Categories

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

How to spend the afternoon in Vancouver before your Alaska Cruise

Vancouver is a beautiful city! As travel agents we always recommend our clients spend at least 2 days here because there is just so much to see and do but often our clients don't have the extra time in their schedule so they opt to fly in the day before their cruise. If you have limited time in Vancouver, BC this blog post is for you.

If you only have an afternoon and evening to spend in Vancouver we highly recommend the following activities to make the most of your time and gain the best experience possible. Hopefully, with this little taste of Vancouver, you'll want to come back and spend considerably more time in this fabulous city.

Before I get into our recommendations I want to highly recommend that you stay in downtown Vancouver so that you can maximize your time while in this beautiful city. This will cost you some more money for your 1 night stay but in the big picture saving $50-$75 will be eaten up by extra travel costs to get to the places you need to see in your afternoon and evening visit. Vancouver is a walk-able city so if you plan your stay right you'll be able to see and do many of our recommendations on foot.

Hotel Recommendations:

 

We recently stayed at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver. This centrally located hotel was close to shopping, we could walk to Stanley Park or Canada Place from this hotel. There are many places to eat and shop nearby. Other nearby places such as Granville Island Public Market were a short cab drive away. We have also had clients stay at Pan Pacific Waterfront Vancouver and Fairmont Waterfront Vancouver. These are excellent hotels that are right at the cruise port terminal and at the waterfront so you have excellent views and you're near to many attractions. Here is the view from our balcony on the 31st floor. 

 

Pick your hotel wisely and you'll maximize your time and enjoyment of Vancouver. 

The premise of this post is for those travelers that are coming in for a cruise and can arrive the day before embarkation and want to see what they can in an afternoon and maybe the morning of the cruise sailing. Many of the ships will start boarding by noon. Your time will be limited on the morning of the cruise but with planning you can experience a bonus recommendation that I'll make at the end of this post.

Our primary recommendation, if you only had an afternoon to explore Vancouver, is to spend it at Stanley Park. 

Stanley Park is the largest urban park in North America, larger than Central Park in New York City. Unlike other large urban parks this one is not man-made. Stanley Park has evolved as the City of Vancouver has grown and evolved over the last century plus. The land was turned into Vancouver's first city park when Vancouver incorporated in 1886. Much of the park is densely forested as it was in the 1800's. To have such a treasure so close to the city is a true blessing for the residents and a must see for visitors.

Since you'll only have an afternoon to explore this park we recommend that you rent bikes and ride around the seawall and take in the beautiful scenery. There is a bike rental shop named Spokes at the corner of Denman and Georgia St which is the entrance to Stanley Park. This bike shop has been family owned and operated since 1938! Renting a cruiser for 2 hours will cost about $21 per rental and a helmet and a bike lock are included. Check out their website here. 

Keep in mind, a couple hour bike ride will only allow you to see the park from the Seawall. Most visitors will bike the 5.5 mile section. If you take your time, you'll be able to stop and take pictures along the way of Vancouver Harbour and English Bay which completely surround the park. You'll also want to stop and look at the totem poles near the Brockton Point Lighthouse. It's not a difficult ride and if you weren't stopping it would only take about an hour but I encourage you to take your time. If you have some extra time you can venture into the park to see more of it. The bike rental shop linked above has interactive maps of various routes depending on your interest and time availability.

By the time we arrived in Vancouver, got checked in at our hotel and rented our bikes(walked from our hotel to the bike shop) it was nearly 3:30PM. Again, if you only have an afternoon in Vancouver I would focus all your time on Stanley Park and then a nice dinner at a local restaurant in downtown Vancouver.

Local Restaurant Recommendation

 

After your afternoon exploration of Stanley Park we highly recommend a nice dinner at a downtown restaurant that is favored by the locals. We met the daughter of a good friend, who lives in downtown Vancouver, for dinner and told her we wanted to eat where the locals eat. She recommended Burgoo. The restaurant we visited was their downtown Vancouver location which was a few blocks from our hotel. The comfort food served here will warm your body, mind, and spirit on a brisk day, especially after spending a few hours biking around Stanley Park.

 

"No matter what the season is, a tiny bit of comfort can go a long way to making someone’s day more satisfying."

Our local friend was absolutely right! Burgoo was comforting on a brisk day. Everything about this place screams local comfort. From the decor and the hospitality, to the soups, salads, and sandwiches, and then on to the Shepherd's Pie, Chicken Pot Pie, Ratatouille, and Macaroni & Cheese, every item we had was delicious and comforting. We happened to be there on their 2 year anniversary celebration for this location. We couldn't be more happy and delighted to have been recommended this place by a local resident and we highly encourage those of you reading this post to stop in for lunch or dinner at Burgoo's.  

As a bonus stop on your afternoon visit to Vancouver before your cruise departs the next day, take a cab to Granville Island Public Market. This shopping district and restaurant area is popular with locals and visitors. It's close to downtown and you can spend a few hours wondering the shops, buying groceries from the local farmers and butchers, and getting your desserts from the local bakeries. We bought a nice bottle of wine from a shop there to drink while on our balcony for our last evening in Vancouver. It was perfect.

 

The Granville Island Public Market is the jewel in the Island’s crown. An indoor market featuring a fascinating assortment of colourful food and produce stores, showcasing handcrafted products and the very finest in unique gifts. All fresh from the ocean, the oven or the field.

 

 

We hope you enjoy your visit to Vancouver. There is so much to see and do in this wonderful city. If you just have an afternoon and evening here our suggestions would hit the highlights for any visitor. If you have more time, feel free to give us a call or email us and we can provide further suggestions for your visit such as a trip to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.

We hope you have a chance to #GetToABetterPlace soon in your travels.

___

Author: Richard Morris

 

Kristin and Richard Morris are the owners of Arizona Cruise and Travel in Gilbert, AZ, a Cruise Planners® franchise. They want to travel more and help others do the same. ACT on your travel dreams today! Call us at (602) 626-3740 or toll-free at (888) 419-6640. You can visit our website at www.arizonacruiseandtravel.com and play around. Heck, you might as well search for your next cruise because you know you want to.

 

Richard and Kristin also own Southwest Premier Insurance Agency, LLC, a full service, independent insurance agency in Gilbert, AZ.