3 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Let's now focus in on Vancouver and see what we will be doing once we get there.

By the Amtrak timetable, we have about 30 hours in town, from arrival Thursday morning until departure Friday late afternoon. However, time must be allowed to clear Canadian Customs after arrival, and the pre-clearance of US Customs before we board to head back to the USA.

Our official activities in Vancouver which only involve riding SkyTrain, are split over two days. We will ride the Expo and Millennium Lines (which are interlined much of the way, and the latter also loops back and crosses over itself) on Thursday, and then on Friday we will do the newer Canada Line, which is operationally separate from the other two.

I have us riding the Expo and Millennium Lines on Thursday within a span of about 2 hours from 2 PM to 4 PM. This avoids the rush hour but it puts us a little early for dinner. If we choose to ride it a little bit later and closer to dinnertime, that is fine too. This may also be dependent on how long it takes us all to clear Customs, check-in or drop luggage at hotels, and have lunch.

For an understanding of the stations we will be using in Vancouver, read here. A map of Main Street/Science World station on the Expo/Millennium Lines and its relation to Pacific Central Station is here. And this should give you a clear picture how the Expo/Millennium and Canada SkyTrain Lines are interrelated at Waterfront Station, as well as connections with West Coast Express (which we won't be riding) and SeaBus (which we might ride).

Here's the Commercial/Broadway Station, where one can change from the Millennium Line to the Millennium Line (no joke).

As for Friday, I have already toyed with the official schedule a bit. We want to allow enough time for whatever non-rail activities we choose before the Canada Line ride, but still allow time afterwards to get luggage, get to Pacific Central Station, and be pre-cleared for entry to the USA. Right now I have us riding the Canada Line between 2:30 PM and 3:58 PM, roughly an hour and a half. We could do it earlier as well. But anything later may put some of us in jeopardy of getting to the rail station on time.

What about meals and non-rail activties in between? Previously mentioned were the Grouse Mountain Skyride and the Capilano Suspension Bridge. I have been to both in the past and they come highly recommended if you are spending more time in town or want a good splurge. I've checked out the rates lately, and the Grouse Mountain Skyride (which includes some other activities at the top) is about C$40 per person aged 19-64, a little less for other age groups. The bridge's adult admission is roughly C$30 (which includes the entire park around it). So potentially one could spend around C$70 for half a day's activities. We'll have to decide if it is worth all that. We also have the Vancouver Lookout, a tower just like Seattle's Space Needle for that panoramic look at the city below. That one costs C$15 per adult, less for students and seniors. There is also a group rate for 10 or more which lowers the per-person cost to C$13.

Lunch and dinner on Thursday, as well as breakfast and lunch on Friday have not yet been planned. Chances are many will get Friday's breakfast in their respective hotels. I am not sure if we are going to want yet another sitdown meal after Portland and Seattle, but we will see. Perhaps something better than fast food but not as extravagant as we will have in the other cities. This is still being investigated. Since SkyTrain is mostly elevated (except for the downtown portions of each line), we may very well play things by ear and go where we've seen something from the train that we want to try. Day Passes will allow us much flexibility in that regard since we can get on and off at will.

We can have Thursday breakfast and Friday dinner aboard the Cascades trains since both trips fall during the respective meal times.

If anyone has any suggestions for other activities or knows more about where we can have our meals in Vancouver (fast food or better) please share with us here.

[KevinKorell]

I still have not planned any meals for Vancouver, and I don't think I will. We can play this by ear. After seeing that our hotels, like Seattle and Portland, are in diverse locations of the area, it will take a while to go our separate ways, check-in, have lunch on our own and re-convene. Or we can re-convene first and have lunch at a mall food court near Waterfront Station. We can discuss this up until our northbound Cascades trip into Vancouver.

[AlanB]

Kevin,

Someone had suggested the following to me for my mom and I to do last year, prior to the VIA strike killing our plans.

I could make you my favorite suggestion for something to do in Vancouver, which is to take the Seabus from Waterfront Station (the SkyTrain terminus downtown) across Burrard Inlet to Lonsdale Quay. On Sundays it is 2.50 to buy a SeaBus ticket which you can use for the return if it doesn't expire. Or you can use your bus transfer or SkyTrain transfer, it's all the same system.

It is a passenger ferry and you buzz across with beautiful views of the mountains ahead and the city skyline behind you, and Stanley Park to the left.

Then when you get off on the other side, you just walk up some stairs and you come up onto a public plaza on the water, with a big fountain and live music, and there is a big public market right there with every kind of food you can think of, including fresh fruit & salad bars galore.

With the day pass that you're recommending for Thursday, the Seabus would be included on that pass. I understand that during the day the ferries run every 15 minutes. So this might be an option for something slightly different on Thursday and could then leave the mall's food court as an option for either dinner or lunch the next day. If customs takes too long though, then it might be out or we'd have to run late on the planned schedule.

Or if we did this on Friday, then it would probably push everyone over the needed amount to make the day pass viable for Friday also.

[KevinKorell]

It's a nice ride across; my brother and I did it the one previous time we were in VAC in the 1980's. And if anyone really wants to go up to Grouse Mountain or Capillano Suspension Bridge, the bus that serves both of those locations begins at Lonsdale Quay, so you have to take the SeaBus anyhow. We could also move the Canada Line trip up to the morning, and then use the later morning/early afternoon for such sightseeing venues. But we always have to keep in mind that we must return to our hotels to pickup luggage and get to Pacific Central Station with enough advance time to be pre-screened into the USA.