Q: Hello, I am planning a trip to Vancouver BC. with my girlfriend and am looking for some small activities we could do. We are planning this 4 day 3 night trip around going to the aquarium, the capilano suspension bridge, the Dr. Sun Yat-sen (garden), and Grouse Mountain. We now are looking to make a list of smaller things we can do inbetween these bigger items. We really want to go curling but have no clue where we could do that at. Please tell me of some other things we can spend our time doing. No sporting events please, we have already planned to attend the Canucks game. So again we are looking for some smaller stuff we can do, go curling, visit parks, go up the vancouver lookout, checkout the coastline, things of that nature. Thanks! Oh we are going from Jan. 2nd through Jan 5th.
A: Hi Eric, here's a link that I use when my husband and I want to do something with the kids: http://www.findfamilyfun.com/main.htm Now, many of the fun activities aren't "family only", rather just ideas of things to do in the city. If you have a whole day free, I would recommend driving into the mountains. Whether you take the beautiful Sea-to-Sky Highway up to Whistler or take the #1 into the Valley and up the Fraser Canyon. Lovely trips they are. Another alternative for an all-day trip would be to take a BC Ferry. Just park the car and walk on. The Ferry rides are stunning. But all these are large trips, not just a "small thing". The drive to Whistler is about 3-4 hours one way.. depending on the weather and traffic. One caution about planning too many park visits is that if it is pouring rain, you won't want to spend that much time in parks. The parks are lovely (especially Stanley Park and Queen Elizabeth Park), but when it's wet, its WET. Plan time to sit in a restaurant and just enjoy. You'll need down-time, especially after all the other events you have planned. And many restaurants are very much part of the "Vancouver Experience". And finally, one idea for something to do - do a walking tour of the down-town area. Go to the Vancouver Public Library in the down-town area. The architecture is fantastic. There's also the Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada Place (fantastic but expensive restaurant - amazing views), Robson street (shopping) and so on. Oh.. there's also the Maritime Museum. It's on the other side of False Creek from the down-town core, near Granville Island (shopping, restaurants and the arts) and the HR MacMillan Planetarium. Have a great trip!!