Why have so many people from the Seattle area never visited Vancouver, BC? (credit card, live)

[misscross]

OP do you hang out with people who just recently arrived in the area or who are averse to travel? Most people I've met here have visited Vancouver BC.

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

Watch out for Hastings Street!

[homesinseattle]

I used to have a home there for a few years. Be sure to go to Lynn Canyon, short easy hike with amazing suspension bridge, beautiful woods, waterfalls, gorge, crystal clear water only 20 minutes from Downtown Vancouver. A couple of our favorite restaurants are Banana Leaf Malaysian on the west end of Robson not far from Stanley Park and House of Dosas South Indian at the corner of Knight and Kingsway.

If you are looking for entertainment, live music at the venerable Roxy will never let you down. Stroll Granville Island on a summer day, great food, coffee, galleries, produce/fish/meat and all kinds of steeet musicians, jugglers, buskers there. Hop on a charming water taxi, head all the way to the east end of False Creek and take your kids to very interesting Science World, you'll see the massive geodesic dome. Spend some time strolling around the Kits (Kitsalano) neighborhood with its great heritage homes, shops and an excellent travel bookstore I forget the name of, drive out toward UBC/Point Grey. Hike down to Wreck Beach, you've never seen anything like it. Old growth trees, pretty sand, driftwood art, musicians, artists, some people dressed, some not. Go to East Vancouver specifically Commercial Drive, see the "organic, bohemian" remnants of Vancouver as well as the vestiges of of what was formerly a very vibrant Italian community. This area is doing its best to maintain its character in the face of gentrification. You'll still see some good hippie shops and old school Italian spots with the old men whistling at pretty women who come by. Somehow it's not as offensive when they have a cappucchino in their hand and an Italian soccer jersey on.

I could go on forvever, Vancouver is a great city. Oh, to see Vancouverites in their full glory, go to a Canucks professional hockey game (preferably against one of the other Canadian teams). Grouse Mountain skiing is only about 30 min from downtown, Vancouver Art Museum is excellent, the English Bay/West End neighborhood is funky in a good way (a number of famous Canadian actors and musicians have homes there) has some of the best affordable sushi anywhere and drop dead sunsets. There is a British pub right across from the sea wall that is a great place for a pint. Don't miss Stanley Park with its hikes, world class views and super aquarium.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I used to have a home there for a few years. Be sure to go to Lynn Canyon, short easy hike with amazing suspension bridge, beautiful woods, waterfalls, gorge, crystal clear water only 20 minutes from Downtown Vancouver. A couple of our favorite restaurants are Banana Leaf Malaysian on the west end of Robson not far from Stanley Park and House of Dosas South Indian at the corner of Knight and Kingsway.

If you are looking for entertainment, live music at the venerable Roxy will never let you down. Stroll Granville Island on a summer day, great food, coffee, galleries, produce/fish/meat and all kinds of steeet musicians, jugglers, buskers there. Hop on a charming water taxi, head all the way to the east end of False Creek and take your kids to very interesting Science World, you'll see the massive geodesic dome. Spend some time strolling around the Kits (Kitsalano) neighborhood with its great heritage homes, shops and an excellent travel bookstore I forget the name of, drive out toward UBC/Point Grey. Hike down to Wreck Beach, you've never seen anything like it. Old growth trees, pretty sand, driftwood art, musicians, artists, some people dressed, some not. Go to East Vancouver specifically Commercial Drive, see the "organic, bohemian" remnants of Vancouver as well as the vestiges of of what was formerly a very vibrant Italian community. This area is doing its best to maintain its character in the face of gentrification. You'll still see some good hippie shops and old school Italian spots with the old men whistling at pretty women who come by. Somehow it's not as offensive when they have a cappucchino in their hand and an Italian soccer jersey on.

I could go on forvever, Vancouver is a great city. Oh, to see Vancouverites in their full glory, go to a Canucks professional hockey game (preferably against one of the other Canadian teams). Grouse Mountain skiing is only about 30 min from downtown, Vancouver Art Museum is excellent, the English Bay/West End neighborhood is funky in a good way (a number of famous Canadian actors and musicians have homes there) has some of the best affordable sushi anywhere and drop dead sunsets. There is a British pub right across from the sea wall that is a great place for a pint. Don't miss Stanley Park with its hikes, world class views and super aquarium.

Gawd, I'm going to print this out and save it, for some as yet unforeseen future visit! This is a goldmine of good info!

