Vancouver, B.C.: A Photographic Celebration

Cosmopolitan, hospitable Vancouver is Canada’s third-largest city and western Canada’s financial capitol. It’s a city shaped by water: Burrard Inlet on the north, the Strait of Georgia on the west and the Fraser River on the south.

Whether you’re on a business trip or vacation, try to allow at least three hours for a guided tour; it’s the most efficient way of visiting Vancouver’s major scenic highlights:
-Stanley Park and Prospect Point
-The magnificent Sunken Gardens
-Shaughnessey, with the mansions of 19th-century railroad barons
-The cruise ship docks and waterfront convention center
- Gastown, the city’s photogenic, though sometimes impossibly crowded, historic district.

For many, the major highlight of a Vancouver visit is the ferry cruise across the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver Island and Victoria, the provincial capitol. Time permitting, make it a circle tour by riding the scenic ‘Esquimault and Nanaimo Railiner’ over Malahat Mountain between Victoria and Nanaimo and using both the northern and southern ferry routes.

Vancouver and North Vancouver are the starting points for three of the most scenic rail journeys in North America and jumping-off points for the legendary Whistler resort area. Vancouver abounds with fine restaurants; check the Gastown and cruise-dock areas.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Vancouver has an extensive network of buses and electric trolley buses. Unfortunately, while I was there they were shut down by a months-long strike of transit union employees. (Canadian governments are considerably more tolerant of labor actions than U.S. governments are, but the strike was nonetheless ended by goverment edict soon after I left.)

Skytrain, North America’s first fully-automated (driverless) rapid transit system, will whisk you from the downtown waterfront to the outlying suburbs of Port Coquitlam and New Westminster in a half-hour or so. It’s called ‘Skytrain’ because its initial route was entirely above ground, soaring overhead on track supported by graceful concrete columns. It’s since been extended through a subway to the cruise ship docks and convention center on the waterfront and, on its southeastern end, over the Fraser River on a modernistic suspension bridge. From the Skytrain, you can see Vancouver’s principal sports arenas, the Science Center, and many of its largely forest-based industrial complexes.

Most of the hotels and motels serving Vancouver International Airport are clustered in the southern suburb of Richmond, some 15 miles south of downown, as is this Best Western. Much larger than most Best Westerns I’ve stayed at, this is more a conference center than just a hotel; it occupies three mid-rise towers and shares a large parking lot and small strip shopping mall with an adjoining Marriott.

My room was relatively large, but had what was probably the least desirable view from among the three towers --- a major traffic artery and parking lot. On the other hand, it was extremely well-equipped: Two king-size beds, spacious bathroom, large TV, coffee maker, hair drier. (Why would a guy appreciate a hair drier? To be able to take a late-night swim and still pack a dry bathing suit in the morning.)

A large unheated swimming pool and small heated jacuzzi were set in a large garden courtyard with well-landscaped walking paths and enough flowers and shrubbery to shield adjoining rooms from pool noise.

The main cocktail lounge --- featuring ‘100 brands of Scotch whiskey’ --- was closed when I arrived after 8:30 p.m. on a Sunday night. A large alternative bar, apparently a venue for live music on livelier nights, was open and serving a few patrons. Sandwiches and other short-order food service were also available here. Late bar and food service could also be had in a ground-level coffee shop opening off the swimming pool court.

I had a very good (and ample) breakfast buffet for CDN $10 --- about as good as it gets in a name-brand hotel that doesn’t include breakfast in the room rate. That room rate was a little higher than I like to pay for a hotel outside of a major city center, but when arriving late at night, a hotel that’s only a few minutes from the airport and provides free van service is worth a premium.

Our Vancouver city tour guide said he considered the Sutton Place to be one of Vancouver’s top six or seven hotels. Indeed, we were greeted on arrival with an elegant marble-clad lobby, oppulently appointed public areas and, in general, all the trappings of a luxury establishment. Service at the concierge and reception desks, however, was ‘ok’ but not great --- not quite as prompt as I’d hoped from a hotel this pricey. (That might have been because I was dressed casually and carrying a backpack; when they discovered I was with an upscale tour group, they became considerably more attentive.)

My room, on a lower floor but with a decent view of one of the city’s major streets, had two twin beds; it was plenty adequate for a single guest but might have been a bit cramped for two. It had a desk, a table, and an armoire with a cable and internet-enabled TV; for $12.98, I could have purchased unlimited internet surfing --- so the room-service guide said --- for 24 hours. Movies on demand were also available. The large, elegantly furnished bathroom came with tub, shower, a full array of toiletries, and a coffee maker and hair drier.

A health club with lockers, a sauna, a large indoor swimming pool and a soothingly hot jacuzzi was open free of charge to all guests; a well-equipped gym with all manner of workout machines was a nominal CDN $5 extra.

The Sutton Place is a half-block from Robson Street, said to be Vancouver’s favorite shopping and strolling promenade, and about a mile and a quarter from the waterfront. Our 91-member group was served a fixed-menu dinner and buffet breakfast, both in private meeting rooms, so I can’t comment on restaurant service. Had I been a single guest, paying the ‘rack rate’ for August, my room would have cost CDN $329 per night plus a stiff tax.

