After arriving via train in Seattle we grabbed a rental car and headed up to Vancouver, British Columbia. The drive was about 4 hours which included a 45 minutes to cross the border. In Vancouver we stayed in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood near City Hall. From here we were able to take public transportation, walk or drive into the city.

Architectural Walking Tour
The Architectural Institute of British Columbia hosts walking tours throughout Vancouver every day of the week. Their color-coded schedule leads much to be desired though as we meant to take the Gastown: Historic Beginnings of Vancouver tour but ended up on the Downtown: The business core of Vancouver. This was immediately obvious to us since the both tours started at the AIBC’s headquarters in Gastown but about 10 minutes without the tour title being discussed at any point we put two and two together. It was nice to have a guided walk around Vancouver but we weren’t really interested in the business district. One of the things we did learn about Vancouver, is much like all great cities it was burned to the ground at one point in the Great Vancouver Fire.

Harbour Centre

After the tour we headed up to the restaurant at the top of the Harbour Centre which rotates for a 360 degree view of the city. It was great to get a visual scale of the city and the surrounding area.

North Vancouver

For a quick afternoon trip we took the Water Taxi across to North Vancouver and visited the Lonsdale Quay market. North Vancouver is a commuter neighborhood about 15 minutes via ferry across the harbor from Vancouver.

Postmark Brewing Company

Just past the Eastern edge of Gastown sits the Postmark Brewing Company which is part of The Settlement Building brand collective, this includes a bakery, restaurant, winery and brewery. We didn’t eat their but we sat near the food service window and everything look great.

Port of Vancouver

We took a tour of the Port of Vancouver which is the largest sea port in Canada and the fourth largest in North America by tonnage. It’s hard to appreciate the setting of a large city, mountains and the ocean in the midst of an massive active shipping port.

Side Notes:

*Julie insisted we stop by the Rogers Arena so we could inquire about championship t-shirts at the Canucks team store.