And btw, I LOVE Granville Is.! Van residents write it off as nothing more than a commercialized tourist attraction, but I love the atmosphere, the galleries (all pretty high-end, not trinket-y stuff), and all the extras. And btw, I noticed there's a Thai restaurant just outside the island, that serves traditional Thai breakfast/brunch on Sundays. I went in there and ordered my favorite, the black sticky-rice with the special cream, and the wait staff kept kind of staring at me, and asking me if that's what I really wanted. In the US, black sticky-rice is everyone's favorite dessert at Thai restaurants. At this place (very authentic), it was clear they weren't at all used to non-Asians coming for the brunch. I mention this, because it sounds like your kind of place, Homes. I don't know if it's still there; it was ages ago that I was there.

By contrast, I'll mention a little Chinese hole-in-the-wall on U Way in Seattle, "New China" or something?, that for awhile served traditional Chinese breakfast fare on Sunday mornings. This is sweet or salty hot soy milk, with certain types of buns, both baked and deep-fried. The deep fried ones are a foot long, and you fold them up and stuff them into a flat baked one, and dip that into the milk. Having spent time on Taiwan, I love this stuff. The owner was always very welcoming and happy to see me, and was thrilled that I "understood" and appreciated traditional breakfast fare. A very different attitude than in that Thai restaurant in Van, where I was the only Westerner in the entire place.

[Joe Mantegna]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

I meet so many folks, either at work in just in life in general that live here, who have never visited the metropolis that is Vancouver just a couple of hours north. There is kind of a carelessness to the city that I don't quite understand, because it's so fun to go there and it's a lot more cosmopolitan. It's also really affordable right now due to the exchange rate. I am not even from here and I've visited 6 different weekends. Locals need to expand their horizons a bit more, no?

No need. The city of Vancouver comes to us every time the Blue Jays play at Safeco field

[elkotronics]

We liked the Capilano Suspension Bridge. A favorite tourist attraction at Vancouver. It is fun to experience the "shakiness" of the bridge - it's up pretty high and it's fairly long in length and the trees are such a beautiful green. Well worth going to see.

https://www.capbridge.com/

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

Originally Posted by elkotronics

We liked the Capilano Suspension Bridge. A favorite tourist attraction at Vancouver. It is fun to experience the "shakiness" of the bridge - it's up pretty high and it's fairly long in length and the trees are such a beautiful green. Well worth going to see.

https://www.capbridge.com/

Yeah, we did that! Fun!

[James Bond 007]

I used to go to Vancouver every few years or so when I lived in Seattle but once they started requiring a passport for re-entry I couldn't be bothered anymore. By that time I think I had seen it enough anyway.

[pnwguy2]

As a child in Seattle my parents took us there in the 1960's. We even took the Canadian Pacific Railroad from Vancouver to Montreal for Expo '67 there. Of course, back then all you needed was a drivers license and a few quick, easy questions from the border agent. The only problem we had at the border was our dachshund was targeted with the wrong paper work. We were able to clear it up pretty quickly, however. In the 70's we took frequent trips to Vancouver Island. One of those trips was where we heard that Elvis had died (1977). Canadian radio stations played him as a tribute just as much as US station, fwit. In the 80's I went up to Vancouver with some co-workers to watch the Sounders plays Vancouver. So, in conclusion, I was not one of those you mentioned in the OP. However, I can see how regulations have made it somewhat more difficult today.

[bloom]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Gawd, I'm going to print this out and save it, for some as yet unforeseen future visit! This is a goldmine of good info!

And btw, I LOVE Granville Is.! Van residents write it off as nothing more than a commercialized tourist attraction, but I love the atmosphere, the galleries (all pretty high-end, not trinket-y stuff), and all the extras. And btw, I noticed there's a Thai restaurant just outside the island, that serves traditional Thai breakfast/brunch on Sundays. I went in there and ordered my favorite, the black sticky-rice with the special cream, and the wait staff kept kind of staring at me, and asking me if that's what I really wanted. In the US, black sticky-rice is everyone's favorite dessert at Thai restaurants. At this place (very authentic), it was clear they weren't at all used to non-Asians coming for the brunch. I mention this, because it sounds like your kind of place, Homes. I don't know if it's still there; it was ages ago that I was there.

By contrast, I'll mention a little Chinese hole-in-the-wall on U Way in Seattle, "New China" or something?, that for awhile served traditional Chinese breakfast fare on Sunday mornings. This is sweet or salty hot soy milk, with certain types of buns, both baked and deep-fried. The deep fried ones are a foot long, and you fold them up and stuff them into a flat baked one, and dip that into the milk. Having spent time on Taiwan, I love this stuff. The owner was always very welcoming and happy to see me, and was thrilled that I "understood" and appreciated traditional breakfast fare. A very different attitude than in that Thai restaurant in Van, where I was the only Westerner in the entire place.

Granville I seemed quite touristy.
To be positive, Bao Down was a very good fusion asian restaurant.