Visit A Warm Canadian Winter

With a population of just over 500,000, there is plenty of space to enjoy the unparalled views that combine scores of sandy ocean beaches with white peaked mountains. The views are not only to look at. For the outdoor enthusiast, Vancouver is a haven for mountain bikers, skiers, windsurfers, hikers and of course, sunbathers. If time is limited, the setting allows the traveller to have breakfast on the beach in the morning and ski in the afternoon with merely an hour’s drive between English Bay’s beaches and Cypress Mountain’s ski runs. A lift ticket will cost you $35 CAD for a day’s unlimited skiing and lessons will cost another $50 for the willing beginners. In the summer months, the local ski mountains open their runs to hikers looking for terrain ranging from a forest stroll to extreme climbs. If you are looking for an outdoor adventure that will take you away from Vancouver for 2-3 days, Whistler (the Number one skiing resort in North America) is only a two hour’s drive from Vancouver. Charter buses make the trek daily from different locations.

If the outdoors do not appeal to you for entertainment, Vancouver boasts a variety of activities both day and night to keep you busy. Shopaholics will find that Robson Street boasts boutiques and chain stores combining European fashion with North American prices. Levi’s jeans are regularly priced at less than 50% of the price in Britain, and music and videos are at the lowest cost in North America. A&B Sound (W. Seymour St.) is the music retailer of choice offering chart cd’s at an everyday price of $14 CAD. Pacific Centre, an underground shopping mall running along Granville St., offers high street shops of Canadian style, and just under Granville Street bridge is an eclectic little market known as Granville Island. The market is an artist’s paradise for the galleries and shops and a cook’s wonderland for the covered market offering fresh fish (including Pacific salmon for about $8 CAD per pound), vegetables and breads. If that is not enough for the shopping enthusiasts, the adjoining suburbs of Richmond, Burnaby and Surrey house large shopping malls boasting sizeable department stores (the Bay, Zellers and Sears) for a mix of household items.

The nightlife is relatively tame by European standards; however to experience the true local atmosphere, head to one of hundreds of coffee bars (not Starbucks) and listen to the live music and poetry readings until 3am. Lugz on Commercial Drive offers freshly made smoothies and specialty coffees and you’ll find that students conversing about the latest political crisis usually occupy the large lounge. This coffee culture is a main trend in Vancouver and like Seattle (a mere hour’s drive south across the border), is a favourite social setting for friends and dates to get together. For a more upscale evening out, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre presents large shows from Broadway productions to rock concerts and the Orpheum is home to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. There are many bars and pubs in the downtown core; The Railway Club is generally frequented by in-town movies stars and mid twenty to thirty aged customers while The Yale Town Brewery offers micro-brewed beers along with cosmopolitan drinks for those looking for a quieter atmosphere.