Transport

The Skytrain is the light rail in Vancouver that can take you from the airport directly into downtown and around the city. You can buy and use a Compass Card for the the Skytrain, Buses and Seabus but they also accept contactless credit card. More info on transport like fares, how to pay and planning your route can be found here https://www.translink.ca/rider-guide/visiting-vancouver

Vancouver also has Uber, Lyft and Taxis. Our experience with Taxi's has not been great, they're fine to get from the airport but otherwise they can be difficult to find and since they work in zones throughout the city they will sometimes refuse to take you out of their zone. We'd recommend Uber and Lyft for most people.

Areas to stay

Tourism Vancouver has a good guide to different neighbourhoods in the city.

Downtown is generally clean, dense and safe. Its full of highrise apartments, high street shopping and chain restaurants. It's also ringed by the seawall which is a great amenity to walk, run or cycle along. Granville street and Davie street have many bars and nightclubs. If that's your thing then great but if you’re looking for a quieter spot we would suggest Yaletown or the West End.

Accommodation will be a bit more spacious and probably cheaper outside of downtown, and there are some really nice spots. Just make sure that there is a skytrain or bus close for ease. We'd recommend East Vancouver (where we live), Main Street, Mt. Pleasant or Kitsilano as nice places to stay close to downtown.

Sadly, Vancouver has expensive housing and a fentanyl crisis that has resulted in a lot of homelessness and untreated mental illness that is concentrated in the Downtown Eastside area. So we wouldn't recommend staying near there but neighbouring Gastown and Chinatown are definitely worth a visit—you might even recognize streets from movies and tv shows (its fairly common to spot a celebrity filming something here).

Things to do

Vancouver

• Sea Wall - The sea wall is a waterfront path that wraps around Stanley park and extends all the way to Spanish Banks park, it's 28k in total. We recommend renting bikes and doing the Stanley park section (9k), it's one way for cyclists so makes sure you go anticlockwise around the park.
• Granville Island - Granville Island is just south of downtown with boutique shops and a famous food market. They also do food tours on the island. If you are coming from downtown it's nice to get the short False Creek Ferry across from Sunset beach.
• Harbour Air - Pricey, but how often do you get to fly in a sea plane? You can do a tour of Vancouver, Victoria or Whistler and land back in the same destination or if you are planning to visit any of those locations, you can do a one way flight. Getting to downtown Victoria only takes 35 mins by sea plane, which is very fast compared to the 1 hour 30 mins it takes on the ferry, plus travel time to the ferry terminals.
• Jet skiing - Again, a little on the expensive side but the 2.5 hour 'ocean is yours' sea doo tour is honestly so much fun! Starting at Granville Island, you head out the Burrard Inlet go past lighthouse park and turn back to the city once you get to Bowen Island.
• Museum of Anthropology - MOA, located in UBC, is well worth a visit. It focuses on the history and artifacts from the First Nations community. They have a tour that runs twice a day, we would advise to line up your visit with the tour time.
• Chinese Garden - Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is an authentic representation of Ming Dynasty-era Chinese Garden. We were really impressed by the garden, it's small but every detail of the garden has been considered. Tours are included in admission.
• Science World - Great to visit with kids, it has lots of interactive learning. Good trip for a rainy day!
• Flyover Canada - Simulated hang-glider ride that brings you though all the provinces in Canada.

North Shore

• Grouse Grind - "Mother Nature's Stairmaster", seriously, it's just uphill for 2.9k but at the top you are rewarded with a sweeping view over Vancouver. There is a cafe where you can recover with a beer. There are two rescue grizzlies, Grinder and Coola that you can visit at the top, as well as a bunch more family-friendly activities. You can't go down the grind, only up, so you will need to purchase a 'Download' gondola ticket to return. If you don't feel up to the challenge or have young kids you can go both up and down on the Gondola.