Olympic Vancouver

Now  that we get close to the Winter Olympic games in 2010 in Vancouver, I get many questions at Cruise.co.uk about cruises that dock in Vancouver in this period.
I agree so much that Vancouver is a nice city to visit, a very compact center and great views and excursion options. Unfortunately it will be very hard to get on a cruise that docks in Vancouver during the Olympics.
Please send me an email at [email protected] or call me from the UK on my free number 0800 408 6084, so I can do my best to find you a cruise in that period.

Where You’re Docked
Ships dock at Canada Place or Ballantyne Pier.
Canada Place, at the northern end of Burrard Street, is smack downtown. Ballantyne Pier is accessible by taxi, 10 minutes from the city center. Vancouver International Airport is 40 minutes by airport bus or taxi from downtown.

Getting Around
If you confine your travels to the downtown peninsula and False Creek, you won’t need a car. If you want to ride around Stanley Park, tour companies that include the drive are Gray Line and Vancouver Trolley Company.

To go further afield you’ll need to join a bus tour or rent a vehicle.

For the short leap from the downtown peninsula to Granville Island, hop a small passenger ferry (Aquabus) near the foot of Davie Street, or from the dock behind the Vancouver Aquatic Centre (False Creek Ferries). From Granville Island you can connect to Vanier Park and its museums to the west, or to Telus Science World to the east.

The commuter SeaBus carries passengers from Waterfront Centre, directly east of Canada Place, across Burrard Inlet to the Lonsdale Quay.

What to See and Do
Gastown is where Vancouver began. Today it’s a welcoming precinct of cobblestone streets and shops. Next-door Chinatown remains a small slice of the Orient, particularly along lively Pender and Keefer streets, east of Main.

Thousand-acre Stanley Park maintains best-attraction status. The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, at the east end of the park, is world-class.

Across the Lions Gate Bridge in North Vancouver, Capilano Suspension Bridge, with its new Treetops Adventure, introduces both a spectacular river canyon and the opportunity to view it all from the bower above.

At Granville Island, don’t confine yourself to the public market. Amble through the Net Loft and on to Railspur Alley for more artisans and crafts. Continue as far as the Granville Island Hotel for a pint at the Dockside Pub and Brewery.

UBC’s Museum of Anthropology (6393 N.W. Marine Dr.), with its collection of authentic totem poles from remote coastal settlements, should not be overlooked.