I’ve been to the West Coast many times but never on the Canadian side of the border. I was recently  in Vancouver and had a few days to discover the city. I’m certain I missed out on a lot of things I could have done but let me share the few places I got to see and some of the restaurant discoveries I made.

The way I like to discover a city is walking it as much as possible or taking public transport to get a feel of the daily urban life. Equipped with a daily bus pass, an umbrella and a good pair of waterproof shoes I started my daily journey from Downtown to Granville Island only a short 15 minutes bus ride away.

Granville Island is an urban oasis with waterfront restaurants, galleries, unique shops and cafes. There’s also a fresh food market that offers a variety of food and gift shops from local vendors. I didn’t have much time on my schedule so I only walk around the Market and then grab a quick breakfast at one of the restaurants. After taking a few pictures I did a quick tour before continuing on my daily adventure.

After a quick stop at the Pacific Center for some shopping we headed out to Stanley Park. The scenery was beautiful even if the entire city was pretty much covered with fog. We did a good 2 hours walk taking in the view and stopping for some pictures but as we started to get soaked wet (yes it was pouring all day) we headed back to our hotel the Westin Grand to dry and change before diner.

Since it was a short weekend of discovery and work started Monday I had a quick hour for lunch to go and take the scenery of a beautiful sunny day and blue sky at Canada Place. I wish I had more time to visit but that will be for next time as this trip was a nice and quick exploratory visit.

As for food Vancouver as lots of great places to try for all kind of cuisine and budgets. Here’s a short list of the places I tried while I was there, again it’s limited as I wasn’t there for very long but I still got to enjoy some of the great food the city has to offer. Click on the links to see my reviews of those restaurants.

Straight Outta Brooklyn Pizza 

Brix and Mortar

Cactus Club Cafe

Miku

Hapa Izakaya

If you’ve been to Vancouver of if you’re planning a visit, leave me some activities or restaurants I should try in the comments.