Hi all

my wife and I are considering spending three days in Vancouver next February. Is it a good time to visit? We are mainly outdoors people and would be relying on public transportation. Cold is not a problem, as long as it is not too windy or raining a lot. Any hotel indications on neighborhoods with a lot of restaurants and shops within walking distance would also be appreciated.

thanks
FR

In Vancouver it rains daily about 65% of the time year round, and during the other 35% of the time, it is thinking about raining on that day. February is a winter month in our hemisphere, so precipitation is plentiful.......about 175mm of rain on average in YVR.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca...mbia/vancouver

The temperatures are around 5-8 degrees celcius during February.

It is a very expensive city for hotel accomodation. What's your budget per night ? That is going to be the difference. My initial call is to stay directly downtown for walking and ease of access to the airport and rest of the city. There is a metro station at YVR that goes right downtown.

I used to live there and currently travel there 3-4 time a year for business. There are lots of Canadian members from YVR also on this board.

If it matters, and you get a bad case of saudades, the one and only churrascaria in downtown Vancouver (on the corner of Denman and Robson) is awful.

Thanks! Budget would be around USD150 to USD200 per night, could go a bit higher if it makes sense.

And thanks for the heads up on the churrascaria, sometimes I do check one out to see if it is any good. I'll skip it this time!

Fairmont Waterfront
Pan-Pacific
Four Seasons
Wedgewood
Sutton Place

These are 4-5 star hotels I have stayed at, all priced around $250-275 CAD (about $175-200 USD) and in excellent locations downtown. I checked the rates on the poular hotel website called expedia.ca...........

If you want the easiest route, and kind of a neat experience, take the metro from YVR airport (it literally almost comes right into the airport terminal) directy to the city center water front station and then you walk about a block to either the Fairmont (my personal favorite) or the Pan-Pacific just across the street.

The good thing about these two hotels is they are usually $400-500 a night in high season and are on sale right now when I just checked. They are in a perfect downtown location where you can walk to the popular west side of the city, or walk to the right, and go into the Gastown district which is some of the chic bars/restaurants and cool shops are.

thanks KDS, I'll look at those.

Is it easy from there to get to Victoria Island? Any other day trips you recommend?

Vancouver Island is easy to get to.

You've got 2 choices.........take the BC Ferry system...........it's the longest trip at 90 minutes on the water to Victoria, but it is also very scenic. A car costs $57 plus $17.50 per adult in the vehicle. Problem is, you've got to get to the ferry port first, so you'll need a car or taxi as it is located far away past the airport, you need to wait at the dock, etc, and there is a very limited schedule. The 90 minutes on the water becomes 3 hours more or less. If you can't handle boats on the open water though, you'll need to fly.

https://www.bcferries.com/

You can fly on a seaplane, just walk from your hotel to the terminal on the water (15 minutes), and get on board. $76 CAD to Nanaimo one way, or $156 CAD to Victoria one way per person. The seaplane lands right in the center of the port in either city, and you are in the middle of downtown and can walk everywhere. No need for taxis, a car or parking, etc. If it is just the two if you that is what I would do. My wife and I do this all the time.

https://www.harbourair.com/

Otherwise, its back to YVR for an Air Canada or Westjet flight.

Day trips ? The island obviously, Victoria is gorgeous, just walking thru downtown Vancouver which can take a day easily (start on Robson and go down, Denman, Davies, Granville, it's a big 40 block square walk), as you'll get side tracked by the sights. The marine aquarium in Stanley Park is really cool too.

How reliable are the ferries and sea planes in February? I know WSF and San Juan flights on the US side can be bad.

The crossing itself is, at least in summer, pretty calm.

The ferries are completely reliable. The only factor (other than unforseen mechanical issues, of course) that affects sailings is strong, and I mean extremely strong, winds when docking. And even then, it is generally only the Tsawwassen (Vancouver) to Swartz Bay (Victoria) run as the Tsawwassen terminal is at the end of a long peninsula and quite exposed. The Horseshoe Bay (West Vancouver) to Departure Bay (Nanaimo) run is seldom cancelled even during high winds. These are large vessels operating in a sheltered part of the coast so they aren't affected by weather other than wind. And wind storms of a strength that would necessitate ferry cancellations are not a common occurrance here, especially in February. And I say this with intimate knowledge of BC Ferries in the Vancouver area.

