Vancouver Travel Guide in 6 Days!

It was my 30th birthday on October 1st, and all I really wanted was to be someplace other than LA –

Like Kauai, Vancouver has been on my list for quite some time now – luckily flights were extremely affordable beginning of October – so with no hesitation, my travel buddy, Lauren and I decided to book our next adventure!

Vancouver was such a lovely city; it reminded me of – Chicago, Sydney, NYC. It has such a great variety and was a nice change of pace from LA; and despite the cooler weather, the food, atmosphere, and people were incredible.

I was in Vancouver for 6 days, I had flown a day earlier than Lauren but didn’t really do much other than grab dinner the night before. So with the remaining 5 full days, we both were there, I’d say we explored and conquered a good amount of what Vancouver has to offer! That is why today, I am super excited to finally share with you my Vancouver trip! I’ll give you the low down on what we did daily with links of all the tasty food we ate, fun things we did, and handy tips you don’t want to miss out on!

If you plan on headed there soon or are just curious to know what this beautiful city has to offer, then KEEP READING! 🙂

Day 1:

Arrival and Transportation

I arrived in Vancouver in the evening; the customs were a breeze, didn’t take too long. Before I headed out, I decided to convert some money to use during my trip. You can find an exchange desk right before the exit. One of the things I found interesting was Uber/Lyft was not yet available in Vancouver!? Luckily, cabs were easy to find (there’s a cab line outside of the exit), but you also have the option to take public transit as well.

The airport ride to my hotel was fairly quick, it was about 30 minutes away, and I think I paid around C$40 (with tip) from the airport to downtown Vancouver.

Accommodation

The first 3 days of my Vancouver trip I stayed at EXchange Vancouver Hotel – located right in the downtown area, walking distance to everything – which was nice since I did not plan on renting a car.

Food & Drinks

Though I was quite tired from traveling that day, I forced myself to explore a bit and grab dinner – while walking around it made me remember the times of living in the city and totally made me miss it!

HYDRA BAR – 475 Howe Street

While I made my rounds, I ended up at the restaurant/bar next door from my hotel – Hydra – a Mediterranean restaurant; super cozy and modern. I ended up just having some drinks and a few mini appetizers downstairs at their bar, then called it a night!

Price: $$$
Opened Mon-Fri 11 – 3 PM Lunch, Tues-Sun 5 – 10 PM Dinner
Mezze Bar 3 PM – Late
Happy Hour: 3-6 PM
My Food Rating: 5 Stars
Mezze Food Recommendations & Tips: Grilled Octopus! Great for lounging and having drinks; a quiet, intimate setting.

Day 2:

It was my 30th birthday (October 1st) and Lauren finally made it to Vancouver. We had a fun-filled and long day ahead!

Food

SUSHI YAMA – 371 E. Broadway

We started off our day with food – we were both so hungry! For lunch, we stumbled upon this delicious sushi spot called Sushi Yama – located just west from where we were staying, in an area called Mount Pleasant.

Price: $$
Opened Mon-Thurs, Sat-Sun 11:30 – 3:30 PM, 4:30 – 10 PM, Friday 11:30 – 3:30 PM, 4:30 – 11 PM
My Food Rating: 5 Stars
Food Recommendations & Tips: If you are looking for an affordable yet delicious sushi spot, this is where you should go! Everything was amazing and they have a great variety!

Activities and Tours

VANCOUVER TOONIE TOURS

On our very first full day of Vancouver, we signed up for a Street Art & Craft Beer Tour via a company called Toonie Tours Vancouver. Though I am not the biggest fan of beer, I thought it would be cool to see and learn the variety of art Vancouver had to offer. The tour lasted around 3 hours and was lead by one of their founders who took us around to see the stunning wall murals while stopping in and tasting a variety of malt grains at local breweries in the charactered neighborhood of Mt. Pleasant.

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My Review and Tips:

The tour was quite informative; the artwork around town was amazing and it was fun tasting all of the beers. If you like both, I would recommend.

Online it states beer samples and food are included. However, it was only covered at our first brewery stop, then all other breweries were paid out of my pocket – so make sure you bring extra cash or credit to purchase.

Tickets are $65; click here for the schedule.

Overall, it was a fun time but I am not sure if it’s worth the price, given the extra unexpected costs included. However, they do also offer other tours, such as a Free Walking Tour and Stanley Park Bike Tour which could be worth checking out.

Bars

GUILT & COMPANY – 1 Alexander Street

We ended our night at Guilt & Company located in Gastown. Though it was quite a blur at the end of the night; I do remember how amazing this place was! If you love live music and speakeasy feels, I totally recommend this spot! They were playing live music all night long — the girl who was performing that night was incredible — she even got the crowd dancing (this was on a Tuesday night by the way)!

