Nautical feel ... St Clair hotel.
A vibrant, cultured heart beats in British Columbia, writes David Whitley.
STAY
Budget
The cheapest options are generally inconveniently located motels but there are three good central choices if you're prepared to accept a shared bathroom. The downtown St Clair, pictured, (577 Richards Street, 684 3713, stclairvancouver.com, from $C55.86) has an odd nautical theme, while the West End's Buchan Hotel (1906 Haro Street, 685 5354, buchanhotel.com, from $C69) is in a lovely building near Stanley Park. It's a little old-fashioned, but friendly. The YWCA (733 Beatty Street, 895 5830, ywcahotel.com, from $C75.50) in Yaletown, however, is surprisingly perky and the furnishings are of a higher standard than you might expect.
Mid-range
Vancouver's solid-gold bargain is the Listel (1300 Robson Street, 684 8461, thelistelhotel.com, from $C155). As much an art gallery as a hotel, its hallways are lined with borrowed museum pieces, sculptures and photo-essays. It has a cracking restaurant/bar with live jazz downstairs. The Sunset Inn (1111 Burnaby Street, 688 2474, sunsetinn.com, from $C115 for a studio suite) gives excellent bang for buck as well — lots of space, iPod docks, kitchens, free parking and free Wi-Fi make it a relative steal. Otherwise, the Best Western Plus Sands (1755 Davie Street, 661 7887, bestwesternsandshotelvancouver.com, from $C97) is a well-maintained, solid option near Stanley Park.
Capilano Suspension Bridge.
Luxe
The Wedgewood (845 Hornby Street, 689 7777, wedgewoodhotel.com, from $C259) has a country mansion-turned-cool feel. Roaring fires, palatial-style bedside curtains, enormous flat-screen televisions and in-room bathtubs make this a popular celeb stay — and hugely likeable, too. Opus, pictured, (322 Davie Street, 642 6787, opushotel.com, from $C241) is the other hip hangout — bright colours, red-lit lifts, loos with a view and a beautiful-people-only staffing policy give it youthful swagger. More subdued but beautifully refurbished and friendly, is the St. Regis (602 Dunsmuir Street, 681 1135, stregishotel.com, from $C182). The long list of included facilities features free phone calls to anywhere in the world.
Lash out
Granville Island market.
Best in town is the Fairmont Pacific Rim (1038 Canada Place, 695 5300, fairmont.com). Its buzzy lobby is complemented by a fab heated pool deck. The $C372-plus rooms are gleamingly luxurious but the harbour view suites with spa baths (from $C490) are the ones you really don't want to leave. The suites at the Loden (1177 Melville Street, 669 5060, theloden.com, from $C419) are more fun, with a Rock Band game kit, floor-to-ceiling windows and exhibitionist-friendly sliding bathroom walls. The Shangri-La (1128 West Georgia Street, 689 1120, shangri-la.com, from $C342) adds a few Asian touches, from hanging tapestries and dragon-detailed vanity boxes to high-end treats (including TVs in the bathroom mirrors).
SHOP + PLAY
To market
The Elbow Room cafe.
The Granville Island Public Market is the city's favourite mooching spot. It's great for picking up food — especially fruit, vegetables and cheeses — but other stalls sell everything from ceramic-art coasters to chopstick bowls. Many people head to Chinatown on weekend evenings for the night market. It's held on Keefer and Main streets but, frankly, it's disappointing. If you want that proper, lively taste of Asia, haul out to the Summer Night Market in the southern suburb of Richmond (summernight market.com). This is where many Cantonese people settled when they left Hong Kong before it was handed back to China in 1997. The market is held on Vulcan Way every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night between May and October.
