Another Vancouver Trip

[mdeleon]

I’m going to head to Vancouver in August for the first time since I arrived fresh off the boat back in 1989, I think it was? Anyways, obviously I don’t know too much of where to go or what to do there, so I’m asking for help from the people who are familiar with Van and/or live there. I know there’s already a thread about the club scene, but my questions go beyond the question of where to party.

First of all, I will be staying in West Vancouver in Lions Bay Estate. How far am I from downtown Vancouver and how will the drive most likely be? From what I was told by my agent, and from Google, it’s around a 35 min drive, but that’s probably without traffic, so I would like to know what I’m most likely going to encounter, traffic-wise.

Now what bars/clubs are good to go to for each day of the week? Though we won’t be hitting the clubs every night, I don’t really know which nights we will be going out. All I know right now, we’re going to Plush on Saturday, so knowing what to hit up on each day will save the time of club hopping. The types of clubs I go to here are Amsterdam Rhino, Plush, Whiskey, & Tantra. Like mentioned above, I’ve read the other thread about Vancouver clubs, and have an idea of what to check out, some other clubs I checked out on clubzone.com were Shine, Caprice Nightclub, and Plaza Club, as for after hour clubs, how are Gorg-O-Mish & Liquid? Which is the better of the two?

We’re going to be doing some shopping, so are there any places besides Robson St. we should check out or is Robson St. all we need? What are the best malls to check out? And does Yaletown have good places to shop or is it more for sight-seeing?

Beaches, we have a beach close to our place, but would like to check out more, we’ll most likely drive to White Rock for a day, what are others that are worth checking out?

Restaurants, what are some classy places over in Vancouver, and also some Joey’s/Earls/Cactus Club type places that we may not have here.

Thanks in advance to all, and I’m also currently researching to answer my own questions, but would like to hear from people who’s been to these places, I’d be more willing to go somewhere from word-of-mouth rather than researching about it on the net.

[toyboy88]

Originally posted by mdeleon
We’re going to be doing some shopping, so are there any places besides Robson St. we should check out or is Robson St. all we need? What are the best malls to check out? And does Yaletown have good places to shop or is it more for sight-seeing?

Beaches, we have a beach close to our place, but would like to check out more, we’ll most likely drive to White Rock for a day, what are others that are worth checking out?

Thanks in advance to all, and I’m also currently researching to answer my own questions, but would like to hear from people who’s been to these places, I’d be more willing to go somewhere from word-of-mouth rather than researching about it on the net.

- Robson Street is definitely the best bet for shopping hands down. Shops, food, and eye candy all in one place ;)
Lots of connecting streets too with shops as well.

- As for malls Metrotown is my personal favorite other than Robson. Has 500+ stores. Every type of store in there!

- Yaletown is more for the sightseeing/atmosphere/culture IMO than actual shopping (other than souvenirs, etc...)

- If your looking for another place that's good to experience is Granville Island Public Market. Right on the waterfront. Mix of fresh fruit, local shops, performers, music, etc.

- As for beaches...I would highly recommend English Bay and/or Sunset Beach late afternoon/sunset time. The view is amazing from there especially in the nice weather. Located on the southwest end of Stanley park. Also walking distance from Robson St. so it's a nice way to spend an hour or two after shopping before dinner/club.

- And I'm 99% sure it's still on the whole summer everyday pretty much: the Asian night market in Richmond. Tons of little "booths" selling anything and everything for cheap! Great place to pickup bargains...also have a bunch of food stalls to satisfy the hunger!

- Out of what I mentioned the TOP 3 "musts do" (IMO) is Robson St., Night Market, and English Bay!

Have fun out there, cheers mate! :thumbsup:

[Maddog55]

^^ Good suggestions, Toyboy

Wow lions Bay Estates! nice area. You're only a 15-20 minute drive to downtown over 1st narrows (Lions Gate Bridge) and thru Stanley Park..but not during rush hour!! That could easily take over an hour. The bridge alternates the centre lane for rush hours. Either go way late in the morning or early morning on weekends. And don't come home during the afternoon rush...that ones even worse!

As for Beaches, the best one on the north shore is Ambleside Beach, almost right under the Bridge. HERE (http://www.vancouver.hm/beaches.html) is a list of all beaches.

You could always check out Wreck beach (nude) but its a bit of a hike down the university trail and its not what you'd think. Mostly older ppl and gays.

English Bay is probably the busiest. And if you're there during any of the Fireworks show (http://www.celebration-of-light.com/) it's a MUST SEE.

Robson St is great for ppl watching and yes shopping...but keep in mind it is THE most expensive shopping in all of Vancouver. Metrotown is similar to say, Sundridge Mall here. But its in Burnaby, a good 45 minute drive from West Van without traffic!!
Closer is Park Royal Mall, right on Marine Dr in West Van. There's also the underground mall in downtown Van.

Restaurants...thousands to choose from. Pretty much all the same as here. Check out the Quay (pronounced "KEY") at the bottom of Londsdale, some good seafood restaurants and booths. The Keg is North Van is good too, but better is the Boathouse Restaurant in White Rock if you're going there. Can sit on the 3rd floor patio and watch the sun go down. White Rock is a great place to visit on a hot sunny day.

Stanley Park of course...but having lost over half its trees, its lost a lot of its beauty. Bike along the seawall for a gorgeous afternoon. You can rent bikes all over the place to do that.

Gastown. China Town. Grouse Mountain..take the gondola to the top..especially at night time, the scenery is out of this world!

Playland has all the attractions of the midway at Stampede, rollercoaster, rides, carnies, games etc.

