How I Spent 24 Hours in Vancouver

I promised before I leave for my next trip I would wrap up all of my previous travel posts so here we go!  At the end of April / the beginning of May I spent one full day in Vancouver on my way back from a business trip and fit a lot in from mid-day Saturday to mid-day Sunday and wanted to give you all a run down!  Here is how I spent 24 Hours in Vancouver: 

I stayed in the heart of the city at the Four seasons Hotel Vancouver which was wonderfully centrally located to all of the local attractions. Prior to arriving I had mapped out everything I had wanted to do and started with one of the places I was most excited about Granville Island.  I walked the 20 minutes from the hotel to catch the Aquabus at Horbny Street Dock and traveled the three minutes across False Creek to Granville Island.  This adorable island has so much going on, even in the rain, but my favorite was the Public Market filled to the brim with beautiful shops and stalls selling everything from fresh flowers and berries to local products and crafts. 

After a working up quite an appetite exploring I headed to Edible Canada at the Market for lunch at the recommendation of a friend. She told me that the avocado toast was not to be missed – avocado toast with poached eggs, hothouse tomatoes, roasted garlic, mushrooms, hollandaise, grilled sourdough, and a five spice balsamic reduction.  SO delicious and the mojito wasn’t bad either – who says you can’t drink at lunch on vacation? 

After a delicious lunch and a bit more exploring of  Granville Island I got back on the Aquabus but in a different direction, taking back to Yaletown and exploring that area  including a few tourists stops to pick up team gifts  (read: maple candy).  I kept walking even though it was drizzling to the Gastown district as I really wanted to see the famed Gatstown Steam Clock which was quite neat!  By then it was late afternoon and I was seriously considering heading out of the city to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park but the combination of the rain and and my exhaustion won out so opted for a nap instead. 

After my nap I was quite refreshed and decided to walked to Chinatown, through the Vancouver Chinatown Millennium Gate. I wanted to have dinner at Phnom Penh, a hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant praised by Anthony Bourdain and Julia Child, but with a two hour wait for one I decided to skip and go to another highly rated spot, Bao Bei.   Not a bad Plan-B when your backup is rated #21 of 2,951 of the restaurants in Vancouver and every dish I had was incredible, especially the crispy pork belly, shown below, which was served with radish, cucumbers, pickled ginger, mint, crispy potatoes, and a Vietnamese cilantro root dressing –yum! 

After that I went to Mosquito, a dessert bar and champagne lounge, for after dinner treat which was incredible.  I ordered something very decant and chocolate and while I really should have written it down to recount it for you all here you will just have to believe me it was gorgeous and take a look at their seasonal menu which has sense changed to get an idea of the sweet treats!

Up early on Sunday morning, coffee at Tim Hortons, because, when in Canada and then I put my research to the test renting the local Vancouver version of New York’s Citi Bike called Mobi.    I rented one and biked around all of Stanley park including the Harbourfront Seawall which that early in the morning was still shaded so it was quite cold but very beautiful.  instead of returning the bike where i got in I decided to go on a bigger loop passed English Bay beach, down to Canada Place, and then back to the hotel – a good 15 mile ride by my estimates!

I managed to squeeze a lot in and if I go back I will certainly make a point to try actually get into Phnom Penh as well as a few places I missed including Rodney’s Oyster House in Yaletown, the Reflections Rooftop bar  at the top of hotel Georgia, and a placed called Rain or Shine Homemade Ice Cream” and their insta-worthy ice cream tacos!

I am a bit worried that I will only be spending 26 hours in Helsinki when I visit in two weeks but going over how much I was able to pack into a small period of time without feeling too rushed is making me feel much better about it! 

Have you ever been to Vancouver?