Go shop
Just opposite the Granville Island Public Market, the Net Loft (1666 Johnston Street) is a wooden mini-mall filled with the sort of shops that can lead to light wallets and heavy suitcases. Books, hats, handmade homewares, artworks and jewellery-making equipment are all in the mix. If you're not strapped for cash and want to take something unique home, the Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery (1024 Mainland Street, 685 9298, coastalpeoples.com) in Yaletown has high-quality (and very pricey) works by top First Nations artists for sale. Pieces on offer range from carved stone bears to shaman masks. For department store shopping, Holt Renfrew (737 Dunsmuir Street, 681 3121, holtrenfrew.com) has the best selection of designer labels.
Live music
Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville Street, 683 9413, livenation.com) gets a steady stream of mid-range bands passing through before they break into bigger, more soulless venues. Indie scene darlings will often be found here. More experimental and intimate is Biltmore Cabaret (2755 Prince Edward Street, 676 0541, biltmorecabaret.com), where the gig list leans towards the alternative — but DJs, karaoke idol competitions and burlesque shows fill in when there are no bands. For something more sedate, O'Doul's (1300 Robson Street, 661 1400, odoulsrestaurant.com) in the West End offers live jazz with dinner every night.
Nightclubs
If you're after a fun night without the attitude, the Roxy (932 Granville Street, 331 7999, roxyvan.com) is that classic place that every city has — somewhere that everyone can roll into a little the worse for wear and dance like an idiot among a disparate crowd. For something considerably more upmarket and lounge-style, Republic (958 Granville Street, 669 3266) attracts a more sophisticated crowd than its Granville Street contemporaries. Music policy at Republic varies dramatically night by night. Fortune Sound Club (147 East Pender Street, 569 1758, fortunesoundclub.com) has a friendly, fun reputation and it's popular with those who want to dance rather than look pretty.
SEE + DO
Icons
The Capilano Suspension Bridge (3735 Capilano Road, 985 7474, capbridge.com, $C33.54) has been a family favourite since 1889. It sways 70 metres above the Capilano River. After taking the leap-of-faith stroll across, attractions include a treetop walk and totem-pole collection, pictured below. Vancouver's most famous totem poles can be found in Stanley Park, however. This huge park also includes the city's aquarium (845 Avison Way, 659 3474, vanaqua.org, $C23.52). Grouse Mountain (6400 Nancy Greene Way, 980 9311, grousemountain.com, $C39.95) offers skiing in winter and a trip on the Skyride cable car, lumberjack shows and the chance to go to the top of a wind turbine.
Culture
The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art (639 Hornby Street, 682 3455, billreidgallery.ca, $C11.20) is the showcase for British Columbia's best-known indigenous artist. Carvings, paintings and jewellery are on display and there are often live carving demonstrations. There are numerous theatre options but the Firehall Arts Centre (280 East Cordova Street, 689 0926, firehallartscentre.ca) is the best spot for the intimate showcasing of local playwrights. At the opposite end of the familiarity scale, the popular Bard on the Beach festival (bardonthebeach.org) puts on Shakespeare productions in Kitsilano's Vanier Park from June to September.
Footwork
The 8.8-kilometre Stanley Park sea wall loops around the park and often has, ahem, "refreshing" sea breezes. Walkers and cyclists get separate lanes to prevent messy accidents. If you prefer to pedal around, bike rental costs $C6.72 an hour with Bayshore Rentals (745 Denman Street, 688 2453, bayshorebikerentals.ca). Particularly energetic walkers can extend their sea-wall march at either end, trekking for 22 kilometres between Coal Harbour and Kitsilano Beach via English Bay and Granville Island. The other iconic Vancouver walk — which most Vancouverites tackle once and only once — is the infamous Grouse Grind. This walking trail to the top of Grouse Mountain is extremely steep and sweaty.
Follow the leader
For a fascinatingly seedy take on the city's history and present, the Vancouver Police Museum's Sins of the City tour (665 3346, vancouverpolicemuseum.ca, $15) walks through vice, drug and gambling locales, as well as the Downtown Eastside, Gastown and Chinatown. Foodies on the hunt for the city's best bites should enjoy the area-by-area tasting adventures offered by the Vancouver Food Tour (736 6343, vancouverfoodtour.com). And what better way to work off gourmet delights than by going on the water? Lotus Land Tours (684 4922, vancouvernatureadventures.com, $185) runs excellent nature-heavy kayaking trips along Indian Arm from North Vancouver.
