| | Overview (Source: Frommers) |
If you really want to understand Vancouver, stand at the edge of the Inner Harbour (the Canada Place cruise-ship terminal makes a good vantage point) and look around you. To the west you'll see Stanley Park, one of the world's largest urban parks, jutting out into the waters of Burrard Inlet. To the north, just across the inlet, rise snowcapped mountains. To the east, right along the water, is the low-rise brick-faced Old Town. And almost everything else you see lining the water's edge will be new glass-and-steel high-rise towers. As giant cruise ships glide in to berth, floatplanes buzz in and out, and your ears catch a medley of foreign tongues, you may wonder just where on earth you are. Vancouver is majestic and intimate, sophisticated and completely laid-back, a bustling, prosperous city that somehow, almost miraculously, manages to combine its contemporary, urban-centered consciousness with the free-spirited magnificence of nature on a grand scale. Vancouver is probably one of the "newest" cities you'll ever visit, and certainly it's one of the most cosmopolitan. A youthfulness pervades, along with a certain Pacific Northwest chic (and cheek) that comes from being the backdrop in so many movies that Vancouver is sometimes called "Hollywood North" (as is Toronto, so maybe it's time to retire that rather tired phrase). I can guarantee you that part of your trip will be spent trying to figure out what makes it so unique. Nature figures big in that equation, but so d
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| History (Source: WCities) | Top | This young city was once a wild, densely forested and mountainous coastal area inhabited only by First Nations people and wildlife. Many events have combined to transform the once wild setting into the thriving cultural and business center it is today. Yet the city retains its natural beauty, now set around a diverse urban core. And to think it all began with a couple of explorers who recognized the bountiful resources and spectacular potential of the area. When British explorer Captain James Cook first arrived here in 1778, the natives in Nootka Sound mistook the captain and his raggedy crew for a boatful of strange, transformed salmon. It's no wonder, really; the First Nations had lived undisturbed for thousands of years. The region's temperate climate, coastal location and excellent food supply made it an ideal place for natives to subsist comfortably for most of the year. Many, including the Musqueam, Kwantlen and Squamish lived and thrived along the shorelines of Burrard Inlet. But then the white European settlers came and claimed the land as their own, altering years of relatively peaceful living. The city's transformation began with explorers seeking the Northwest Passage, a sea route through northern America. In 1791, Spanish explorer Jose Maria Narvaez came through the waters but decided not to go ashore. In June of the following year, two more explorers showed up. England's Captain George Vancouver led his ship, the sloop H.M.S. Discovery , into Burrard
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| How To Get There (Source: WCities) | Top | Getting There By Air Situated nine miles south of downtown, the Vancouver International Airport ( YVR ) ( +1 604 276 6500 / http://www.yvr.ca ) ushers in more than 15 million passengers a year. Amenities include numerous restaurants and shops, a spa, dry cleaners, a kid's play area and even a dentist. The following major airlines all touchdown upon its runways: Aero Mexico ( + 1 800 237 6639 / http://www.aeromexico.com ) Air Canada ( +1 800 776 3000 / http://www.aircanada.ca ) Air China ( +1 800 227 5118 / http://www.china-airlines.com ) Air New Zealand ( +1 800 663 5494 / http://www.airnz.com Alaskan Airlines ( +1 800 252 7522 / http://www.alaskaair.com ) Aloha Airlines ( +1 800 367 5250 / http://www.alohaairlines.com ) American Airline ( +1 800 433 7300 / http://www.aa.com ) British Airways ( +1 800 247 9297 / http://www.british-airways.com ) Continental ( +1 800 525 0280 / http://www.continental.com ) Delta ( +1 800 221 1212 / http://www.delta.com ) El Al ( +1 800 223 6700 / http://www.elal.co.il ) Japan Airlines ( +1 800 525 3663 / http://www.japanair.com ) Korean Air ( +1 800 438 5000 / http://www.koreanair.com ) Lufthansa ( +1 800 645 3880 / http://www.lufthansa.com ) Northwest ( +1 800 225 2525 / http://www.nwa.com ) Qantas ( +1 604 279 6611 / http://www.qantas.com ) Scandinavian Airlines ( +1 800 221 2350 / http://www.scandinavian.net ) Singapore Airlines ( +1 800 742 3333
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| What To Do (Source: WCities) | Top | Vancouver offers everything from fine arts, cinema, literary readings, theatre and many spectator sports. The arts and entertainment weekly the Georgia Straight , and the Thursday and Friday editions of the Vancouver Sun and Province provide extensive listings of the city's events and venues. Music Bryan Adams, Sarah McLachlan, k.d. lang, Bif Naked, 54-40 and Diana Krall. These are just some of the big-name artists who began their music careers here. They have made it so big that you rarely see them perform locally anymore. When they do, you will find them at large venues like B.C. Place , General Motors Place , the Vogue , Orpheum Theatre or Queen Elizabeth Theatre . Vancouver's music scene is diverse. The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia and the Orpheum Theatre , home of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, are great venues for classical music performances. For jazz, blues and fusion, the best bets are the Cellar Restaurant & Jazz Club , Rossini's , the Roxy , Blue Note Jazz Bistro, Starfish Room and the Yale. For punk, indie and other aural alternatives, smaller venues like the Commodore Ballroom and the Railway Club are probably your best bets to catch local and international talent in intimate settings. Of course, nothing's more intimate than an in-store performance at Red Cat Records . For electronica, house and slyly spinning DJs, Sonar , the Sugar Refinery and Nevermind
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