Quote:
Originally Posted by jamincan
I'll be in Vancouver from Jan 21-25 for the AME Roundup and am considering staying a few extra days after. I was wondering whether you guys had any recommendations on things to do while I'm there. I don't ski or snowboard and I'm quite introverted, so bar/nightlife stuff isn't really my sort of thing.
Right now I'm planning on renting a mountain bike and riding at Seymour - it's obviously not prime-season, but weather will be a lot nicer than at home that time of year. Regardless, it's going to be highly weather dependent, so it's not something I can really count on doing. In a similar vein, renting a bike and riding around the sea wall/exploring Stanley Park sounds nice.
On the more cultural end, I'm interested in the Bill Reid Gallery, and would have loved to check out the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (closed until June, unfortunately). I'm more broadly interested in natural history/geology as well.
Any restaurant recommendations would be welcome too - we're staying at the Fairmont Waterfront, and likely will want to stick to something more easily reached from downtown (ie. walking/transit).
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Since you are going to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, I would suggest that you explore more over there instead of downtown Vancouver when it comes to cultural venues like museums. Here's my list of recommendations at UBC:
1.
Museum of Anthropology (You're going there)
2.
Cecil Green Park House & surrounding gardens (just behind MOA, including a couple of WW2 era batteries facing Georgia Straits that you can check out)
3.
Nitobe Memorial Japanese Garden
4.
Beaty Biodiversity Museum (Lots of animal collections, including the bones of a large whale at the entrance)
5.
Pacific Museum of Earth (You did say you like Geological stuff...although this is a small museum)
For Vancouver, like whatnext said, I would also recommend the following:
1.
Granville Island. Make sure you visit the Granville Market, Net Loft Shopping Mall and Kid's Market (if you have children) while you are there!
2.
Maritimes Museum - Only if you are really into ships and maritimes-related things
I would totally skip the Vancouver Museum as there is nothing much to see there.
Downtown to me is a cultural desert. Other than the Art Gallery, there is pretty much nothing else of cultural interest. There may be small spots here and there but you can probably finish seeing everything in 10mins. On the other, please check out these two areas: Gastown and Yaletown, especially if you are looking for a place to chill, relax and dine out.
However, if you can make it to the suburb cities, please go check out the following:
1.
Burnaby Village Museum (one short bus ride away from Metrotown Station). This heritage park now has festive decorations to boot.
2.
Lonsdale Quay Market and The Shipyards - Market is smaller than Granville Island's but you can discover many delights in this neighbourhood, not to mention having the best waterfront view of downtown Vancouver.
3.
New Westminster Museum & Riverfront Market - This is easily reached via skytrain and you can discover the oldest city in the Lower Mainland.
Of course, there are other places of interest in and around Vancouver, but those are already heavily promoted.