Day 3:

Food

GYU-KAKU – G3-888 Nelson Street

Gyu-Kaku is a popular chain of Japanese yakiniku restaurants specializing in Japanese-Korean BBQ. I have been here countless times but I was craving major Asian food the next day, and Lauren has never tried it, so we opted to eat lunch here. I have been here countless times — and yet they never disappoint!

Price $
Open Daily – see times here.
Happy Hour – YES
Food Rating: 5 Stars
Food Recommendations and Tips: Great for everyone, very affordable and always amazing!

Activities & Tours

CYCLE CITY TOURS & RENTALS – 648 Hornby Street

What better way to explore more of Vancouver than to go on a bike ride?! I love biking but never get a chance to in LA – so it was perfect! On a major plus side, Vancouver seems to have their biking system down – no joke! Biking through the bustling streets, not once did I feel unsafe – they have separate bike lanes and lights for bikers, which was super easy and organized.

Just under a 15-minute walk from EXchange Hotel is a cycle shop called Cycle City Tours and Rentals. Lauren and I decided to rent bikes for the day and explore on our own. Though the company does offer various cycling tours – check it out here.

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My Review and Tips:

Absolutely LOVED it! It was a fun and chill way to go around Vancouver – we biked the Stanley Park route, making a detour at a few places including Prospect Point (it’s about 10-15 minutes bike up a steep hill, but the views are worth it!) and a cute spot called The Teahouse for some dessert and coffee.

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During our bike ride, we saw so much of beautiful Vancouver – I would totally rent bikes again.

Food & Drinks

DARK TABLE – 2511 West 4th Avenue

This restaurant offers guests with an interesting concept – you dine in the dark. Yep, pitch black. The concept of Dark Table was inspired by visually impaired servers who can’t see on a regular basis. I was intrigued so I booked a reservation prior to arriving in Vancouver.

Dark Table is an upscale restaurant, which can be pricy but I booked using this Groupon Deal – which was a great deal. It got us a 3-course dinner in the dark for two people at a price of C$59. I also added an additional Groupon code they were running that week so make sure you check if there is one available.

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It was definitely an experience, the food was amazing and I would totally recommend trying it at least once!

Day 4:

Food

HYDRA RESTAURANT – 475 Howe Street

Back again, but this time for some lunch – we ordered a variety of their dishes; I highly recommend their spreads and black cod – so amazing!

Accommodation

We checked out o EXchange Hotel and checked into St. Regis Hotel a few blocks down.

Activities & Tours

FLYOVER CANADA – 999 Canada Place

FlyOver Canada is a must tourist attraction for all travelers alike; the tour is about 25 minutes, including the 8 minutes you’ll spend soaring through Canada – it’s a ride you don’t want to miss out on!

VANCOUVER LOOKOUT – 555 W. Hastings Street

Another great tourist attraction is the Vancouver Lookout – located in the heart of Vancouver – you get a full 360 view of this beautiful city! Rates are based on age, view more here.

Food & Drinks

TOP OF VANCOUVER REVOLVING RESTAURANT – 555 W. Hastings Street

After you’re done admiring the 360 views of Vancouver, head one story down and visit their Revolving Restaurant.

This restaurant is called revolving for a reason! This upscale dining offers a combo of food and a panoramic view of Vancouver. The restaurant seating slowly rotates, making it possible to view the whole city in just one dinner.

We came here for drinks, though the service was super slow that night, the views were way better here than the actual lookout! If you plan on coming here, try to reserve a seat by the window!

Price: $$$$
Open Daily – visit website to view hours.

CACTUS CLUB CAFE – 1085 Canada Place

Cactus Club Cafe was the most recommended by locals – so you bet I had to stop by to see what the buzz was all about! We came here for food and more drinks right after the Revolving Restaurant, and dang, I can see why the locals loved it! The ambiance, people, music, and food were top-notch – and totally my scene! The food though was so good!! They had a happy hour too, which has a great variety of menu items for cheap!

This restaurant is a Canadian chain, they have a variety of locations all over Canada – I only visited once but it was a popular one – located right off the water on Canada Place.

Price: $$$
Open Daily, times vary. See times here.
Happy Hour: YES
Food Rating: 5 Stars
Food Recommendations and Tips: Definitely recommend their chicken and fries! This spot is great for just drinks or for dinner!

Day 5:

Activities and Tours

A WOK AROUND CHINATOWN

This was my most favorite and recommended tour for both tourists and locals alike – the Owner Robert Sung takes you on this cultural and culinary tour of Vancouver’s Chinatown; it’s both insightful and tasty! The tour lasts 3 hours and during this time you learn in-depth knowledge of Vancouver, stop at historical landmarks such as Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, indulge in Chinese culture, as well as taste some delicious Chinese cuisine. This tour is highly recommended – you won’t regret!

