Vancouver Travel Guide

Getting There By Air

Airlines operating direct flights to Vancouver from the UK include British Airways, Air Canada and Air Transat. Other carriers flying to Vancouver include American Airlines, KLM and Lufthansa.

Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
Tel: (604) 207 7077.
Website: www.yvr.ca

Vancouver International Airport is located 15km (9 miles) southwest of the city center. The international and domestic terminals are connected directly to one another. The South Terminal (linked by shuttle bus) handles floatplane and helicopter services, which are also available to the Downtown waterfront on Burrard Inlet.

Airport facilities
These include the Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel, duty-free and other shops, restaurants, bars, nursery, bureau de change, ATMs, post office, left luggage, pharmacy, medical clinic, Wi-Fi and health spa. Business facilities include the CDS Business Center in the international terminal. The Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel also has conference facilities. Car hire is available from Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National and Thrifty.

Transport to the city
The cheapest way into the city is via the new Canada Line SkyTrain route (a light rapid transit system; journey time to Downtown - 20 to 26 minutes). Fares and timetables are available from TransLink (tel: (604) 953 3333; www.translink.bc.ca). The taxi fare to Downtown is about C$25 (journey time - 25 minutes). Coaches are also available to Seattle, Victoria and Whistler.

Approximate flight times to Vancouver
From London is 9 hours 35 minutes; from New York is 6 hours 10 minutes; from Los Angeles is 2 hours 40 minutes; from Toronto is 4 hours 50 minutes and from Sydney is 14 hours 5 minutes.

Getting There By Road

A system of provincial highways links Vancouver with cities in the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast, as well as the US border. Traffic drives on the right and the minimum driving age is 16 years. Maximum speed limits are 80-100kph (50-62mph) on highways and 50kph (31mph) or less in built-up areas. It is legal to turn right at a red light. Visitors to Vancouver may drive on their national driving licenses for up to six months, and third-party legal liability insurance is required. Although there is very little snowfall in Vancouver, it can be heavy throughout the rest of the province in the winter, so snow tires (and chains in mountainous regions) are a necessity if you plan to travel beyond the city. The British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA) offers travel planning, insurance and other services to motorists (tel: (604) 268 5555; www.bcaa.com).

Emergency breakdown services
BCAA (tel: (604) 293 2222 or 1 800 222 4357/CAA HELP).

Routes to the city
The Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) passes through the Rockies on its way from Calgary and the rest of Canada. From Seattle, Interstate 5 becomes Highway 99 at the border; north of Vancouver, Highway 99 is known as the Sea to Sky Highway and follows the coast from Whistler to the city. Ferries from Vancouver Island arrive at Tsawwassen or Horseshoe Bay ferry terminals, which are linked to Vancouver via Highway 99, to the south and north of the city respectively.

Driving times to the city
From Whistler - 2 hours; Victoria - 2 hours 30 minutes (including ferry crossing); Seattle - 3 hours; Calgary - 11 hours 30 minutes.

Coach services
Pacific Central Station is the main coach station and is directly adjacent to the main rail station at 1150 Station Street. Greyhound Canada (tel: (604) 661 0328; www.greyhound.ca) runs services from destinations within the province (including Nanaimo and Whistler) and further afield. Pacific Coach Lines (tel: (604) 662 7575; www.pacificcoach.com) operates services from Victoria (journey time - 3 hours 45 minutes) while Cantrail Coach Lines (tel: (604) 294 5541; www.cantrail.com), Quick Shuttle (tel: (604) 940 4428; www.quickcoach.com) and US-based Greyhound (tel: 1 800 231 2222; www.greyhound.com) offer services from Seattle (journey time - about 4 hours).

Getting There By Rail

Rail Services
VIA Rail (tel: 1 888 842 7245; www.viarail.ca) is the national rail service provider. The infrequent rail services are generally reliable, and standards within the carriages are high. A large number of passengers choose rail for the scenic trip, rather than to get from A to B. Pacific Central Station is the terminus for the main transcontinental lines. It is located at 1150 Station Street, adjacent to the main coach station.

