Kshana

Additional Tips Cab Fares: Staying in Century Plaza - a cab ride should be less than CAD $12 to any of the locations. Chinese Garden was the farthest and it was between CAD $10-12. Mass Transit: Skytrain tickets will work in buses for a transfer (I believe up-to 90 minutes after purchase). Foreign Exchange Transaction Fee: Check your Credit Card to see which ones do not charge a foreign exchange transaction fee. These are between 1-3% and can quickly add-up if your card levies one. Foreign Exchange Rate : You want the best exchange rate possible so try different cards and log-in to your account the next day to understand what exchange rate was provided by your credit-card company. I tried multiple cards (AmEx, Chase Visa and Citi Mastercard) and all had fair, and about the same, exchange rates. Credit Card: Also, inform your credit card company that you will be traveling. Initially, my Chase card did not work here. Mobile Phone: If you are traveling from the U.S.A. and hav...

Day Two - Evening: Chinese Garden The Chinese Garden is unique in that it's one of two gardens in North America that was designed using materials from China and Chinese artisans. This was about 30m walk from our hotel, exhausting after a full day in Granville Island. A cab ride is CAD $10-$12. During Fall season, the last tour is at 4:30 PM (full schedule  here ). Aim to catch the last tour - which is included in the entry fee. We ended up missing this - but most people and guide books recommend the in-person tour highly. Tip:  If you do miss the last tour, then plan on going in at 5:30 since the ticket is half-price then and 30m is sufficient to do a self-guided tour, which is what we did. Also plan on spending 20m or so in the adjacent park, which is free for public. Head back to your Hotel.

Day Two - Morning: Granville Island Granville Island has this amazing enclosed  Farmer's Market, a good kids play place and a street with artists and art-studios . We left around 10:30 AM for Granville Island, which was a very short walk and then a short boat ride from hotel. The round-trip boat ride costs ~$5 / adult and it's 5-7m. We reached there around 11:00 AM. If you are traveling with children, check out Kid's place first. There, they have an enclosed slide and play area where for $10, you get a day entry for kids to play. When you check-in, the child and you receive a matching token number. They'll let the children in through the singly entry/exit door and won't let them out until you come back with the matching token number. Also, they allow multiple entries throughout the day. Do plan around lunch and children's toilet breaks. The Kid's palace play area allows you to explore the island by yourself, and the children to enjoy play...

Day One - Evening: Canada Place We returned the bike and walked back to the hotel. We were in our room a little before 4PM. We rested (and watched Kung-fu Panda) until about 5:30 PM and then left for Canada Place. This is about a 20m walk from the hotel. In my mind, the picture above that I took from Canada Place is symbolic of Vancouver - a modern, beautiful building on the backdrop of a calm ocean and rugged mountain. A small human settlement against a vast and serene natural landscape. If you had the time and the inclination, I think it would be a great experience to have dinner at the edge of Canada place as pictured in this video - especially if there's live music as there was in the video I took below. We just walked over, stood for a bit and had dinner at the Subway nearby. Then we walked on Canada place - a pier that displays part of Canada's history, culture and ethos. They also have a Virtual Tour upstairs which seemed very interesting - but at $20...

Day One - Morning: Stanley Park Stanley park is the largest urban park in North America, larger than New York's Central Park. Of course, you can't cover 1000+ Acres in a day so focus on the highlights, which a route called the SeaWall - a trail on the edge of the Park and the ocean.  We started from our hotel at around 10:45 AM - walked ~25m and then rented a bike from Spokes, which is at the entrance of Stanley park. I highly recommend renting a bike - it's fun, healthy and you are riding with a lot of locals along the trail. You do have the option of local loop bus that has a pickup and drop-off service at different spots along the route. Here are some details that will be helpful if you decide to rent a bike This is specific to Spokes since that's where we rented from, but I did notice there were many bike rental places around the park. $7.52 / Hour for my bike (this was the cheapest option). $9.50 / Hour for my wife's mountain bike. We needed to ren...

In this Six part series - I'll outline specific itinerary  details of our trip to Vancouver in two days. The goal is to cover the highlights of this beautiful city if you have only two days to visit it. Without further ado, let's begin ... Arrive in Vancouver Vancouver is confident, beautiful and distinctive. It has a fresh, clean, skyscraper studded city look with a scenic, natural backdrop. It is chareteristically unique and well worth a visit. One of the most striking thing about Vancouver is it's sprarky newness which stands out against the wild western frontier. I was intially planning on skipping Vancouver and instead visiting Whistler but I am glad I did not. You'll be glad to, to have visited this amazing city. Pre-Work Book your accommodations (I recommend central Downtown). Plan your trip details from the Airport to your Accommodations. If arriving late, also have plans ready for next day. I booked my hotel through Priceline (details here) f...