We absolutely loved Vancouver. After years of wanting to travel there, my expectations were met and it was as beautiful as I had expected it would be.
While in the city, we had 2 rooms at one of the least expensive Four Seasons that I have ever encountered. Recall that I used my Chase Ultimate Rewards points to pay for about 2/3 of our stay. But I looked at the rate while I was there, out of curiosity, and the rooms that we stayed in were a mere $250 per night and that was in Canadian dollars. Our dollar in Canada is very strong right now, so upon conversion, these rooms were about $200 per night. Crazy!
The hotel was really nice and very conveniently located in downtown Vancouver. Although we did not really hang at the pool, the pool setting was amazing. It was in a huge courtyard with big comfy lounge chairs and lounge service. The gym, which Rob loved, was open air and looked out into the courtyard. The pool was half in the gym and half in the courtyard. It was really cool.
The only other time I had stayed at a Four Seasons resort was in Maui on my honeymoon back in 1998. (Remember, we flew on Delta Skymiles to get there) The one thing that I always remembered about that Four Seasons was how comfortable the bed was, and Rob and I fondly named that bed the marshmallow. I finally slept in another marshmallow in Vancouver! I don’t know what Four Seasons does to their beds, but they are so mushy and comfy. Since our honeymoon, back in 1998, Rob and I have tried to replicate that marshmallow. We need to try again!
We spent 3 busy days in Vancouver. My friend Karina happened to be there visiting her family (what a nice place to grow up!) and we met her and her boys our first day. Together we did the very challenging hike up the Grouse Grind. This is about a 2 mile hike up to the top of Grouse Mountain and it definitely lives up to its name. It is a grind! It took us about 2 hours to complete. We were all dying at the top but felt very accomplished. Our kids were troopers leading the entire time with myself, Karina and Rob trailing behind.
At the top of Grouse Mountain we deserved and had a delicious lunch at Altitudes Bistro. We then explored the various events and activities at the top of the mountain. My kids and Karina’s kids were a little old for the Lumberjack and Birds Of Prey shows. But they thought the Eye of The Wind was really cool (a wind turbine at the top of a tower) and had fun alone on the chair lifts talking to people coming the opposite way. (I hope they weren’t too obnoxious 🙂 ). We were scheduled to do a Beehive tour at the top, but the day we went, the beekeeper was sick and our tour was canceled. That was disappointing. Going down, we took the Skyride, as you are not allowed to hike down due to the steepness of the mountain. We were thrilled to take the Skyride down!
That night, we had dinner with Karina and her boys downtown on Alberni Street at Coast. There we had yummy apps and shared big seafood platters. (The salmon in Vancouver is sockeye salmon and it is dark pink.). After dinner, we walked along vibrant Robson Street and went for ice cream. Fun Night!
The next day, we rented bikes and biked the Seawall around Stanley Park. This was probably the nicest bike ride I have ever done. You are surrounded on all sides by city, mountains, ocean and park. It was gorgeous. The Seawall trail around Stanley park is about 8 miles. We ate lunch in Stanley Park at The Fish House (now closed), which was good, but a little fancy for lunch. If I could do it again, I would have had us eat lunch at one of the cool looking cafes on Beach Street, right outside of the park. Oh well.
After lunch, we were not ready to give the bikes back, so we biked along the waterfront to Canada Place. There we did the 4D movie Fly Over Canada, which to me, is a touristy must when you are in the city. It was fun, kind of like Soarin in Epcot.
That night, after dinner, (we went to Chipolte 🙂 ), we walked to the Yaletown location of Bella Gelateria, the place we heard had the “best ice cream (gelato) in Canada”. As expected, we were greeted by a long line (but probably not as long as the line at their other location at Canada Place). There were so many interesting flavors like olive oil (did not try it), and the kids were very adventurous in their selections. I am not sure if it was the “best ice cream in Canada” but it was really good and worth the wait!
The next day, we checked out of the Four Seasons. I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card to play for our hefty $45/night (Canadian $ though) parking fees as well as some other small incidental charges (we needed to upgrade the wifi to the high speed one). I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card because I get 2 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $ spent on travel.
We then got in the car and headed to Granville Island for lunch and shopping. Granville Island is an island off of Vancouver with waterfront restaurants, theatres, galleries, studios, unique shops and a huge, amazing fresh food market. We had lunch at the market and had fun walking around all of the various shops (a broom store!). For younger kids, there is also a really cool Kids Market on the island.
After Granville Island, we took a detour on our way to Whistler and stopped at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. The main attraction in the park is the actual Capilano Suspension Bridge that spans 450 feet (137m) across and 230 feet (70m) above Capilano River. There are also a few other attractions in the park. There is Cliffwalk, a walkway clinging to the cliffs high above Capilano Canyon and Treetops Adventure, seven suspension bridges through the trees.
With all of that, my kids did not love the park. Part of the reason is that we hit the park at about 2 pm and it was very crowded. The website recommends arriving before 10am or after 4 pm and I wholeheartedly agree with that tip. Also if you are an active adventurous family, like we are, the park does not offer enough. It likely would be a great stop and an adventure for those who don’t zipline, hike, etc. HOWEVER, the bridge itself is a thrill and really cool.
Upon leaving the park, we began our 70 mile drive to Whistler. Read here about our amazing time in Whistler.