OT: Just booked trip to Vancouver....

[Bones45]

Didn't see a thread or sticky for this, apologize if its elsewhere.

I've been doing trips to see NHL cities -- Been to a # of them and this year was able to grab a cheap flight to Vancouver.... Dirt cheap from NY!

In any case -- I'll be coming to see the home opener against the Oil, so Ill assume the game will be sold out -- Ill go to Stubhub to get a tix. Isles fans always enjoy going to arenas which are impressive -- a nice change from our home.

I don't rent a car, rather walk/mass transit around -- Ill assume there is something I can use to get from airport to downtown? Shuttle/bus/train? I guess I can google that part...

More importantly, what neighborhoods are good places to stay for the 3.5 days that I'm around? How far/where is a train down to Washington? Where are the bars/fun places to go/ red light districts? Any areas to avoid? Any "must do" places?

Hook a brutha up?


TX!

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[Paulinvancouver]

You can catch sky train from the airport to downtown for about five bucks. Amtrak is also accessible by sky train on Main Street. It's a few hours to Seattle. I've done it once, can't remember exactly how much but it was a nice ride.

Check out downtown, walk the Stanley park seawall, go check out Gastown, Chinatown, Kits, false creek and the Olympic village, commercial drive, English bay, Convention centre area... lots to do. Have fun!!

Subway style map showing sky train and express busses:
http://infomaps.translink.ca/System_Maps/skytrain_bline_seabus_map.pdf

 

[ziploc]

Skytrain will take you downtown from the airport, and there is a skytrain station right at the stadium as well.

Train/Bus to Washington state can be caught at Main Street Terminal station (there is a skytrain that goes right there). Takes about 3-4 hours to get to Seattle.

Worth seeing Stanley Park, going up Grouse Mountain, maybe Gastown (though I think that's overrated). People will tell you to avoid the Downtown Eastside, and there is no tourist attraction there (except the Sun Yat Sen gardens, which are beautiful), but the place really isn't dangerous or anything.

Nightlife is not great, but others can let you know what they might recommend.

 

[Siludin]

When people inevitably ask you who you voted for, don't say Trump, just say independent.

 

[Havre]

Granville - English Bay - Coal Harbour - Yaletown. Can stroll around making that walk easily in one day.

I love having weekend brunch at Lift. Good food and excellent view if the weather is nice and you get a roof top seat.

 

[FroshaugFan2]

The Canada Line is the rapid transit from the airport to downtown. It's fairly uncomplicated and there are usually attendants at the airport to help.

Pacific Central is the train station with train and bus access to Washington state. It's close to downtown and there's a SkyTrain station (Main Street-Science World) right beside.

Staying downtown will make accessing everything easiest without a car.

Gastown and neighbouring Chinatown are hip gentrified areas with lots of new bars and restaurants. This is close to the Downtown Eastside where people will tell you to avoid. It's not dangerous, but there is a major opioid and homelessness problem. East Hastings between Main and Carrall is probably the worst of it.

Yaletown is a cleaner yuppie area. It's close to the arena and plenty of Canucks live there and hang out at the restaurants/ bars.

Granville Street between Drake and Robson is the major area for college aged kids to go clubbing.

Stanley Park is probably the most recommended spot for tourists. Walk along the seawall, relax at the beaches, and explore the trails in the park. Hiking in the nearby North Shore mountains is also very Vancouver. By far the most popular trail is the Grouse Grind.

Granville Island is a shopping district with lots of artsy shops and a large public market.

 

[DL44]

Froshaug covered a lot of good tips..

I'll add - if you are looking for convenience and cost isn't an issue... stay at Opus. You can walk and skytrain EVERYWHERE while being in an higher end hotel, in the heart of yaletown - shopping, restarants etc.. ~15 min walk to the arena.
A little more of a budget... look at a map of the skytrain, and map of hotels... and pick one a few stops away from downtown. i.e. there is a bed and breakfast near 41st/Oakridge skytrain. which means you are like less than a 10 min train ride to the Opus/Yaletown area.


- Save your tickets stubs, and you get free entry to the Granville strip after the game.
(I'll add for the rest of Metro Van - LPT: The Strip excepts stubs to ANY event in Vancouver in exchange for free cover... ANY: theater shows, lions, caps, canucks, baseball, you name it) Not ashamed at all to say that it's saved me over $100...

 

[DustyMartellaughs]

Stay away from Rogers Arena. It triggers depression and feelings of hopelessness.

 

[lawrence]

lol red light district your asking for main and Hastings which is like a 5 min walk from Rogers arena.

 

[DustyMartellaughs]

lol red light district your asking for main and Hastings which is like a 5 min walk from Rogers arena.

And a 90 minute walk from the Free Clinic.

 

[Bones45]

Thanks everyone -- good info here -- You dont have to worry about depression around the arena -- you must have forgotten you are talking to an isles fan. We might be playing in the Atlantic (ocean, not division) after next year....

When people inevitably ask you who you voted for, don't say Trump, just say independent.

I don't have to plan any answer -- The guy is a total ******. As if the US isn't embarrassing enough, now this.. Ugh....

 

[CurtisLoew]

Stay somewhere in Yaletown if you can and I'd recommend taking a bus up to Whistler for a day, the drive alone is worth it.

I've taken the train to Seattle and it takes about 4 hours. If you're only going to be here 3.5 days do you really want to spend 8 of those hours on a train?

A lot of the weed shops in Vancouver only require a drivers license to make a purchase, if that's your thing.

 

[embee]

If you are feeling particularly adventurous, take a float plane to Victoria and explore for the day.

