Travel: Vancouver in 3 Days

Ladies, have you ever been to Vancouver, British Columbia? What a terrific destination city!

We love traveling to the Pacific Northwest in the summer to get away from the Georgia summer heat and decided to visit Vancouver after my brothers who are Delta pilots raved about Vancouver as one of their favorite places for a layover. Delta has a nonstop to Vancouver that leaves at night from Atlanta. (Shameless plug for Delta.)

Hotel – Marriott Pinnacle

As members of the Marriott Bonvoy, and Marriott rewards program, we wanted to stay downtown on the harbor, and we were invited to stay at the Marriott Pinnacle. We had lovely views of the harbor and ate in the Concierge Lounge every morning before heading out on our tours.

The hotels close to the harbor are always booked with people going on Alaska cruises out of Vancouver, so I would suggest booking early or staying away from the harbor area.

Morning coffee while watching the seaplanes take off from the harbor. This was so much fun to watch the morning rush hour of seaplanes lining up for takeoff.

Exploring Vancouver and Surroundings Areas

We booked 3 tours when we visited Vancouver through the concierge desk at the Marriott Pinnacle. I highly recommend taking guided tours when visiting cities. Our bus drivers spoke along the route and explained everything we were about to see and the history of Vancouver. We learned so much about Vancouver while taking these bus tours. What is nice about these tours is that you don’t have to stay in groups but explore independently in the allotted time given for each stop.

Vancouver City Tour Including Capilano Suspension Bridge (5-6 hours)

Our first day was a grey and drizzly day, but we were well prepared for the rainy weather in Vancouver. The temperature never got over 70 degrees which was a lovely change from the high 90’s we have in Atlanta. I packed my trench coat which I could leave on the bus when the weather cleared.

The Vancouver City Tour is a bus ride through many areas of Vancouver, such as Canada Place, Robson Street, Granville Island, Chinatown, and Gastown. We actually spent an hour in Granville Island before heading to the Capilano Suspension Bridge for an exhilarating walk along the cliff-hanging footpaths. (The suspension bridge is a huge tourist attraction and very crowded. If you’re afraid of heights and moving bridges, this may not be for you.)

Granville Island

This is a renovated industrial area with an active concrete company along with a fabulous farmer’s market, several specialty shops, restaurants, hotel, and theater.

Granville Island’s Public Farmer’s Market

This huge market has endless rows of stalls that feature fresh produce, gourmet foods, baked goods, and seafood.

Must photograph desserts in every city we visit!

Homemade Pasta!

Capilano Suspension Bridge

Originally built in 1889, Capilano Suspension Bridge stretches 450 feet across and 230 feet above the Capilano River. Since then, much has been added to the twenty-seven-acre park.

You enter through the Totem Park (the preferred name for a Totem Pole is now Story Pole by the First Nations because these carved wood poles are stories, not worshipping Gods as some people may think.)

Then it’s off to slowly walk across a very busy suspension bridge that wiggles a lot!!

Looking down from the bridge into the canyon.

Catwalks in the trees were fun.

CLIFF WALK is the park’s newest attraction – a cantilevered walkway clinging to the granite cliff high above Capilano Canyon.

Vancouver to Victoria and Butchart Gardens Tour (12 hours, including a ferry ride to Vancouver Island)

This is an all-day tour traveling by bus and ferry, with stunning waterways and mountains en route to British Columbia’s capital. You visit the world-famous Butchart Gardens, a 55-acre haven for garden and nature lovers, and about 3 hours on your own walking around the beautiful city of Victoria. (If we visit Vancouver again, we’ll stay overnight in Victoria. Three hours wasn’t enough time for us!)

I have never been on a ferry before, and it is amazing that huge buses and trucks are in the belly of the ferry!

It was in the mid-’60s and very chilly to be outside, but the view from the ferry was spectacular!

Butchart Gardens

Our bus tour went first to Butchart Gardens, and it was gorgeous! I took about 20 photos, and these few don’t do it justice! Can you believe this was the vision of a woman who wanted to leave a legacy behind for her children?

With a former limestone quarry for her backyard, Jennie Butchart envisioned landscaping a sunken garden in its place, transforming the property for her family—and visitors—for generations to come.

Today, The Butchart Gardens is a National Historic Site of Canada. You’ll find remnants of the original cement plant and millions of bedding plants in over 900 varieties awaiting you as you wander The Gardens.- Butchart Gardens

Steven is entering the Sunken Gardens at Butchart. The gardens were all amazing, but the Sunken Garden was my favorite.

The Ross Fountain in the Sunken Garden.

The Rose Garden

The Italian Garden

The Star Pond in the Italian Garden area.

The Mediterranean Garden

I apologize, but I forgot to take pictures of the Japanese Garden! It was also lovely!

Victoria

This is a beautiful harbor city with so much to enjoy that our 3 hours weren’t enough. The Empress Hotel would be where we would spend the night if we stayed in Victoria. It was recently renovated but is still a very grand hotel!

The sweetest moment for me was seeing these young violinists playing on the corner by the Empress Hotel. They were very talented and a crowd pleaser!

The weekend we were in Victoria, there was an antique car show, and they were driving everywhere in Victoria and the Butchart Gardens.

We stopped for lunch at Nautical Nellie’s Seafood and Steak restaurant, and the food was fabulous!! We had the Lobster taco trio, the Crab, Shrimp, Mango, and Avocado stack, and crispy Calamari! Excellent!

