Amazes me how people can write about apparently planning to spend time visiting an airport and another person apparently has even lived in a couple.

Contrary to what some FTers seem to think, an airport code is not a city name.

As for what to do in Vancouver and the surrounding area, i suggest any decent guidebook or online 'what to see and do' search will give you the answers. Locals often know less about what attracts tourists than the guidebooks do. That's because locals do what residents do, eat, sleep, work rather than what tourists do. There are plenty of Vancouverites who have never been to Stanley Park or Granville Island for example but it would be a rare tourist who would not have.

As a visitor, my advice regardless of what time of year you plan to visit, is don't forget to pack a rainjacket and an umbrella. Vancouverites delight in telling everyone their city has the 'mildest climate in Canada'. What they forget to tell you is that it rains year round too.