EAT + DRINK
Cafe culture
The Elbow Room (560 Davie Street, 685 3628, theelbowroom cafe.com) is legendary for its waspish service — to the point where being shouted at for trying to alter a menu item has become a quasi-theatrical attraction. It's great entertainment (until you are homed in on) and the breakfasts are ace. The Medina Cafe (556 Beatty Street, 879 3114, medinacafe.com) is a popular, humming joint with a cosy-yet-contemporary look. Dishes such as duck confit with cherries, pears and pecans or Moroccan meatballs go beyond the humble lunchtime sandwich. The pick-your-own meat and cheese platters at the Salt Tasting Room (45 Blood Alley, Gastown, 633 1912, salttastingroom.com) are justifiably revered.
Snack attack
The fabulous La Taqueria (322 West Hastings Street, 568 4406, lataqueria.ca) gets inventive with humble Mexican dishes; the four taco combos allow you to experiment with chicken and chocolate mole sauce, for example. For fish and chips, try the takeaway window of the Raincity Grill (1193 Denman Street, 685 7337). It's one of the city's top restaurants but this way you can get the sustainable seafood for $C10 ($9.55) and take it to nearby Stanley Park. Then there's Japadog (530 Robson Street), which gives the humble hot dog a Japanese makeover — expect teriyaki and yakiniku rice among other, less-traditional, options.
Top of the town
Tojo's (1133 West Broadway, 872 8050, tojos.com) has been No.1 for sushi and sashimi for years — no mean feat in a city with a huge Asian population. The $C120, six-course, chef-selected tasting menu is a real treat. For waterfront views and indulgent seafood platters, C Restaurant (1600 Howe Street, 681 1164, crestaurant.com) monopolises a prime spot overlooking False Creek and Granville Island. Locals say it's the best seafood in town — a compliment indeed, given the competition. For a break from the fish, Cioppino's Mediterranean Grill (1129 Hamilton Street, 688 7466) hits that spot between atmospherically old school and Yaletown hip. Both the Italian menu and wine list are excellent.
By the glass
Gastown is both Vancouver's oldest district and its booziest. Slightly set apart from the main drag, the Alibi Room (157 Alexander Street, 623 3383, alibi.ca) has a cracking selection of microbrew beers on tap and offers four sample tasting "bats" for anyone wishing to experiment. Sitting right above Gastown's often-raucous epicentre, The Diamond (6 Powell Street, 568 8272, di6mond.com) offers a touch of class with its high-quality cocktails. Despite this, the atmosphere is refreshingly warm and unstuffy. For wine drinkers, Uva Wine Bar (900 Seymour Street, 632 9560) in Yaletown has an excellent list and buzzy vibe that sucks you in for longer than just one glass.
Hot tip
Room prices and airfares will be more expensive but Vancouver is best explored in the northern hemisphere summer (June to August). Many residents affectionately call their home "rain city" and the precipitation is more pronounced in the winter months. That said, if you're well prepared with waterproofs and an umbrella, spring and autumn temperatures aren't as low as they are in Canada's other major cities. Snow in the city itself is surprisingly rare, even if it sits on the nearby mountains for most of the year.
Getting there
Air Canada (aircanada.com) has the only direct flight from Sydney to Vancouver but prices are often steep. Going via Los Angeles with Qantas (qantas.com.au) and codeshare partner Alaska Airlines will usually add a few hours to the trip; return fares are priced from $2043.
Visas and currency
Australians don't need a visa to visit Canada. The currency is the Canadian dollar, which is, give or take a cent, at parity with the Australian dollar.
Calling Vancouver
The Canadian dialling code is +1 and the Vancouver city code is 604. If calling from abroad, add +1604 to any seven-digit number listed here. Other numbers are listed in full.
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