The Rough Guide to Vancouver 3 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

324 Pages·2007·24.11 MB·English

by  Rough Guides, Tim Jepson

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I SB N 978-1-84353-789-2
5 1 7 9 9
9 7 8 1 8 4 3 5 3 7 8 9 2
The Rough Guide to
Vancouver
written and researched by
Tim Jepson
NEW YORK • LONDON • DELHI
www.roughguides.com
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Contents
Colour section 1–16 " Kids’ Vancouver ............... 200
# Sports and outdoor
Introduction ............................... 4 activities ........................... 206
What to see................................ 7 $ Festivals and events ......... 218
When to g o ................................ 9 % Directory .......................... 223
Things not to miss ................... 11
Out of the City 227–276
Basics 17–40
& Victoria ............................. 229
Getting ther e............................ 19 ' The Gulf Islands ............... 251
Arrival ...................................... 23 a Whistler and the Sunshine .....
City transpor t........................... 25 Coast ............................. 259
City tours ................................. 29
The media ............................... . 31 Contexts 277–292
Travel essentials ...................... 32 A brief history o f Vancouve r ... 279
The City 41–124 Aboriginal cultures ................. 285
Books .................................... 288
Downtown........................... 41
Gastown and Chinatown.... . 59 Travel store 293–294
Stanley Park........................ 70

Granville Island ................... 80 Small print & Index 295–304
South Vancouver................ . 87
The University of British Eating out in
Coloumbia ......................... . 97 Vancouver colour

