Quote:
Originally Posted by Iwillthink4u
wow.
thank you for that great response! very much appreciated!
i see that the sheraton is pretty close to the English bay so that's nice!
We're also thinking about getting a car.....Do hotels in downtown vancouver generally have free parking?
Do we even need a car?
we would be interested in seeing ambleside, victoria, north/west vancouver, and the downtown (for which we don't need a car...).
any thoughts?
also, how much is a good price to spend on a hotel like sheraton? the price i found was 117 Canadian a night. we're coming the last week of july 2010.
|
Yeah, you can walk from the Sheraton (or the Vintage Park) to English Bay in 20 minutes. Downtown Vancouver is pretty compact, you realistically can walk anywhere downtown in less than 40 minutes. I mean, I can walk from the False Creek seawall at the south end of the downtown peninsula, up along Hornby Street, or whatever north-south street, and be at the north end of the downtown peninsula (by Canada Place) in 20 minutes.
Vancouver is expensive, especially real estate, and especially so downtown. Most parking lots have been demolished and developed into 30+ story condos and hotels. Parking is never free downtown except for on the streets after 8pm (until 9am the next morning, 7 days a week). Parking typically runs $25 per day, including at downtown hotels.
You don't need a car. Downtown is walkable, and even if you don't want to walk, you can usually flag a cab and zoom yourself to the other end of downtown in 5 minutes for under $10.
Of course, downtown Vancouver isn't all there is to Vancouver - it's just one small part. But it's the part that's most vibrant and where you'll want to base yourself out of, and from downtown you can easily visit other parts of the city via public transit (either the skytrain or seabus or water taxi, or even bus).
Cars are more of a hassle downtown, for sure. Not necessary at all.
Ambleside, you can get to via bus (or you can walk across the Lions Gate Bridge from Stanley Park). I personally find Kitsilano and Jericho/Locarno nicer beaches, but Ambleside gives you a cool view of under the Lions Gate Bridge.
Victoria is relatively close to Vancouver (as in, it's closer to Vancouver than it is to New York!) but it still takes a good chunk of time to get there from Vancouver, more than most people expect: 3 to 4 hours to get there, one way.
That involves either driving or taking the Pacific Coach Lines bus 45 minutes south of Vancouver to the BC Ferries Tsawwassen ferry terminal, waiting for the next ferry, boarding the ferry, taking the hour and a half ferry ride across the Georgia Strait through the Gulf Islands, and then once on Vancouver Island, driving the half hour from the Swartz Bay ferry terminal into downtown Victoria. You could also take a floatplane and be there in 40 minutes, but it'll cost you more $$$. I typically advise doing an overnight if you're going to visit Victoria, otherwise wake up super early and expect a very long day.
North/West Van... I assume the touristy attracations like Lynn Canyon? Grouse Mountain? I actually like having a car in North Van and West Van because it's more convenient. If you're planning to explore those suburbs beyond the touristy locations, you may want to rent a car just for the day. However, you can easily take the seabus/bus to get from downtown Vancouver to Grouse, or to Lynn Canyon, Capilano, etc.
$117 for the Sheraton's an excellent rate in July, by the way.
Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
Executive Hotel Vintage Park VERSUS Hilton Vancouver Metrotown
Linear Mode