If you're looking for a decent hotel in the same area as those others for a cheaper rate, I often stay at the Metropolitan Vancouver. It's an older hotel that was likely one of the best in its day. If you want a decent smaller more boutique hotel near shops/restaurants, I also often stay at the Listel Hotel that time of year and get competitive rates. I stayed at the Hyatt last week which is always nice, but more expensive. The Holiday Inn further up Howe is the best 'budget' hotel I've stayed at in the dt area.

As others have noted, rain and cool temperatures are quite likely. I was there last week for six days and we had 5 1/2 days of pouring rain. That's on the extreme end of things, but you should expect it to rain probably half of the time.

There have been days where all strait of Georgia crossings have been cancelled (e.g., late last December - even the Little RIver/Comox-Westview/Powell River). Unlikely but always possible. I'd keep an eye out on the weather as they usually know of strong fast fronts a couple of days in advance.

I'll start with 2 things. First, what does '3 days' actually mean? If you arrive on a Monday night and then spend Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in Vancouver and then leave on Friday, that to me is 3 days. I only count full days spent in a place. Your arrival day and departure day are very rarely actual full days spent in a place.

With even 3 full days, I would not suggest spending a day going to/from Victoria. You'll spend half the day just getting to from, even if you go by plane. I don't consider that as best use of time. Time spent actually moving between places is lost time in my view. Vancouver itself has more than enough to keep the average visitor busy for 3 full days. Unfortunately, your timing is not that great for 'outdoor' activities other than skiiing at nearby Whistler Mountain. But then, I'm not sure why someone would have 'outdoor' and 'city' in the same sentence unless you are only referring to walking rather than driving.

Second, expensive is a word I dislike seeing in responses. Expensive is defined only by the individual, not by what someone else thinks is expensive or not. Vancouver hotels are no more expensive than hotels in many cities in N. America and the world.

Now that you have indicated your preferred budget for a hotel room, you have been given some good examples to work with. I happen to like the Hotel Vancouver which is arguably the most historic hotel in the city. Given your timing and criteria, I would say a downtown hotel for sure. Vancouver is actually a very walkable downtown city core. Just make sure you bring a large umbrella.

Doesn't happen for the major routes (Vancouver-Victoria, West Vancouver-Nanaimo) often at all. The only time is when there are extreme winds, and even then, usually only Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay due to the position of the terminal. It has nothing to do with weather, even wind, along the route itself. And these windstoms happen in late fall usually, seldom in winter. I say it again, these are huge ships in protected waters.

As I said, I say this with complete first hand knowledge. He has nothing to worry about in Feb.

I was in Vancouver last February for 3 full days and it didn't rain except at night. I just returned from 3 days where it rained all day. My friend in the city did comment that February seems to be a bit more lucky for less rainy days than other winter months, but you do have to be on board with it likely to be raining. I was fine, I had waterproof shoes and an umbrella.

Stay in downtown and you can walk to most. The luxury hotels listed above all tend to have great winter rates.

It's supposed to be another cold winter so I wouldn't even rule out snow in February.

I agree that downtown Vancouver is very walkable if you are mobile (and the weather is decent) with plenty of dining options for 3 days.
Public transportation (and some free shuttles) to sights way outside the downtown core (Grouse Mountain, UBC, QE Park, Capilano Suspension Bridge, etc) are reasonable.
You can occasionally find some hotel deals on sites like Travelzoo, etc for dates before cruise ship season starts in the spring.

A couple of February events to be aware of:
Dine Out Vancouver: Ending ~first week of Feb.
Chinese New Years: Parade and festivities mid Feb
Wine Festival: Starting ~last week of Feb

Vancouver's rain can be very unpredictable. January is supposed to be a very wet month, but I remember having many consecutive days of sunshine in Jan 2017. Similarly, it rained for 27 days last month, but it's exceptionally dry and sunny this December. If the forecast sticks it looks like at least half of this month will be dry.