Yes, that's the closest BC government liquor store, but as you've said, you'll be able to get wine and beer at the cold beer and wine store @ Jimmy's at Homer and Robson.

gglave If you let them know, maybe you can get a free bag of chips!

Thanks, thought so

There are two types of Skytrain cars. A "Mark I" series that looks like this (flat front):

http://members.shaw.ca/j.a.brown/images/SkytrainOpt.jpg

...and a "Mark II" series, that looks like this (aerodynamic front):

http://www.kevinsbusrail.com/transli.../tlink_250.jpg

You'll find you'll do better with luggage on a Mark II than you will on a Mark I - So just wait until a Mark II train comes along and get on that and you should be fine.

Around your hotel I would suggest casual restaurants such as White Spot (Very Popular BC Chain) where you can get most of the items you listed above, Moxies and Shark Club. If you like sushi, there is no cheaper eat in Vancouver and the selection is endless. You can usually get lunch for around $7 (18 pieces of sushi roll and miso soup). With the exchange rate where it is today you will find most restaurants reasonably priced. Eating in Stanley Park will cost you extra $$$ so head to Denman St. where there are countless of cheap eateries of every variety and cuisine. Granville Island - eat in the food court or buy direct from any of the vendors for cheaper options. I personally like the salmon jerky!^

To be frank, I'd skip Gastown. Vancouverites rarely go there, unless you're a twentysomething going to a pub on the weekend.

Take the Seabus across to North Vancouver. Its a great ride. You could take Skytrain from Stadium to Waterfront then catch the Seabus. Even Chinatown is a "meh" in my book. Ask your hotel for the best route to avoid the beggars etc. Definite "yes" to UBC, transportation wouldn't be difficult. You could also take a morning express bus (491) out to Steveston for the two national historic sites there, the nice riverfront setting and great fish & chips.

Thank you...everyone, once again.

We received the Entertainment Book for Vancouver! Good activity coupons. At only $15 delivered to Escondido, CA it was a steal. The price is lowered as it is late in the publication year. Allows a few more restaurants too. Zackary's, in our hotel, is included in the book.

We added Dix to our Hotel local restaurants. The three suggested by loopies work too: White Spot; Moxies; and Shark Club. All near by and in our price and eating range. Sushi is okay with wife, but not for me. We are going to play it by ear at Granville. Maybe Go Fish, or perhaps Dockside (in our E.Bk.) at the Granville Island Hotel. Will need to check out places in Vanier Park too.
In Stanley Pk. The Fish House and the Brasserie (Coast Plaza Hotel, outside the park) are both in our E. Bk. Your suggestion of checking Denman St. might also work with the #19 bus returning.

LeSabre74, thanks, we have come to the same conclusion. Gastown is out. The website has not been updated since before 1994. The SteamClock seems to be the main attraction. Many old building exist, and I guess, the free tour takes one by many. Access from our direction was not recommended on the website. Really, as with most trips, one has to pick and choose how to spend the precious time allotted.

We do not know if our ship will come in at Canada Place or Ballentyne, so we will have to play that one by ear too. Thanks gglave for the pictures, we will surely select the rounded front with big window if we take the skytrain. I am leaning toward the cab, mentioned by Jay71, as the price versus the hassle factor is perhaps only a $10 saving.

At first we were considering UBC, but now it looks more like 2 days at Stanley Park:
1). Aquarium and maybe a harbor cruise
2) Horse Drawn Tour, Eco Walk, Beaver Lake and walkabout, gardens.
3) Then one day in Chinatown. We will walk the Silk Road, picking it up at our hotel (it starts at the Library), passing thru Int'l Village mall, past McDonalds (we lived in Downey CA USA for 18 years, home of the oldest operating McDonalds in the world) and then into Chinatown. There is a "formal" 21 spot tour (website being worked on) that we will self tour. We will tour the Chinese Cultural Center/Museum and then go to Dr Sun yat Sen Garden. Kent's Kitcheon maybe our "ooogh" place to eat. Greasy, messy, simple food, with some locals.
4th and 5th days will be split between Granville Island and Vanier Pk. The Island with its shops and funky stuff is somewhat self explanitory. In Vanier Pk. we are looking to the Space Center, V. Museum and a walk along Kitsilano Beach. We will skip Science world and the Maritime Museuw. For transportation, we may walk to Plaza of Nations and then get the day pass for the False Creek Ferries. The Aquabus seems to charge for each leg of a trip, which will not be as economic for us.

For people with more time, there is a lot more to do!

>At first we were considering UBC, but now it
>looks more like 2 days at Stanley Park

Maybe I'm biased because I live here, but I'm always confused by how people visiting here seem to spend so much time in Stanley Park. Don't get me wrong, it's a great place and well worth visiting, but you've got a couple / few hours at the aquarium, an hour on the horse drawn carriage visting the totem poles, rose garden etc. and you're done. Granted you're looking at a couple more hours if you walk or bike the circumference seawall, but I'm always puzzled how tourists manage to spend 2 whole days in the park...

