Vancouver Vacation in Winter?
 

I'm considering visiting either Vancouver alone or else Seattle and Vancouver together over a week to 10 days period in mid December. I will be by myself.
Summer would have been the best time to go, but this is the time I have available. At least I should expect cheaper rates for everything.

I am not a skier. Is there enough for tourists to see and do in Vancouver during typical December weather?
I don't want to drive on icy roads, so I would probably try to rely on public transportation, tour buses and trains to see sights instead of renting a car.

There's a bunch of Christmas'y type activities and displays around downtown that run during December like the Christmas market at QE theatre, carol ships, Christmas train/Bright Nights in Stanley Park, Christmas tree displays at downtown hotels, Santa Claus parade, public skating at Robson Square, and displays at Canada Place. Just outside of outside of downtown but accessible by bus are stuff like Van Dusen Garden's Festival of Lights and Grouse Mountain's Christmas at the Peak.

The winter is likely to be pretty mild due to El Nino so it's likely to be more wet than icy/snowy.

It sounds like there will not be that much to do this time of year. Just a few hours of looking at "Christmasy things" will be plenty.
So, maybe 1 week or less is enough time to see available tourist attractions that are viable in winter in both Seattle and Vancouver.
Maybe I will rent a car for a day or two in each city if the roads aren't icy or of it's not raining so hard that I can't see anything so I can do some sightseeing out of the city centers.
If the weather is clear enough for photos, it may be fun to take water taxis or ferries around and take pictures of the skylines for an hour or so.
I will try some Canadian foods and visit any interesting museums and aquariums and maybe walk through a large indoor shopping center to keep out of the weather, but I can't think of anything else to do to occupy time in those places in the winter.

I think you're overestimating the severity of Vancouver's winter weather. Odds are it'll be cloudy or light to moderate rain, average daily temperatures in the low 40s (°F) / around 5 (°C). Light snow is a possibility, but in the city proper, more likely to be a cosmetic dusting rather than an actual hassle.

rent a bike
 

The biggest challenge you are going to have that time of year is short approaching the winter solstice. But SEA is the same. Ice is a freak event, as others have suggested.

If I was you, I would consider renting a bike. Lots to see & do, incl. doing the iconic cycling path around Stanley Park! UBC is very nice (NB much nicer campus than U of Washington). Public transit is also outstanding esp. since the Canada Line was added. There is also a night market in Surrey/Richmond worth checking out!

Vancouver may be cold, may be rainy - But also may be clear and brisk. The jury is still out because of El Nino.

All of the regular attractions will be open, and there won't be much in the way of crowds, other than at the shopping malls.

http://www.vancouversun.com/cms/binary/7754430.jpg

If you have ten days I'd definitely add a day trip to Victoria. It's very Christmasy as well.

http://blog.clippervacations.com/wp-...ICnightpic.jpg

You will not get icy roads in Vancouver in early Dec. Temps should be around 8 to 12C, but bring money, Vancouver is a expensive city.

Or two. Smaller, and easy to get around with public transit.

There may well be rain, but agree, roads will NOT be icy this early in the year.

I want to see both Seattle and Vancouver and do a short stop in Victoria.
How does this sound:

Day one (Friday), fly into Victoria arriving around 11AM or 4PM depending on the flight. See sights around the center of Victoria and stay overnight.
Day two, helicopter from Victoria into Vancouver Harbor after checking out of hotel around 11am. Spend the rest of the afternoon seeing sites in walking distance of the harbor.
Day 3 (Sunday) take public transit or hop on hop off tour bus to see more of Vancouver.
Day 4 Visit Capilano suspension bridge park in morning, then go to Grouse Mountain via bus or train to see what there to see and do there in winter other than skiing.
Day 5 Take Amtrak train to Seattle, check into hotel.
Day 6-7 sightseeing via public transit in Seattle.
Day 8 fly home via Seattle.

Does this sound like good way to see these cities in that time period?

Your itinerary sounds reasonable, especially since you will be leaving the top tourist spots (Capilano/Grouse) to a Monday. Kids are still in school in mid-December so the crowds won't be too bad on a weekday.

Are you taking Helijet from Victoria to Vancouver? If so, you will arrive right downtown near Canada Place/Gastown where you will be within walking distance to decent hotels and restaurants. As long as your hotel is in the downtown area, you should have no problem getting around. When its time to take Amtrak south, it's really just outside of the downtown core, and accessible by public transit.

Days are shorter that far up north, so if it's going to be 4 p.m. arrival, you won't have any daylight to speak of after clearing Immigration and going to town.

YYJ is a long way from town, so taxi to downtown runs about $60C (I only do this for midnight arrivals). YYJ Shuttle is much cheaper, but sometimes you have to wait for it.

I normally try to take public transportation, and if the little bus from YYJ to McTavish Interchange won't be coming along anytime soon, I just walk it and catch 70X to Parliament Building. Not much longer than shuttle, but much cheaper.

One of Victoria's biggest attractions of course is Butchart Gardens, but that is halfway between the airport and Victoria, though not exactly on the highway (IIRC a bus does run there).