North Vancouver ............... 107 section following p.144
Listings 125–226
The great outdoors
Accommodation ............... 125 colour section following
Eating................................ 142 p.208
Drinking ............................ 162
Nightlife............................. 168
The performing arts .......... 174 Colour maps following
Gay Vancouver ................. 181 p.304
! Shopping ......................... 186
3
Granville Island Vancouver’s waterfront
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| CONTENTS |
Introduction to
Vancouver
One of the world’s most beautiful cities, Vancouver is
centred on a glitzy downtown, fringed by water and
set against a spectacular backdrop of mountain peaks.
Its setting and surroundings make it an outdoor-lover’s
paradise, and locals barely have to move to take advantage
of the countless recreational opportunities afforded all year
round – whether it’s sailing or swimming in crystal-clear
English Bay, biking or Rollerblading in vast Stanley Park,
skiing or boarding on the mountains, or wandering through
the forests and canyons on the city’s northern shore.
Vancouver’s nearly two million residents exploit
this spectacular natural setting to the hilt, and
when they tire of the immediate re gion they
can travel a short distance to the unimagina-
bly vast wi lderness o f the British Columbia
interior. No wonder, given its su perb natural
heritage and outdoor facilities, that in 2003 the
International Olympic Committee accepted the city’s bid to stage the 2010
Winter Olympics.
Vancouver also has plenty that contributes to a cultured atmosphere: top-
notch museums, superb restaurants – arguably the best in North America
after New York and San Francisco – countless cafés, great parks and gardens,
and any number of hip bars and clubs. Summer and winter it’s all hedonism
and healthy living, typically West Coast obsessions that spill over into its
sophisticated arts and culture. Vancouver claims a world-class symphony
orchestra, as well as opera, theatre and dance companies at the cutting edge
of contemporary arts. Festivals proliferate throughout its mild, if occasion-
ally rain-soaked, summer, and numerous music venues provide a hotbed for
up-and-coming rock bands and a burgeoning jazz scene.
Some idea of the city’s outlook can be gleaned from a slew of lifestyle
4 surveys which show that, per capita, its inhabitants read more, drink more
wine, smoke less, spend more on outdoor gear and support more bars and
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| INTRODUCTION | WHAT TO SEE | WHEN TO GO
restaurants than do residents of any
Natural Vancouver
other Canadian city.
Not all is devoted to pleasure “Spectacular by Nature” runs
here, however. Business growth the tag line across much of
Vancouver’s official visitor
continues apace in Canada’s third
material, emphasizing (as
largest city, much of its prosper-
if emphasis were needed)
ity stemming from a port that
the city’s key attraction: the
handles more dry tonnage than
stunning mixture of cityscape
the West Coast ports of Seattle, and natural environment. Even
Tacoma, Portland, San Francisco if you only walk or cycle around
and San Diego put together. The the city, you’ll experience
some of the thrill of the great
port in turn owes its prominence
outdoors, from glimpses of
to Vancouver’s much-trumpeted
snow-capped mountains at the
position as a gateway to the Far
end of Downtown streets to the
East and its increasingly pivotal
centuries-old forest and ocean
role in the new global market of views of Stanley Park.
the Pacifc Rim. Meanwhile, the string of parks
Links across the Pacifc, however, of North Vancouver offers super
hiking for all levels, as well as
are nothing new. After a ll, the city
tremendous skiing, snowboarding
is closer to China and Japan than
and other winter activities, all just
it is to Britain, its old colonial
twenty minutes’ drive from the
master and source of man y of
city centre.
its twentieth-century immi grants. Just because the parks are
And much of the city’s earliest close, don’t be fooled into thinking
immigration focused on Vancou- they’re tame; most contain areas
of real wilderness for which you
ver’s extraordinary Chinatown,
should be properly equipped.
just one of a number of ethnic
Don’t think either that Vancouver’s
enclaves – Italian, Greek, Indian
great outdoors stops with the
and Japanese in particular – which
mountains. The ocean provides
lend the city a refreshingly down- sailing, kayaking, canoeing and
to-earth quality that belies its sleek, diving, among other activities,
modern reputation. So, too, do the some of which, such as kayaking,
you can pursue from the city itself.
city’s semi-derelict eastern districts,
whose down-and-out population is
shockingly at odds with those pur-
suing pleasant lifestyles in the lush
residential neighbourhoods. Low
rents and Vancouver’s cosmopolitan
young have nurtured an unexpect-
ed counterculture, distinguished
by secondhand sho ps, avant- garde 5
galleries, and hip bars and clubs .
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| INTRODUCTION | WHAT TO SEE | WHEN TO GO
The city’s vibrant feel is
catching, its growth and energy
almost palpable as you walk
the streets. In just fve years,
between 1996 and 2001, the
date of the last census, the
city’s population increased by
an extraordinar y fourteen per-
cent, and it remains Canada’s
fastest-growing cit y: over t he
next few years it’s ex pected to
grow by as much as ffty per -
cent. In res ponse, t he Down -
town area is s preading, and the
older, run-down districts on its
southern and eastern fringes
– the areas of Yaletown and
False Creek in particular – are
feeling gentrifcation’s efect.
On the whole, real estate in
Vancouver is now more expensive than it is in Toronto. In addition to
new residents, flm and TV production companies have discovered the
city’s riches, making it North America’s largest production centre after Los
Angeles and New York. Yet, in the peculiar way that seems second nature to
Canadians, the changes are being handled in a manner that enhances rather
than compromises all the city has to ofer.
Although there’s plenty to occupy you here, you should also aim to visit
Victoria, easily reached by ferry or sea plane. An eminent ly charming
old town – albeit one that slightly overplays its ersatz Englishness – it has
enough sights and interest to merit an overnight stay. En route to the city
by air or sea you’ll pass the Gulf Island s, an arc hipelago scattere d across
the Strait of Geor gia between the mainland and Vancouver Island. All the
islands make peaceful and bucolic retreats, with plenty of laid-back accom-
modation, good restaurants, sleepy villages and pleasant (an d easy) hiking,
cycling and other outdoor opportunities. Like Victoria, they also ofer tre -
mendous opportunities for whale-watching, increasingly one of the region’s
most popular visitor activities.
If you hanker for more demanding outdoor pursuits, Vancouver is per-
fectly placed for excursions into the Coast Mountains to the north, notably
the peaks near the year-round ski resort of Whistler, and for trips along the
6 mainland Sunshine Coast facing Vancouver Island, an area known, above
all, for some of the world’s best diving.
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Glass condos near Canada Place
| INTRODUCTION | WHAT TO SEE | WHEN TO GO
What to see
radled between the Paci fc an d snowca pped peaks, Vancouver’s
dazzling Downtown district flls a narrow peninsula bounded
by Burrard Inlet to the north, English Bay to the west and False
CCreek to the south, with Greater Vancouver s prawling south to
the Fraser River. Edged around Downtown’s id yllic waterfront are fne
beaches, a dynamic port and a magnifcent swath of green – Stanley Park
– not to mention the mirror-fronted ranks of skyscrapers that look across
Burrard Inlet and its busy harbour to the residential districts of North and
West Vancouver (the North Shore). Beyond these comfortable suburbs, the
Coast Mountains rise in stee p, forested slopes to form a dramatic counter-
point to the Downtown skyline and the most stunnin g of the cit y’s many
outdoor playgrounds.
You’ll inevitably spend a good deal of time in Downtown Vancouver,
which is where you’ll fnd the city’s most visited sights: Canada Place, an
impressive waterfront complex; the Harbour Centre and its panoramic
views; and the Neoclassical grandeur of the Vancouver Art Gallery,
home to the works of celebrated Canadian painter Emily Carr. The Down-
town core spills southward into Yaletown, a revitalized former warehouse
district that’s full of cafés, restaurants, galleries and interesting shops.
East of Downtown is its Victorian-era neighbour, Gastown, now a
renovated and less-than-convincing pastiche of its past. Moving east -
ward, Gastown blends into edgy Chinatown, which could easi ly absorb
a morning – it contains more than its share of interestin g shops and
7
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| INTRODUCTION | WHAT TO SEE | WHEN TO GO
Market in Chinatown
restaurants along its busy streets, plus the area’s main attraction, the Dr
Sun Yat-Sen Garden. At the northern tip of the Downtown peninsula,
you’ll fnd abundant recreational pleasures in Stanley Park, a huge area
of semi-wild parkland and beaches.
Beyond the Downtown peninsula in the southern portion of the city are
other worthwhile destinations, notably Granville Island, by far the city’s
most tempting spot for wandering and people-watching, situated in the
waters of False Creek. Neighbouring Kitsilano to the west is home to the
Vancouver Museum and the other museums of the Vanier Park com-
plex, all easily accessible from Granville Island. West of Kitsilano and at the
westernmost point of Vancouver lies the sprawling University of British
Columbia and its formidable Museum of Anthropology, fanked by the
protected area of Pacifc Spirit Regional Park.
At a push, you could cram t he city’s essentials into around three days. If
you’re here for a longer stay, though, you’ll want to venture further from
Downtown. Trips across Burrard Inlet to North Vancouver are worth
making for the views from the SeaBus ferry alone (see p.26) – t hey also
provide a diferent panoramic perspective on the peninsula and take you
into the mountains and forests that provide Vancouver with its tremendous
setting. The most popular trips here are to the Capilano Suspension Bridge,
something of a triumph of public relations over substance, and to the more
worthwhile cable-car trip up Grouse Mountain for some staggering
views of the city.
8 The area of Vancouver east of Chinatown is a vast collection of suburbs,
lacking in specifc attractions and therefore not covered in the guide.
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The Naam, Kitsilan o
| INTRODUCTION | WHAT TO SEE | WHEN TO GO