>maybe a harbor cruise

As others have suggested the Seabus is an inexpensive way to see the harbour:

http://images.google.ca/images?q=sea...&imgsz=xxlarge

It leaves from Waterfront Station, where the SkyTrain comes in, and winds up at Lonsdale Quay on the other side of the harbour, which is a nice place for lunch:

http://images.google.ca/images?imgsz...=lonsdale+quay

Your bus / SkyTrain ticket will work on the seabus.

Also, if you wake up early enough, keep in mind your cruise ship will come right into the harbour - Under the Lion's Gate bridge, past Stanley Park, and into Burrard Inlet. There's your harbour cruise right there :)

Thanks gglave

I don't disagree, but for us...arrive about 9am, walk to V. Aquarium. Do a bit of a walkabout. 1st show is 10:30 2 shows occur, next 2 are both at 11. At noon and 12:30 repeats, but also the feature show. At 1 and at 2 more shows that are the first time. So, even missing some of the shows, it takes at least 9:30 opening til 2:30P at the aquarium. Now off to a second venue and timing it. Thats why the harbour cruise is iffy. Then the walk to the Horse drawn tours, and meshing with their start times. After that ride it is nearly 5pm. Time to think about dinner and the ride back to the hotel (we are retired and I have a bad foot).

We have more to do. The gardens, totems, Lost Lagoon Nature house, see miniature RW, Eco walk (if Sunday), Beaver Lake, photo stops, view of the beach, and, yes, maybe the harbour cruise. Add some rests, now and then, and it is 2 days, near about.

As far as the ship coming into Vancouver as a cruise/tour, we recently came back from a cruise of So. Am. that included Antarcticia for 3 days. Seals, penguins (gulls and ?), dolphin, etc just a much easier to view from a small boat that a mega ship. We have no problem taking the ferry or aquabus for a cheaper tour. The ferry is $14/$10 (we are 64) for a full day. The aquabus seemed to want $6 just to go from Plaza of Nations to Granville. Maybe I did not get it right. I have now figured out the bus site and am ready to venture to Q. Eliz, UBC or another venue plus the chosen ones. Seem you can mix one @2.50 ticket for the skytrain and then bus or visaversa.

Transportation questions, very basic

To ride the skytrain, then transfer to the bus. Seems you can do that for a single fare (ie $2.50pp to Stanley park from downtown). Does one pay the driver (not that way here in San Diego)? Is there a machine to buy the ticket from? How do you get a transfer? I am familiar with other places where you buy a ticket, put it in a machine and then it comes back out to use as a transfer and receipt. Also familiar where you buy a ticket and hold on to it, only to show if asked. Which, or another happens here?

Are there signs on the street corner (mie-block) to designate where to get the bus?

I know there are some places where you can buy a 10 ticket book. Can one "share" those tickets with another (ie 5 for me and 5 for wife?). How would they get "punched or activated?

Thank you...just about done with the planning!

You can either prebuy a book of 10 ($19) or pay on board (machine) with coins on a bus or before you go into the fare paid area for the rapid transit system for the $2.50. You get a ticket which is also your transfer. Bus drivers haven't collected fares or made change in over 30 years.

Usually a sign (like a parking restriction sign) which bus number and ultimate destination (to note direction). Stops are usually towards the end (or beginning) of blocks.

Yes. You can a detachable book of 10 for $19 and pull them out as needed.
See here:

http://www.translink.ca/en/Fares-and...areDealer.aspx

Just a word. The service at the old, unionized White Spots is abysmal. Really abysmal. That at the newer ones is usually much better. I think the closest to you (W. Georgia and Seymour) is one of those old unreformed ones, as it the one further down on W. Georgia opposite from the Westin Bayshore. The Public Square or some such name (by the library) is also a good place to use a coupon.

Is Go Fish the one on Pacific and... Seymour by the north end of the Burrard Street bridge? If so, I'd recommend giving it a miss. The food at Dockside has never disappointed me though the menu and style of food has been annoyingly changed a few times (not necessarily bad, but I just like the previous menu).

Be aware that service at the Fish House never appears to fail to disappoint or at least be a let down, even when they're not busy. Food isn't too bad though.


Not sure how many branches they have but going in the half hour before closing them seems to get you extra large portions as the staff want to clear out everything, at least in my neighbourhood in deepest east Van.

Thank you both for the added help. Noted!

I'll add to what others have said and mention that you can also buy a day pass that is good for unlimited travel on the bus, skytrain and seabus:

http://www.translink.ca/en/Fares-and...s/DayPass.aspx

You can purchase passes from any authorized FareDealer, such as a 7-Eleven store, Safeway or London Drugs. You buy them and then 'scratch off' the day you want to use them, so you can, for example, buy four in advance.

A Vancouver bus stop looks like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/command...us/2237338155/

Or this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ethanfortes/3158162334/

Busier bus stops also have shelters that look like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spacing/1075605792/

Thank you gglave, nothing like a picture to bring home the information. We will be leaving for the first 2 weeks of our trip in Alaska in a couple of days.

Thank you everyone for the help. Wish I could pass on our Entertainment book toward the end of our trip. We will have only use a little, and then it is a "tip" for someone!

Jimmy's is open until 11pm, 7 days a week. decent selection of wine and booze plus cold beer fridges. The restaurant/bar is around the corner, also called Jimmy's. They're both about 1/2 a block from the IGA there on Robson.