Vancouver Overview

Lotusland: where mountains, ocean, rainforest and modern city life converge. With international shopping and culinary delights, this cosmopolitan paradise is a hip destination with one of the most seductive urban settings in the world.

Districts

Vancouver is the city that has it all: natural beauty and cosmopolitan flair. Set between the Pacific Ocean and the coastal mountains, it has a harmonious blend of nature and urban living. Gardens, parks, and beaches are as common here as heritage buildings, restaurants, and theatres.

While maintaining the laid-back attitude of North America's West Coast, Vancouver has managed to build an international spirit. As the third largest city in Canada, it shares an ethnic diversity and multicultural flavor with the rest of the country. It's young, lively, and the jumping-off point for many spectacular outdoor activities.

Downtown
Vancouver has vitality and style. Nowhere is this more evident than in the downtown core. Its first distinct feature is Stanley Park, located on the west end of Georgia Street. This 1000-acre park includes an 11 kilometre Seawall promenade, old-growth forests, hiking trails, and the Vancouver Aquarium.

Downtown is the city's largest shopping district. One of its main arteries is Robson Street, a highlight for both locals and visitors. It's brimming with fashion boutiques, coffee bars and trendy cafes.

Crossing Robson is Granville, a street that offers independent fashion stores and entertainment venues. Many shops are here, as well as the city's "Theatre Row," where concert, theatre and movie choices can be found. Overall, the area has restaurants to satisfy every palette, urban nightclubs, and a dizzying number of bars offering live entertainment.

Gastown
This is Vancouver's first community and a heritage zone. Red cobblestone streets, Victorian street lamps, and heritage architecture give the area its old-world atmosphere. Today, boutiques, restaurants, and specialty shops combine with its historic character to make it a special attraction.

Chinatown
Vancouver's Chinatown is one of the largest in North America, and is second only to San Francisco's. The area's specialty shops, superb dining, and heritage buildings attract millions of visitors. The bustle here goes on day and night, from the summer's open-air Chinatown Night Market, to packed restaurants.

Yaletown & Granville Island
Not long ago, Yaletown was just a collection of abandoned warehouses. Today, it is one of the city's trendiest areas, dotted with posh condominiums and converted historic warehouses. Part of the area's popularity is its ultra-cool nightlife.

Similarly, Granville Island, a former industrial site, has become one of the city's biggest and best attractions. Live theatre, pubs, and artist workshops converge here. The public market has one-stop food shopping, where you can select fresh produce and treats.

Kitsilano & Point Grey
Located minutes south of downtown, Kitsilano is known for its active population, beaches and mountain views. The community has a profusion of eateries, bookstores, theatres, bars, open-air grocers and boutiques.

Just to the west of Kitsilano is Point Grey, another residential area. One of the wealthiest regions of the city, it boasts stately homes, miles of waterfront, and one of Vancouver's oldest parks. The area's beaches stretch from Jericho Beach to Spanish Banks, offering haunts to swim, sail and walk in.

West Point Grey Park provides one of the city's most dramatic viewpoints, with the University of British Columbia (UBC) just south of it. UBC has an expansive campus, featuring several of the city's best museums and attractions, including the Museum of Anthropology and the Nitobe Memorial Gardens.

East Vancouver
Vancouver's east side has always been known for its multitude of ethnic neighbourhoods and unconventional shopping and entertainment. Once dubbed Little Italy, the area on Commercial Drive, between Broadway and Venables, is often considered the city's hub for artists and counter-culture. Another area to shop and dine in is Little India, located south of East 47th Street on Main Street. The Punjabi Market (Little India) has jewellery and fabric shops. This is also where flavourful Indian foods and spices are readily available.

The Suburbs
The suburb area northwest of downtown, West Vancouver, is one of the most prosperous communities in Canada. If you're looking for a place to shop, the large Park Royal Centre is the country's first shopping mall. Be sure to take time out to walk through Lighthouse Park. It's in an 80-acre old growth forest, and visitors might get a chance to watch seals lounging on the rocks near Howe Sound.

Just next to West Vancouver lies North Vancouver. The lower Lonsdale area has heritage buildings and antique and specialty shops, while the Lonsdale Quay Market is a thriving waterfront treat. North Vancouver is the gateway for several of the area's ecological sites. Tourists will revel at Lynn Canyon Park, the thrill of the Capilano Suspension Bridge, and the splendor of the Fraser Valley. The year-round fun of Grouse Mountain and Cypress Mountain are also nearby.

Entertainment

Vancouver offers everything from bars and pubs to fine arts, cinema, literary readings, theatre and many spectator sports. If you're looking for a fun night out, there are a number of places for spirited fun. Neighbourhood pubs, bars and hotel lounges are common in every region of the city. Sports bars offer a different experience. Ice-cold pint in hand, you can watch cable-televised sports games on a big-screen TVs.

Dining and Drinking

Whether diners crave glamorous, elegant, warm or unadorned, Vancouver offers thousands of choices for memorable cuisine. Many of the city's establishments are internationally renowned and combine superb cuisine with extraordinary atmosphere.

Food-loving urbanites flock to bistros, dining rooms and cafes that range from home-style grub in perpetually busy diners to gourmet masterpieces in refined restaurants. Visitors can savor exotic Malaysian fare at lunch and Russian by nightfall, or choose from dozens of other ethnic cuisines. There are so many good restaurants in this city that it is difficult to narrow any list down to just a few!

Where To Stay

Most accommodations in Vancouver were designed with the discerning visitor in mind. There are a variety of lodgings available, from economical to the luxurious, from modern to historical, and from quiet beachside locations to those at the bustling city core. If cost is of no real concern, downtown has many world-class luxury and business hotels. There are also more modest but comfortable hotels, motels, and bed and breakfasts situated throughout the city that offer inexpensive and moderately priced rooms.

Vancouver by the Numbers

Average Annual Rainfall: 44 inches
Average Annual Snowfall: 22 inches
Average January Temperature: 37 degrees F
Average July Temperature: 63 degrees F

Electricity: 110 volts, 60 Hz; standard flat two-pin prongs
Time Zone: GMT 7, GMT 8 between April and October
Country Dialing Code: 1
Area Code: 604

Population: 545,671 in the city; 1,986,695 metro area
Major Industries: Tourism, Forestry, Retail, Financial Services

Did You Know?

The World Council of Cities ranked Vancouver second in the world for quality of life, and 'Outside' magazine voted it one of the ten best cities in the world to live in.

Orientation/Geography

Vancouver glows on the southeastern edge of British Columbia on Canada's west coast. The Coast Mountains frontier its northern and eastern margins, while Vancouver Island buoys to the west across the Strait of Georgia. The United States border is just 25 miles to the south.


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