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The tour costs C$80 with a minimum of 2 persons. Price includes Chinese Garden admission and dim sum lunch. View more of the tour here.

Transportation

FALSE CREEK FERRIES

Riding a ferry is a great way to get around from one island to another or if you just want to be on the water! There are a few ferry companies, but we used False Creek Ferries to travel to Granville Island. The cost of the trip varies – depending on where you depart from. View more info here.

GRANVILLE ISLAND PUBLIC MARKET – 1669 Johnston Street

Granville Island is known for its public market, brewery and thriving artist community. Aside from the public market, the island offered various restaurants, bars, shopping, and tours on the water.

Lauren and I spent our 5th day exploring this cool island. Granville Island Public Market offered too many delicious choices to choose from – Lauren snagged a few gifts, and we both tried Lee’s Donuts (which was a popular recommend) and grabbed ourselves some pumpkin coffee!

Food & Drinks

LEE’S DONUTS – Located inside of Granville Island Public Market

The line may seem intimidating but trust me it goes by fast and it’s worth the wait regardless! I bought their strawberry frosted donut and Lauren got their glazed; even after waiting a day to eat, the donut lived up to its promises!

THE VANCOUVER FISH COMPANY – 1517 Anderson Street (Granville Island)

Before headed back, we stumbled upon this restaurant – not going to lie the happy hour sold us! The happy hour deals included C$5 glasses of wine; so we made a pit stop in! We ordered some of their HH apps as well, Lauren ordered their oysters (C$2 each) and I ordered their Spicy Sambal Chili Garlic Butter Prawns (C$9) – oh man, was everything fresh and delightful!

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If you find yourself wandering around Granville, definitely make a drop in! View the happy hour menu here.

PER SE SOCIAL CORNER – 891 Homer Street

This is another place we stumbled upon walking back to the hotel – and I am so glad we had dinner here. The ambiance, service, and food are top-notch! Impeccable Italian Tapa-style food – 5-star rating for me. View menu here.

Price: $$$
Open Daily
Food Rating: 5 Stars
Food Recommendations and Tips: Definitely try their lobster ravioli and pizza (we got the burrata pizza) – it’s such a great size and so amazing!

Day 6:

Activities and Tours

SCIENCE WORLD – 1455 Quebec Street

We could have not come on the worst day (not going to lie) – it was VERY crowded – do not come on the weekends and/or on free days (which we had no clue). Other than that, from a glimpse, it was cool to check out. I do recommend checking out their shows – we bought tickets for the Great Bear Rainforest and it was really cool learning about these creatures, not to mention we watched it in an awesome OMNIMAX dome screen, making it seem like we were there. Check out all the showtimes here or explore the website for more info.

VANCOUVER ART GALLERY – 750 Hornby Street

It was a nice change of pace to head to the art gallery after – way quieter and less crowded. The Vancouver Art Gallery has a permanent collection of about 111,000 artworks. Visit the website here for more info.

Food & Drinks

FAIRMONT PACIFIC RIM (The Lobby Lounge) – 1038 Canada Place

We ended our trip at Fairmont Pacific Rim for some drinks and food. This hotel is absolutely stunning – which is no surprise.

At the time we came in, they had live music happening, which was nice to enjoy while lounging in the lobby. We ordered their Crab and Avocado Guacamole and the sushi platter (which was more than enough food).

Price: $$$
Open Daily
Food Rating: 5 Stars
Food Recommendations and Tips: Great spot for drinks and lounging. Food and drinks were phenomenal, I recommend ordering what we got!

And that concludes our trip! Wow, after writing all of that, it’s safe to say Lauren and I covered at least 90% of Vancouver in only 6 days! The city overall was one of my favorites to date – despite the cold weather, I loved every moment of this trip! I will definitely be putting together a vlog very shortly – stay tuned!

If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I hope you all found this post to be very helpful on your next Vancouver trip! 🙂 Until next time.

INDEX SUMMARY:

Here is a list of all the restaurants/bars mentioned in this post:
–Hydra Bar
–Sushi Yama
–Guilt & Company
–Gyu Kaku
–Dark Table
–Revolving Restaurant
–Cactus Club Cafe
-Lee’s Donuts
–The Vancouver Fish Company
–Per Se Social Corner
-Fairmont Pacific Rim – The Lobby Lounge

Activities/Tours:
-Toonie Tours – Street Art & Craft Beer Tour
–Cycle City Tours & Rentals
–FlyOver Canada
–Vancouver Lookout
–A Wok Around Chinatown
-Granville Island Public Market
–Science World
–Vancouver Art Gallery

Accommodations:
–EXchange Hotel
–St. Regis Hotel

Thank you to Vancouver Tourism for making this trip extraordinary! As always, opinions are my own.

XO,

FANCY NANCY