Vancouver

Vancouver Travel Guide

One of the most beautifully sited cities in the world, Vancouver is much more than a pretty layover for Alaskan cruises. The Pacific Ocean and the mountains of the North Shore form a dramatic backdrop to the gleaming towers of commerce downtown. Vancouver is a new city when compared to others but one that's rich in culture and diversity. Indeed, it's become a hot destination, so hot, in fact, it's been chosen, with Whistler, to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

The arts scene bubbles in summer, when the city stages most of its film, music, and theater festivals. You'll also find opera, ballet, and symphony, as well as plenty of pubs, bars, and nightclubs. The cuisine scene is equally vibrant and diverse. Superb Chinese food and creative Pacific Northwest cooking, long on seafood, are special treats, but other fine ethnic menus also dazzle.

For all its culinary and cultural temptations, Vancouver also provides great strolls. One obligatory amble is through Gastown, the oldest quarter, now brimming with cafés, shops, and lofts. Adjacent is Chinatown -- the third largest in North America -- site of the Ming Dynasty-style Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. On Granville Island, buskers, art studios, and a bustling public market delight the senses. A half-hour drive west, on the University of British Columbia campus, the Museum of Anthropology serves as a window on civilizations that flourished here long before the British sailed in. A celebrated aquarium and other attractions punctuate nature's work in the trail-laced wilderness of Stanley Park, just blocks from the city center. Kitsilano Beach, a short hop across English Bay, is as trendy as the neighborhood around it, but nearby are hidden coves where you can contemplate, among other things, how clever you were to vacation in this splendid place.