Being the resident Vancouver resident, I guess I should jump in. Not to put too much of an edge on your topic question, but the best answer is "everywhere and everything."

First, a quick clarification. Victoria is a city, the capital city of the province of British Columbia. It is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island (not to be confused with the city of Vancouver, on the mainland, also in the province of British Columbia.) With traffic and sailing time, count on about 3.5 hours from your hotel to downtown Victoria, assuming you don't have to wait any sailings due to filled ferrys. Reservations are available, for C$15 in addition to the fare (about $40 for car and 2 adults.)

Back to the tour guide. Vancouver is an incredible city, and has everything you could imagine. I'll list a bunch here, but when you get here, ask anyone for advice or directions. Most will be happy to oblige.

"Symphony of Fire" -- fireworks, On Wednesday and Saturday evenings, there is a fireworks competition from a barge in English Bay, set to music. Starts at precisely 10:15. About a 20 minute walk -- don't even think about driving. Quite spectaular. (4 nights, starting July 31, I think.)

Grouse Mountain Sky Ride -- take the tramway to the top of the mountain (and have a meal at the top, if you like.) A great way to see the city from above. If you are the athletic, tri-athalon type, you can do the Grouse Grind -- "jog" up the mountain via the trails. If you have a car, you may prefer to drive to Cypress Bowl or Mt Seymour parks. They are both on the top of mountains, with scenic lookouts where you can also see the city.

Great downtown places -- some have already been mentioned: Robson street, especially on Friday or Saturday night, when many of the shops are open til 2am or later. The place is crawling with people, and buskers are everywhere. It is so busy, that they turn the traffic lights off between 9pm and 3am, and cops direct traffic, and try to keep the sidewalks clear.

Granville Island, formerly an industrial area, now a public market, with fresh everything. Right on the water, with boats, recreational and commercial, coming and going.

Gastown, a restored, historic part of the city. Best seen during the day.

Chinatown -- head for Keefer and Main St, then look up. You'll swear you are somewhere in Asia. In a similar vein, check out the recently proclaimed Punjabi Market. Drive south on Main St, until you think you are in New Delhi.

Stanley Park, one of the world's great urban parks. Visit the aquarium, go to the beach, or take a secluded walk in the wilderness, minutes from downtown Vancouver. Unlike Central Park (NYC) used to be, Stanley Park is very safe.

Culture: The Museum of Anthropology at UBC, another world class place. Details the history of the west coast from pre-European days.

Restaurants -- Every second business in Vancouver is a restaurant, or so it seems. The variety is endless. You could problaby have a different ethnic meal for every meal, and still not experience them all. The usual of course, Chinese, Italian, French, etc. My favourites are Mongolian, Afghani, Singapore, and particularly an Ethiopian place called Nyala, on W 4th Avenue. For vegitarian, check out the 24 hour, always open Naam, also on W 4th Avenue. Step back in time 30 years, to the age of Aquarius. The same hippies still own and operate the place.

You can check them out on your way to Kitsalano, home of hippies and yuppies, and lots of great beaches. Spanish Banks, Jericho, and if you are so inclined, the publicly sanctioned clothing-optional Wreck Beach, near UBC.

Other "touristy" things: Take the "Britannia" from Vancouver Harbour, and cruise up Howe Sound to Squamish. Then take the historic Royal Hudson steam train back to Vancouver.

Watch airplanes take off and land at Runway Park, about 100ft from the east end of one of the busier runways, at Vancouver Int'l. You'll feel the blast. (That's for FTer's reading this. )

Check out theatrical productions throughout town -- there are lots -- as well as concerts, spoken word, etc. Pick up a copy of the free, award winning Georgia Strait weekly "entertainment oriented" newspaper. Available everywhere, including grocery stores and street corners. Lots and lots of things to do.

Take the ferry to Victoria, on Vancouver Island. On the way into town, stop at the Butchart Gardens.

You could easily spend several days in downtown Victoria. Head for the "Inner Harbour" and see the Parliment Buildings, especially at night when they are lit up, the Empress Hotel, the Harbour itself. Here, you'll think you're in "downtown England." You can also visit the Royal Provincial Museum a block away. Another world class facility.

Drive north on the Trans-Canada highway, and take the ferry back to Vancouver from Nanaimo, but make sure you detour through Chemainus. It used to be a lumber mill town, until the mill closed down, and threatened to take the town with it. They went on an artistic bent, and several great artists from around the world came to town and painted just about every wall of every public building, and many private buildings as well, with murals. It's now a mecca for artists. (Ironically, the mill reopened, and the city is booming.)

Take some time to just do nothing, especially on Friday afternoons, when the rest of the city does at well. Rush hour begins about lunch time on Fridays, as we are all eager to get to the lake, the sailboat, the ski hill, or the backyard BBQ. According to StatsCan, people in Vancouver work 11% less than the rest of the country. We like to think we live 11% more. (Many, like me, think work is something we do in our spare time.)

By some music CDs. Vancouver is the only place in North America where the retailers set the price, as opposed to the distributors. Because of the volume and clout of the music stores here, CDs are very inexpensive. Lower Seymour St, downtown, has A&B Sound, the industry leaders. Competing Sam's is also next door.

Check out real estate. Once you are here, you'll want to figure out how you can stay. If nothing else, the scary prices will make you appreciate where you now live. (New, single-family dwellings in Vancouver, average out at about $650,000!)

Check out a movie set. They are all over the place. They are interesting for a while, but you can only watch MacGyver drive up, park, and get out of a car about 20 times, before it gets old. Still, quite interesting, if you've never seen it before.

I know this looks like a lot, but we've just scratched the surface. This should keep them going long enough to get settled in and find out what else they might want to do while they are here.

Wish them well,

Regards,

Ken Hamer


[This message has been edited by KenHamer (edited 07-30-1999).]