Yaletown is the "yuppie" neighbourhood. Like a real life "Sex in the City" atmosphere. Great coffee bars and bistros.

I grew up in the West End (gays and artists), Kitsilano (university kids and hippies), East End (Italians and Asians) as well as North Van. I know the whole city and suburbs like the back of my hand.

[Machi]

Check out the Kwik-E-Mart in Coquitlam.. :D

[C4S]

Oh .. you will be addicted ..

I go Vancouver every few months ..

Much better city!

Awesom food .. and lower price in general .. also better service, less waiting time ...

Hanging out around downtown is awesome, and cheap parking, and easy to find a spot (compare to Calgary downtown)

Robson, English bay, north Van, west Van .. Yaletown .. gas town .. etc ..

Just make sure don't go to lion bridge during peak hour!!


Shopping is van is awesome! however, you better go Seattle as , just 2 hr drive, nice place to visit, and great shopping! everything there is like 30% - 50% lesscompare to here .. :)

I will go Van/Seattle in August again ... as well! :D

[mdeleon]

wow all the input has been great so far thanks, keep em coming, i wanna have as many options as i can when i go there!

[beecue]

Originally posted by C4S

Shopping is van is awesome! however, you better go Seattle as , just 2 hr drive, nice place to visit, and great shopping! everything there is like 30% - 50% lesscompare to here .. :)


i'm thinking of going to vanc/seattle in august as well .. wheres the best places to shop in seattle? ... looking for some big malls .. outlet stores like nike .. thanks

[RiCE-DaDDy]

^
English bay is for tourists hah, Check out kitsilano beach for major eyecandy and meatheads lol

Seattle premuim outlets baby, don;t bother with the other crap (belasfair or whatever its called)

Drop by the Tulalip or Muckleshoot casino on the way down, nothing beats indian casinos

Definitely check out West 4th and main street. More shopping, food, cool shit etc.

As for clubs, theres a ton on granville street in DT and in wide variety too so theres something for everyone. Gastown has a lot of notable places as well as cheaper/shadier spots which I had fun in.
During a week, it would go something like this:
Monday - Lola bar (place is crazy on mondays)
Wed - Caprice (same as above)
Fri - Somewhere on granville downtown
Sat - Honey/Gastown (i like honey cause they play no top40 on say, just old school hiphop/rnb joints)

Oh yea, the plaza is super ethnic (asian and brown ppl).

[Altezza]

Originally posted by mdeleon


First of all, I will be staying in West Vancouver in Lions Bay Estate. How far am I from downtown Vancouver and how will the drive most likely be? From what I was told by my agent, and from Google, it’s around a 35 min drive, but that’s probably without traffic, so I would like to know what I’m most likely going to encounter, traffic-wise.


A colleague of mine lives in Lions Bay. His commutes to DT are usually 1hr+ during the rush hour.

[SilverGS]

Seattle Premium Outlets is a must. Robson is great but you will overpay.

If you like Sushi Tojo's is excellent but very pricey. It has been featured on the food network.

Richmond Night Market on the weekends is kind of neat if you like chinese style snacks and vendor stands for all sorts of knock off stuff and games and toys and such. They have phone unlockers there as well that will do it for around $20 right while you wait

[TimG]

kitsilano beach, jericho beach and the spanish banks are all good.

+1 for Park Royal. If you're going to go to metrotown, take the skytrain.

When I was in vancouver last fall, most of Granville St downtown was all torn up. Dunno if it's still like this now (or worse).

A good Earls-like place is Sammy J Pepper's on Granville island.

Some other places that you might be interested in are the UBC Botanical Gardens and the Japanese gardens. There's also the Aquarium in Stanley Park.

[clem24]

Avoid the nude beach unless you like looking at naked guys, which accounts for 99.9% of beach-goers. The other 0.1% is made up of girls that you wouldn't even glance at fully clothed.

I personally like Vancouver for the good (Asian) eats!! :drool:

[5G_celica]

I just moved from vancouver to calgary and miss it like hell.. I'll be back there for the long weekend. can't wait.

I'm sure everyone else has already suggested what I would suggest. ( too lazy to read everything)

my opionion, caprice is a great club. 21 age limit keeps most of the under age out. and it has a dress code so it's a bit more of a LA style club.

lions bay is an owsome area. it's beautiful the. you're right off sea to sky highway and it would be about 35 min to down town. the sea to sky highway doesn't get to backed up unless there is constuction or an accedent. the only traffic problem you'll most likely encounter is the lions gate bridge.( only 3 lanes. so you'll only have 1 or 2 lanes going your way depending what time of day it is.

food.. there is ton of places there that is great. but if you like japanese food than Guu is by far the best place in vancouver. the adress is 1698 robson. this is authentic japanese. if you like rolls, cones and things like that, then you might not like this place, since there are no rolls or cones. most of my japanese friends will only eat there for japanese food. I go there every time I head back to vancouver. I can suggest what to order if you like

if you go down to seattle for the out let make sure you tell them you're an alberta resident. then they will waive the tax. I don't have my alberta DL yet, so I haven't been able to enjoy this priveledge yet.

granville island is great for lunch.. try the pot pies place.. it's pretty good..

here are my favourate places to eat.

The reef - carribean food

Afghan horseman - well name tells you what food you'll get

Steffos on davie - cheap and good greek food. (there is a line up there every night )

kintaro on denmin and robson - best ramin noodles in the city

and of course GUU!!! my favourate restaurant.

ok.. I've killed enough time.. now back to work..

have fun in vancouver