I enjoyed my one-night stay at the Sutton Place --- if for no other reason, because it offered amenities that aren’t normally available at the hotels I use when travelling independently. But those amenities do come at a price.

British Columbia's Rail line from North Vancouver through Cheakamus Canyon and the Fraser River gorge is arguably one of the most scenic in North America. Its popular steam-powered excursion train, ‘The Royal Hudson’, attracts tens of thousands of tourists each summer. Unfortunately, it goes only to Squamish, 64 kilometers. It’s a highly scenic ride along the coastline, but the best lies beyond.

First, the jumble of rocks, waterfalls and dense forest of the Cheakamus (CHEEK-ah-mus) River Canyon --- at times, a strange-looking place that resembles some temperate-climate rain forest. Above the canyon, the immensely popular resort at Whistler. Then, further north yet, the train threads its way through a series of narrow, mountain-lined waterways and portages, alternating with jewel-like lakes and small waterfront commuties.

For day-trippers, the journey ends at Lilooet --- Milepost Zero on the Cariboo Gold Rush Trail and 252 km., northeast of North Vancouver. There’s a 3-hour layover here, with not a great deal to do, but a museum featuring native artifacts and railroad history will be worth an hour or so. Lilooet is situated in a mountain bowl that attracts and retains heat, and can be hot and dry even in November or February. Bring a short-sleeved shirt.

The train I photographed in 1987 has been considerably refurbished, given at-seat meal service, and renamed ‘Cariboo Prospector’. It operates daily to Lilooet, leaving north Vancouver at 7 a.m. and returning after nine at night. Three days a week, it continues north to Williams Lake and Prince George. If you can, go on to Williams Lake and spend a night at one of the resort hotels there. The spectaclar Fraser River is beyond Lilooet, and you’ll miss it on a day trip. The train reaches Williams Lake early enough for sightseeing (at least in summer) and a leisurely dinner.

B.C. Rail calls these self-propelled rail diesel cars ’Dayliners’. Via Rail Canada prefers the term ‘Railiner’. To train-lovers, though, they’re known as ‘Budd Cars’ after the company that built them in the late 1950’s. Many still soldier on in Canada and on some commuter lines in the U.S.

A conductor told me that in winter, when snow shuts down the roads, the railroad dispatches one of these ‘Budd Cars’ to take kids from Anderson Lake, Seton Portage and Shalath to school in Lilooet. ‘We call it,’ he said with a straight face, ‘The Budd-wiser.’

If you find yourself in Vancouver with a day to spare, this Budd’s for you. Seasonally, B.C. Rail also operates some primarily tourist-oriented excursion trains. See their website for details.

There are all sorts of city-highlights tour options in Vancouver; your hotel concierge can help sort them out for you.

Our group used free-lance guides rather than a tour company. The one on our bus said he generally hires out to families or very small groups; he’ll provide car, driver and three-hour guided tour for CDN $115 --- pretty reasonable, given that with a large group you’d spend some of those three hours waiting for stragglers to return to the bus or go to the bathroom. Judging from the number of buses following our own group, most tours seemed to follow the same general itinerary.

Downtown: Burrard is the main street running southwest from the waterfront; The Sutton Place, Sheraton and Hyatt Regency Hotels and the classic Hotel Vancouver are on it, as is Vancouver Center. The favorite shopping and strolling street is Robson, running southeast. Leaving downtown, tours proceed along Georgia Street, past ultra-luxe waterfront hotels and condominiums too...

Stanley Park: Occupying the entire tip of the pensinsula that separates Burrard Inlet from open water, this is one of Vancouver’s favorite recreational sites. Among its attractions are a mile-long Seawall Walk, an impressive display of First Nation totem poles, and what’s said to be the world’s largest public swimming pool. Marvelous views of Lion’s Gate Bridge and North Vancouver can be had from the observation decks at Prospect Point, highest point in the city. There’s a rest stop here with washrooms, an ice cream shop and souvenir store. Leaving the park, we pass English Bay, home of Vancouver’s gay community.

Ordinarily, there would have several photo stops for cross-harbor views of the cruise ship docks and downtown skyline. Unfortunately, the warm, moist current that nurtures the northern Pacific Coast’s lush forests also brings rain: Such was the case this day. The totem poles were virtually unphotographable; the view from Prospect Point, less than ideal.

It’s hard to believe that the Sunken Gardens were once an ugly, abandoned quarry. Only photographs can describe the effort that went into the park that’s here today. Our tight schedule allowed only 20-25 minutes; an hour would have been more appropriate.

Not for from the Convention Center and cruise ship docks, there’s Gastown. This is the old city, part authentic, part not, and a huge magnet for tourists --- hopelessly crowded during lunch hour. The most interesting artifact is a 10-foot-high steam-powered clock, which whistles like a steam engine every 15 minutes. My view, alas, was blocked by what must have been at least 300 visiting school children and by the time they left the rains had come. For a relatively tranquil respite from the crowds (and rain), visit the beautifully restored Canadian Pacific Depot, now a historical site.

Most city tours end at the docks and convention center. Skytrain also terminates there, and it’s a great way to continue exploring on your own.