisingly wonderful (I always have low expectations for dairy and meat imitations).
MeeT has 3 locations around Vancouver and is strictly walk-in only.
Grouse Mountain
After lunch, we walked to Canada Place to pick up the free shuttle to Grouse Mountain (note: it’s a different bus than the one to Capilano Suspension Park but they are clearly marked).
Grouse Mountain is famous for the Grouse Grind (AKA “Mother Nature’s Stairmaster”), a physical challenge consisting of climbing up 2,830 steps with an elevation gain of 2,624 feet. It’s a one-way path up the mountain and takes an average of roughly 2 hours to complete.
Luckily, the Grouse Grind is not the only way to the top. The alternative is to take the tram, which is what we did (note: even if you do the Grouse Grind up you still have to pay to take the tram down). If we didn’t average 16,000 steps/day on this trip and if it hadn’t been raining, we would have strongly considered taking the stairs (and I hope to do so if I’m ever back in Vancouver!).
At the top of the mountain, there are lots of activities ranging from a lumberjack show to zip lining. There are also 2 grizzly bears, Grinder and Coola, who were rescued and live in captivity. Unfortunately, the top of the mountain was in a cloud when we were there that it was too foggy to see the bears.
Because facing my fear of heights on the suspension bridge didn’t seem like enough for one day, we did the ropes course at Grouse Mountain. The courses are graded just like ski runs – green, blue, black – but the black course was closed for the day due to the weather. As it turned out, the precipitation added a level of complexity anyways and we still enjoyed the challenge of the green and blue courses. The website recommended bringing fingerless gloves for the course and I am so thankful I was wearing them.
Dinner at Nuba
We made our way back to Gastown yet again for dinner at Nuba, a Lebanese restaurant. They take reservations, but we were able to be seated immediately by just walking in. We were seated in the lounge section that had couches and low coffee tables instead of traditional tables or booths which added to the ambiance.
Instead of ordering entrees, we opted to share several small plates consisting of the Baba Ghanouj, Najib’s Special, Garden Falafel, Bison Kafta, and Lamb Kibbeh Sainieh. All of the food was excellent and I would come back and order it all again. The only downside we could find was that we had to wait 30-40 minutes to get the bill and pay after we were done eating.
After we finally paid for dinner, we walked to Hotel Europe, Vancouver’s version of NYC’s famous Flatiron Building and got soft serve ice cream next door at Soft Peaks.
Day 3
Walking Around Vancouver
We only had 4 hours to explore the city before we had to make our way to the airport, so we grabbed a quick coffee and muffin from Waves Coffee next to our hotel and began what ended up being a roughly 5 mile walk from Yaletown to Gastown to Chinatown to Olympic Village to Granville Market.
I had read good things about Chinatown online, but we definitely mistimed our visit. It was early in the morning on a holiday (Canada’s Labor Day is the same as America’s), so all the shops were closed and pretty much the only people milling around were the homeless.
Olympic Village was much nicer and had lots of joggers and people walking their dogs. From Olympic Village to Granville Market there is a nice bike/walk path that snakes along the sea wall with great views of downtown Vancouver.
Granville Market
By the time we arrived at Granville Island, we had built up quite an appetite. The food tour on Day 1 was perfect for getting us oriented to the market and we decided to revisit some of our favorite shops from the tour including A Bread Affair, The Lemon Square, and Lee’s Donuts. Vancouver’s Chef Tojo claims to have invented the California Roll in the city back in the late 1970s, so I grabbed a roll at Omi in the market.
All around the market there are signs warning against feeding the birds. Apparently the BCSPCA actually considers feeding them indirect animal cruelty because of how unhealthy it is for them. The birds clearly haven’t gotten the memo to watch what they eat and can be quite aggressive if you don’t keep a close eye on your food.
Heading Home
We were able to use the return ferry tickets we’d purchased on Saturday (but didn’t end up using) to get from Granville Island to David Lam Park where we walked back to the hotel, grabbed our bags, checked out, and headed to the SkyTrain that took us directly to the airport.
Vancouver is an incredibly walkable city, especially if you’re planning centrally located activities. We only took one Uber the whole weekend and that was only because we were too tired to walk. We logged over 16,000 steps/day and took advantage of the SkyTrain, ferries, free shuttles, and bikes to get everywhere we wanted. Vancouver is certainly not a cheap city to visit, but it was nice to minimize our transportation costs and save where we could.
What Else to Do
We only had a couple days in Vancouver, which definitely wasn’t enough time to see/do everything. If I had more time (and if I come back) here’s what else I’d do:
- Grouse Grind – As previously mentioned I’d love to conquer this physical challenge on a return visit!
- Queen Elizabeth Park – Located on the southeast side of the city, this park is the highest point in Vancouver and located on an extinct volcano.
- Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden – This is the largest authentic Chinese Garden outside of mainland China. I had tried to fit it into our itinerary, but they are only open 9:30AM to 4PM Wednesday to Sunday.
- Mainland St – Located right next to the Yaletown-Roundhouse SkyTrain station, this is a really cute street with lots of shop and restaurants I would have liked more time to explore. One of the other MeeT locations is on this street.
- Whistler – If we came back in the winter, we would make our way up to Whistler to ski/snowboard.
- Kayaking – There are plenty of places to rent kayaks and get out on the water in Vancouver.
Tips/Fast Facts
- There is signage in the airport in Chinese because of the large number of Asian tourists and residents who come to Vancouver.
- Before you board your flight to Canada, you currently must fill out the ArriveCAN app within 72 hours of departure. It will give you a QR code you’ll need to show. When you land, you must go through customs, where there is a chance of being required to take a Covid test even if you’re fully vaccinated. Thankfully this didn’t happen to us, but know that it’s a possibility.
- Plenty of people in the airport were frustrated and confused to learn that their TSA Pre Check wasn’t valid in Canada, so be a smart traveler and prepare to take your shoes off and your liquids and laptop out of your bag.
- As of Labor Day 2022, masks are still required for any flights to/from Canada and in Canadian airports. Outside of this, we weren’t required to wear a mask anywhere else during this trip.
- On the way back to the US, you actually go through customs in Canada after security and before you get to your gate instead of after your plane lands (which is especially great if you have a tight connection). If you have Global Entry, you can still speed through just as you would on US soil.
- Right now, there are no lounges open in the US departures section of the Vancouver airport. However, there is a Plaza Premium lounge currently under construction (though this won’t be available if you only have Priority Pass access).
- Despite the airport and downtown being in different zones for the SkyTrain, we only needed to buy a 1 Zone ticket to get from the airport to downtown and vice versa.
- We grabbed some cash from an ATM when we first arrived, but the only places we used any were to tip our food tour guide and to rent a locker at Grouse Mountain. Everything else took (and often required) card payments.
- On the topic of money, a quick reminder that both the US and Canadian currencies are called the dollar and use the $ symbol, so it’s easy to forget that all the prices are in Canadian Dollars. Luckily, USD has a better exchange rate, so everything is cheaper in USD than it appears in CAD.
- Vancouver is a very family-friendly city with lots of great playgrounds for kids (including in the airport).
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