But you can certainly just hang around Inner Harbour and downtown Victoria and surrounding parks.

I think I will try for the 11AM arrival at YYJ since it gets dark early.
Is Butchart Gardens worth stopping at via bus from the airport December? If I only have 4 hours of daylight, I'm not sure it's worth stopping especially if the gardens are going dormant in December and carrying even a carry on bag around would be quite a hassle..
I would be taking Helijet from Victoria to Vancouver. Is the Helijet departure point in a convenient location?
What are some interesting things to do in Victoria after the sun goes down? I would like to find an interesting place to eat and maybe see live entertainment and walk around some popular and well lit areas before going back to the hotel for the night.

What are some interesting things to do at Grouse Mountain in December other than skiing? I'm thinking of going to the windmill tour. I have also heard of taking snow limo rides, but I can't tell if the snow limo is still in operation. I only found a site that doesn't list their schedules or pricing. They want you to fill out a form with your contact info and wait for them to get back to you with the info. http://www.snow-limotours.com/
Not sure I can do that anyways since I will be packing super light and will not have room in my luggage for heavy and bulky clothing suitable for that kind of activity in the snow.
Maybe I can rent snow clothing at the resort.

It is close to downtown, and I consider it walkable - I'm guessing about a mile, actually probably less than a mile from Inner Harbour.

It's just before Ogden Point (maybe technically it is there), which is where cruise ships dock. I often walk past it as it's right on the waterfront.

Victoria is very safe so I do not worry about walking around after dark, but as for happening places, I'm not the best person to ask. Parliament building should be lit up in Xmas colors and look rather nice.

If you're into gardens, then yes. If not, then... Meh. I've been to Victoria many times and only been to the gardens once. Hugely popular tourist attraction, but for me it doesn't really do anything.

...and if you are into gardens, I'd still just go to the Van Dusen Garden in Vancouver -

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5041/5...349b3c28_z.jpg

I would say no. Spend your time touring the Provincial Legislature downtown and visiting the Royal Provincial Museum.

It's not right downtown, but it's reasonably convenient.

If the weather is clear then it's all about the views - The views from up there can be spectacular. If the weather is cloudy then give it a miss

I have purchased arrival and departure airline tickets, but no hotels yet.
To add extra flexibility to stay in each city more or less time should it be safe to just show up without hotel reservations and get last minute room deals via Hoteltonight, Booking.com or Priceline?

I have a place to stay in Victoria, so don't know how easy or hard it is to find a place, but your timeframe is definitely not high season there. It will be close to Whistler, as IIRC skiing season will have started by then. Vancouver, never had a problem finding a place, but always looked close to YVR for early departures or very late arrivals.

While in Victoria an interesting area to look around and shop is Lower Johnson Street and Market Square. A lot of small independent shops and restaurants in mid 1800 brick buildings. If you walk one block further north you can go through Fan Tan alley to Chinatown. Basically one street but also small shops with some non-Chinese as well.

Previous posters have comment saying to skip Butchart Gardens on this trip which is good advice with your limited time on Victoria.
Regarding Helijet check with the hotel you are staying in as some of them have shuttle service to there. It is only a short cab ride, 2 kilometers, if you have to take one.

I looked at the Helijet terminal in Vancouver on Google Maps and it seems to be in a very "awkward" to reach location. It is close to town, but a bit far to walk especially if the weather is not good and you are carrying bags, but at the same time 2km is a very short cab ride that the drivers may not be interested in. There is no convenient public transit close by either. So, it seems like there should be a shuttle provided by Helijet to pick up and drop off passengers at least to a central point downtown.

The cab drivers will have no issue whatsoever with this journey. They are very used to short trips around the downtown core.

If you want to walk, enter Waterfront Station, follow the enclosed footbridge over the rail yards, go down the escalator, and follow the "helicopter" signs outside to east parking lot and the heliport. Once outside, it's about a five-minute walk, give or take.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.28642...!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Here is a Google Street View picture of the door you will exit from waterfront station. Twirl around and double click your way through the parking lot and you'll see the path to the heliport

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.28649...2!8i6656?hl=en

I have seen the Helijet shuttle vans around town, although I've never taken one as getting to the terminal is very easy.

tripweb:
Just to be clear the Helijet terminal in Victoria is 2km from downtown while the terminal in Vancouver is in a bit of an out of the way place. If you don't have too much to carry and it's not raining when you arrive in Vancouver then the instructions above are good, except in the opposite order as you are arriving not departing. If you decide a cab would be a better choice when you arrive in Vancouver you can advise Helijet of this when you check in at the Victoria terminal and they will make sure a cab is available for you as you arrive. Many of the passengers do this so it is common practice.
Have a good trip.

With respect to Butchart Gardens, December is one of the most popular times to visit, because they have fabulous displays of lights around a 12 days of Christmas theme. Evening is the time you want to go(it's open until 9) , so if it fits into your schedule, it's well worth it.

The website is http://www.butchartgardens.com/activ...ristmasSection