It's the capital city of BC and it's beautiful

 

[member 105785]

Make sure you go to Meat & Bread for lunch, it's a 3 minute walk from Rogers Arena.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Granville Island is nice for an hour or two during the day. Take the Aquabus across false creek and check out the market. Once you're done, walk up Granville and visit the tons of little art galleries on the south side of the bridge. After that head back down to the Island and eat dinner at The Afghan Horseman (opens at 5pm). They have great food and you can only really enjoy the drink specials if you're on transit anyway. They have this one called something like the Raging Horseman; it's basically an umbrella stand full of booze. It's awesome.

Also recommend the Blarney Stone in gastown for its quality food and good beer slate. Less so for its service. Had bangers and mash there yesterday, and they were better than any I've eaten in Ireland or Britain. The Irish Heather next door has a great array of single malts if you're into that.

 

[Scott Stevens]

Colour me skeptical that you'll need to go the StubHub route to get tickets to the next Canucks game haha
Face value from Ticketmaster at worst, under face from a disinterested season ticket holder on Craigslist at best.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Colour me skeptical that you'll need to go the StubHub route to get tickets to the next Canucks game haha
Face value from Ticketmaster at worst, under face from a disinterested season ticket holder on Craigslist at best.

OMG how did I miss that?

Yeah...Canucks tickets aren't the hot commodity they once were. I very much doubt you'll have much trouble getting seats. We're not down to Phoenix Coyotes level, but give our current regime a couple more years and we'll be down there.

 

[Scott Stevens]

OMG how did I miss that?

Yeah...Canucks tickets aren't the hot commodity they once were. I very much doubt you'll have much trouble getting seats. We're not down to Phoenix Coyotes level, but give our current regime a couple more years and we'll be down there.

I had a friend in town when the Leafs played here last year. On a lark, we went to the scalpers at least 10 minutes before the game was set to start, and we got a pair of tickets near the front of the upper deck, between one blue line and centre ice, for $80 total.

Things have chhhhhaaaaaanged.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

I had a friend in town when the Leafs played here last year. On a lark, we went to the scalpers at least 10 minutes before the game was set to start, and we got a pair of tickets near the front of the upper deck, between one blue line and centre ice, for $80 total.

Things have chhhhhaaaaaanged.

Oooo yeah. Yes they have.

 

[polarbearcub]

I had a friend in town when the Leafs played here last year. On a lark, we went to the scalpers at least 10 minutes before the game was set to start, and we got a pair of tickets near the front of the upper deck, between one blue line and centre ice, for $80 total.

Things have chhhhhaaaaaanged.

It's an honour to have you post in these forums mr.benning. You're doing a great job!

 

[Hackett]

The Canada Line is the rapid transit from the airport to downtown. It's fairly uncomplicated and there are usually attendants at the airport to help.

Pacific Central is the train station with train and bus access to Washington state. It's close to downtown and there's a SkyTrain station (Main Street-Science World) right beside.

Staying downtown will make accessing everything easiest without a car.

Gastown and neighbouring Chinatown are hip gentrified areas with lots of new bars and restaurants. This is close to the Downtown Eastside where people will tell you to avoid. It's not dangerous, but there is a major opioid and homelessness problem. East Hastings between Main and Carrall is probably the worst of it.

Yaletown is a cleaner yuppie area. It's close to the arena and plenty of Canucks live there and hang out at the restaurants/ bars.

Granville Street between Drake and Robson is the major area for college aged kids to go clubbing.

Stanley Park is probably the most recommended spot for tourists. Walk along the seawall, relax at the beaches, and explore the trails in the park. Hiking in the nearby North Shore mountains is also very Vancouver. By far the most popular trail is the Grouse Grind.

Granville Island is a shopping district with lots of artsy shops and a large public market.

Yeah, you will find artsy shops in Granville island. There's also an improv theatre and some art school in that area.... So yeah, there's a common theme out there. If you like that sort of stuff, it's a cool place to chill for a bit.

 

[Bones45]

I've taken the train to Seattle and it takes about 4 hours. If you're only going to be here 3.5 days do you really want to spend 8 of those hours on a train?

A lot of the weed shops in Vancouver only require a drivers license to make a purchase, if that's your thing.

Those two sentences have saved me 8 hours of extra travel! thanks!

OMG how did I miss that?

Yeah...Canucks tickets aren't the hot commodity they once were. I very much doubt you'll have much trouble getting seats. We're not down to Phoenix Coyotes level, but give our current regime a couple more years and we'll be down there.

Good to know -- Ill wait a bit before I pull the trigger on tix -- but yet -- its the home opener -- going to be sold out, no?

 

[WhiteCurse]

Lots of good Seafood and sushi, i suggest hitting up a ramen spot. The food is always a highlight when i visit.

If you are like myself i hate public transit. I just cab it where ever i go when in Van.

Stanley park and the aquarium are good. Science world, grouse mtn always good way to kill the day.

At night do the commodre if they have music you like, the roxy always nice and greasy or try Yuk yuks alway good for a laugh

 

[Tobi Wan Kenobi]

Those two sentences have saved me 8 hours of extra travel! thanks!





Good to know -- Ill wait a bit before I pull the trigger on tix -- but yet -- its the home opener -- going to be sold out, no?

Yeah the home opener will be sold out for sure but you'll find tickets in craigsliss, stub hub or scalpers and be fine

 

[lawrence]

check out richmond if you want. They have fun escape games, and the night market is quite fun. I'm sure they don't have that where you are from. Put your bargaining skills at work and good snacks there.