Whistler and Sea to Sky Gondola Tour ( 10 hours)

This lovely day trip to Whistler Mountain via the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver. Although it might be best known for hosting the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Whistler offers a mountain of summertime activities. We started our morning driving along the scenic Sea to Sky Highway heading towards Whistler. We stopped along the drive in Howe Sound, then onto the Sea to Sky Gondola. After an exciting 10-minute ride to the top of Habrich Ridge, our views changed dramatically, rising above the towering canopy of coastal rainforest and upward above Howe Sound and the neighboring mountains. After, onto Whistler, where we spent the afternoon exploring this mountain village. On the ride back to the hotel, we stopped at Shannon Falls as freshly melted glacial snow tumbles down a staggering 1099 feet to the rivers below. There were bear sightings posted everywhere at Shannon Falls!

Our first stop on this tour was a quaint little town along the Howe Sound for coffee. (Sidenote: there are great coffee shops all over  in Vancouver and Starbucks is not as busy here!)

The Sea to Sky Gondola

This was a fun stop on the way to Whistler Mountain. The ride up provides sweeping views of Howe Sound, the majestic coastal forest, and surrounding mountains. Once at the top, we went over the spectacular Sky Pilot Suspension Bridge (very sturdy and not at all wiggly!)

Yoga anywhere anytime…….

Whistler Mountain and Village

Okay, do you remember the 2010 Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver? All the downhill skiing events were held at Whistler Mountain. I was surprised that the mountain and village are almost a 2-hour drive away from Vancouver! This beautiful village is worth taking a trip to whether you’re an avid skier or just want to see an active mountaintop resort!

It had my husband at hello!

We had lunch at the Beacon Pub & Eatery on the Village Stroll and listened to the local musicians singing in the square.

All ages enjoyed Whistler Mountain Bike Park. So fun to see gray-haired bikers with dusty faces coming out of the park. This is a big draw for the summer.

Shannon Falls

On our way back to Vancouver, we stopped at Shannon Falls because our bus driver said it was better to photograph the falls in the late afternoon. Amazing the height of this glacier waterfall; we didn’t see any bears!

Harbor

The area starts at Canada Place and stretches west to Stanley Park, and is a lovely stroll along the waterfront.

The glass window highrises created this wonderful photo without any filters.

I took these photos on the first day we were in Vancouver. It was a gloomy rainy day, but I like the dense fog over the harbor.

The Port of Vancouver is the homeport for various cruise lines offering trips to exciting destinations, including the spectacular Alaska route.

The next day was absolutely spectacular as we enjoyed walking along the harbor to Cardero’s, one of our favorite restaurants in Vancouver.

Stanley Park

Ideally situated on a peninsula at the northwestern edge of downtown Vancouver, Stanley Park is one of the city’s main tourist destinations. Our bus tour guides said Stanley Park is the best park in the world and beat out New York’s Central Park and the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris to take the top spot. (We’ve been to both.)

They don’t call it the ‘jewel’ of Vancouver for nothing. This is a huge green space that, if you’re staying downtown in Vancouver, you can walk to it. There are bus tours to Stanley Park if walking is too much for you. Every time we left Vancouver for the Capilano Suspension Bridge or to Whistler, we drove through Stanley Park.

Where We Ate in Vancouver

We selected restaurants with great reviews that were close to our hotel. Downtown Vancouver is a very clean and safe area to walk around at night.

Nightingale Restaurant

This wonderful restaurant is only a few blocks from the Marriott Pinnacle. There was filming next to the restaurant, which was fun to watch. We had the heirloom tomato salad, the Smoked prosciutto, gorgonzola, walnut, arugula, pizza, and the Chitarra pasta, duck ragu, crispy sage, with pecorino romano. Outstanding!

Cardero’s

This was a lovely walk from the hotel, and we encountered a film crew near this restaurant!

Filming CW’s Super Girl near Cardero’s restaurant.

Cactus Club Cafe

What a wonderful place for late-night meals. It’s a very young crowd when you eat at 9:30 at night after the long day in Victoria and Butchart Gardens. The drinking age in Vancouver is 19, and you see many young people at night. I wonder how many are Americans behind me?

What I packed for Vancouver

I had the opportunity to work with Trestique on this collaboration on their Essential 8 Le Pak bag.

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With only a carry-on, I decided to take 2 tops for daytime and 2 tops for dinner at night.  I took white jeans and black cropped pants to be worn day and night. Again I selected black and white as my traveling color combination. You can see my black-and-white travel fashion on my recent trips to Coral Gables and Barcelona.

Sightseeing Style

The weather was in the mid ’70s, so I packed long sleeve tops from Soft Surroundings and J.Jill and my raincoat from Chico’s to wear with my white jeans also from Chico’s. I started out in the mornings wearing my raincoat, but by the afternoon, I left the coat on the tour bus.

I am sharing more Sightseeing Style

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Great walking sandals are a must in the summer! I don’t wear gym sneakers when sightseeing and highly recommend investing is a well designed walking shoe or sandal. My preferred walking sandals are BareTraps and Naot.

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Evening Style

I packed 2 tops and 2 pairs of pants for the evening. I packed my white no-iron with a stain shield shirt and a black sweater to go with my white jeans and black cropped pants. Turquoise jewelry from Chico’s (last year) and my baroque pearl, tiger eye stones, and freshwater pearls jewelry from Farra Jewelry.

I wore the pearls that were gifted to me from Farra Jewelry. I love wearing pearls all year long, and you can wear them with jeans or dress up for dinner!

I only brought 2 sets of jewelry and turquoise goes well with white and black.

Shop the Evening Style

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I flew in this outfit because Atlanta is too hot to wear, and I also wore it out for dinner. Black linen top and pants with the gauze shirt dress used as a duster. I wore the top and pants to Coral Gables too!

 

My next stop is Nashville! Are you going on vacation before Labor Day?

Thanks for stopping by today!

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