I was in Vancouver late last week through the weekend for 6 days/5 nights. I hadn’t been there since March 2001 and had been wanting to return for a visit for quite some time. Fortunately now that I’m living on the West Coast it’s a relatively easy/quick flight up the coast. I had a fantastic time with sunshine on all but one day and very pleasant temps. I can understand why it’s frequently listed among the most liveable cities in the World (assuming you can afford to live there). It felt comfortable from a pedestrian perspective with an easy grid to traverse, bike lanes were plentiful and heavily used, and SkyTrain was very frequent and a more pleasant passenger experience than any rapid transit in the areas I’ve lived. Anyway, I averaged nearly 15 miles per day on foot and here is what I saw along the way.
1. This is actually Mt. Rainier, as seen from my flight from SFO to YVR.
2. Great view during my descent into YVR.
3.
4.
5.
6. Nice views from my hotel room of the West End, North Shore Mountains, and Burrard Inlet.
7.
8.
9. Nice separation between cyclists and pedestrians all along the waterfront.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21. False Creek opening up into English Bay in the distance
22. Sunset Beach
23.
24.
25. English Bay Beach
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32. Must have poutine while in Canada!
33.
34.
35.
36. Vancouver Harbour
37.
38.
39. 2010 Olympic Cauldron
40.
41. The view of The Butterfly under construction from my hotel room.
42. I visited quite a few cafes/coffee roasters in the area and Revolver Coffee was definitely my favorite!
43.
44.
45.
46. BC Place and Rogers Arena (the last time I was in Vancouver I was attending the 2001 World Figure Skating Championships at what was then GM Place rather than Rogers Arena)
47.
48.
49.
50.
51. Into the former Olympic Athletes Village, now a nice residential area.
52.
53. Walking along the south shore of False Creek towards Granville Island
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62. Granville Island
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68. Kitsilano
69.
70. Kitsilano Beach
71.
72.
73.
74.
75. Arbutus Greenway
76.
77. Broadway Corridor (where a subway line is currently under construction)
78.
79.
80. Cambie Street
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86. Relaxing and enjoying the view with a glass of wine on my hotel balcony.
87. Now out to the gayborhood, Davie Street Village
88.
89. On my way for coffee Friday morning, this was the one day that was cloudy with a few showers.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94. Nemesis Coffee – the coffee was fine but the warm ham & cheese croissant was outstanding.
95. Waterfront station on the right
96.
97.
98. Off to New Westminster to do a little exploring.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103. Downtown New Westminster
104.
105.
106.
107. Now back to downtown Vancouver.
108. And heading into the Coal Harbor area.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114. Into the West End
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120. Robson Street scenes near dusk.
121. I woke up to this beautiful view from my hotel room Saturday morning.
122.
123. After stopping again at Revolver for some coffee, I headed to Waterfront station to catch the SeaBus up to North Vancouver. It runs every 15 minutes making it super convenient for travel across Vancouver Harbour.
124.
125.
126. Lower Lonsdale in North Vancouver. A really nice waterfront area!
127.
128.
129. And there’s a market here too.
130.
131.
132.
133.
134.
135.
136.
137.
138.
139.
140.
141.
142.
143.
144. Now west to West Vancouver via the R2 rapid bus.
145.
146.
147.
148.
149.
150.
151.
152.
153.
154.
155. Walking across the Lions Gate Bridge back to Vancouver
156.
157.
158.
159.
160.
161.
162.
163. Prospect Point Lookout on the north end of Stanley Park
164.
165.
166.
167. Heading down to the Seawall
168. Walking along the Stanley Park Seawall back to English Bay Beach & the West End.
169.
170.
171. Third Beach
172.
173.
174. Arriving at English Bay Beach
175.
176. Heading through the West End up into Davie Street Village
177.
178.
179. Pretty sunset from my hotel.
180. Walking through downtown towards Chinatown for some coffee.
181.
182.
183.
184.
185.
186. I was pleased with my cappuccino from Propaganda Coffee.
187. Now off to Mount Pleasant
188.
189.
190. The residential areas of Mount Pleasant are indeed very pleasant!
191. Cambie Street Village near Vancouver City Hall
192.
193. I love art deco architecture so Vancouver City Hall is a definite winner in my book!
194.
195. Taking the Canada Line south from City Hall to King Edwards.
196.
197.
198.
199.
200. This looks like quite the rezone!
201.
Massive change coming to the Oakridge-41st Avenue Canada Line station area. So many cranes and this doesn’t capture all of them!
202. Now off to Kerrisdale via the R4 rapid bus.
203.
204.
205. Back on the R4 rapid bus to continue to UBC.
206.
207. It was a warm day so I headed down the steep cliffs to Wreck Beach adjacent to UBC, which happens to be Vancouver’s clothing-optional beach. It was very busy that afternoon due to the weather and there was lots of nudity, so I only managed a few photos to avoid creeping people out, ha!
208.
209.
210. After a long sweaty climb back up the steep stairs to UBC, at least there was this nice garden to enjoy the view overlooking the water!
211. Catching the 99 B-Line express bus down Broadway and a transfer at City Hall to the Canada Line to head back downtown (eventually the SkyTrain is planned run under Broadway all the way here to UBC).
212. There was a large protest against the Iranian authorities over the recent death of the woman arrested by authorities there over her hijab.
213.
214. Last morning waking up to this view from my hotel bad.
215. I hopped on a bus and headed east down Hastings to the Strathcona area to check out Prototype Coffee. It was pretty good and a hip cool interior design.
216. Being so close to the not great area near Hastings on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Strathcona neighbourhood as I walked back towards downtown, but it was very nice! Just had to remain south of Hastings to avoid the blight.
217.
218. Into the Gastown area
219.
220.
221.
222. One last visit to Revolver Coffee
223.
224.
225.
226.
227.
228.
229.
230.
231.
232. Back into downtown on my way to Stanley Park.
233.
234.
235.
236.
237.
238.
239.
240.
241.
242.
243.
244. Heading into Stanley Park
245.
246. Such a beautiful rose & flower garden!
247.
248.
249.
250.
251.
252.
253.
254. Back to the Stanley Park Seawall, this time on the harbour side of the park.
255.
256.
257.
258.
259.
260.
261.
262.
263.
264.
265. Into the West End.
266. And back on Robson Street.
267.
268.
269.
270.
271.
272.
273.
274.
275.
276.
277. Robson Square
278.
279.
280.
281.
282. North Plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery
283.
284. Elsewhere downtown.
285.
286.
287.
288.
289.
290. Yaletown
291.
292.
293.
294.
295.
296. One more glimpse of The Butterfly condo tower under construction.
297. Relaxing along False Creek before heading to the Yaletown Canada Line station to head to the airport.
298. Yaletown-Roundhouse Canada Line station
299. And heading back home to the SF Bay Area.
I really had a fantastic time in Vancouver and look forward to future visits. Hope you enjoyed the photos!
Prev
Linear Mode
