"Vancouver" a Vancouver Travel Page by JanPeter74

When thinking of Vancouver, the first word that comes to mind is: Relaxed! What a nice place this must be to live or at least to stay for a longer period of time.

Vancouver lies a the southwestern tip of Canada on the Pacific Coast. Actually Vancouver Island lies just off the coast here and shields Vancouver from "real open sea". The most interesting parts of this metropolis are Downtown, Gastown (which is the historic centre), Chinatown, Granville Island and Stanley Park, which is a kind of peninsula attached to Downtown Vancouver. Highway 99 enters the city from the south, leads through Downtown Vancouver, Stanley Park and then crosses the Lions Gate Bridge to enter North (and West) Vancouver, which lie at the other side of the Burrard Inlet. Click on the map below to have a general idea of the most important parts of Vancouver. Click here for both downloadable and interactive Vancouver maps.

The major attraction of Vancouver is Stanley park, the largest "city"-park in North America and one of the largest in the world. This park is the perfect place to spend some leisure time. Gardens, Totem Poles, Forest, Ponds, Vancouver Aquarium, Beaches, etc. Lots of things to see and do here. The ten-kilometre (six-mile) Seawall that circles Stanley Park provides incredible ocean views for strollers, joggers, cyclists and in-line skaters. Furthermore, for shopping, eating out and going out, plenty of opportunities are available, especially in downtown Robson Street and around the downtown part of Granville Street.

Because of it's unique geographic location, with both ocean and snowcapped mountains close by, weather in Vancouver can be very varying. Summers are supposed to be pretty nice with average temparatures just above 20 C. However autumn and winter can be very wet, but never extremely cold. Apparently it seldom freezes here. Nevertheless, Vancouver is preparing to host the Olympic Wintergames of 2010, together with close by ski resort Whistler.

Vancouver is also a major international port. Ferries from Vancouver Island arrive at Tsawassan or Horseshoe Bay ferry terminals, which are linked to Vancouver via Highway 99, just to the south and north of the city respectively.