Rail Operators
VIA Rail operates the transcontinental Canadian service. This thrice-weekly train passes through Winnipeg, Edmonton and Jasper on its four-day journey from Toronto. Amtrak (tel: 1 800 872 7245; www.amtrakcascades.com) provides a daily service from Seattle (journey time - 4 hours). The privately run Rocky Mountaineer (tel: (604) 606 7245; www.rockymountaineer.com) offers services from Calgary and Jasper with an overnight stop in Kamloops so that the entire rail journey through the scenic Rockies is in daylight. The thrice-weekly service runs from mid-April to mid-October. Rocky Mountaineer also runs a service – formerly known as Whistler Mountaineer – that travels along Howe Sound and then inland to Whistler from May to October.

Getting Around in Vancouver, British Columbia

Public Transport

TransLink (tel: (604) 953 3333; www.translink.bc.ca) operates city buses and the SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express services. A regular bus service (branded Coast Mountain Bus) is supplemented by the limited 'Owl' night bus service.

Vancouver's clean and efficient SkyTrain is an automated light rapid transit system with a handful of underground stops Downtown and an elevated track for the rest of its journey through the suburbs.

You can transfer at Waterfront Station to the SeaBus, a catamaran ferry that regularly connects Downtown with North Vancouver (journey time - 12 minutes).

Fares for all three modes of transport are based on a three-zone system. Transfers are valid for 90 minutes from the start of the journey. Exact change is required on buses, while tickets for the SkyTrain and SeaBus are available at ticket windows and machines. You must validate tickets before entering the fare zone. A cheaper all-zone fare is available at evenings and weekends.Books of 10 tickets and day passes valid for all of the above modes of transport in all zones are available.

Other transportation options include the West Coast Express, a commuter rail service connecting Waterfront SkyTrain Station with a number of cities in the Fraser Valley. Connecting a number of points on either side of False Creek are tiny passenger ferries operated by private companies Aquabus (tel: (604) 689 5858; www.theaquabus.com) and False Creek Ferries (tel: (604) 684 7781; www.granvilleislandferries.bc.ca). Day passes are available.

Taxis

Taxis are readily available at taxi ranks or by telephone and can easily be hailed in the Downtown area, although they can be difficult to find elsewhere in the city. The main taxi firms are Yellow Cab Company (tel: (604) 681 1111) and Black Top & Checker Cabs (tel: (604) 731 1111). Minivan taxis are available upon request. A tip of 15% is customary.

Driving in the City

As Vancouver is spread out over a series of islands and peninsulas, the main traffic bottlenecks are the region's bridges, notably during rush hours. There are no highways in the center of the city, so driving is slower and more time should be allowed to reach a destination. It is usually easier to take public transport and/or walk in downtown Vancouver.

Outside of Downtown, north-south roads are named Streets and east-west roads are numbered Avenues. It is easy to locate addresses on north-south streets by subtracting 16 from the first two digits of the address, to find the corresponding block (for example, 2630 Main Street would be between 10th and 11th Avenues). Ontario Street divides the city into East and West (all of Downtown's streets are West).

Parking, run by EasyPark Vancouver (tel: (604) 682 6744; www.easyparkvancouver.com), is readily available in underground and multi-story car parks in the downtown area.

Car Hire

Centrally located car hire companies include Avis, 757 Hornby Street (tel: (604) 606 2869; www.avis.ca), Budget BC, 416 West Georgia Street (tel: (604) 668 7000; www.budgetbc.com), National, 1185 West Georgia Street (tel: (604) 609 7150; www.nationalcar.ca), and Thrifty, 413 Seymour Street (tel: (604) 606 1666; www.thrifty.com). A local provider is Lo-Cost Auto Rentals, 1835 Marine Drive, North Vancouver (tel: (604) 986 1266; www.locostrental.com).

Drivers under 25 years of age may face certain restrictions and those aged 19 to 21 may have to pay a surcharge. All drivers are required to pay the Passenger Vehicle Rental Tax and other government fees, federal and provincial sales taxes, plus a surcharge of around 15% for airport rentals. Rates do not include taxes or other incidentals (such as insurance, drop-off fees, petrol or mileage charges, etc). Those hiring a car should always check whether or not the minimum insurance requirements are included in the price of hire.

For excursions into British Columbia's wilderness, a campervan (known as a recreational vehicle or RV) offers a great deal of flexibility. Westcoast Mountain Campers, 11800 Voyageur Way, Richmond (tel: (604) 279 0550; www.wcmcampers.com), and Traveland RV Supercenter, 20529 Langley Bypass, Langley (tel: (604) 530 8141; www.travelandrvcanada.com), are two options.

Bicycle Hire

The best place to hire a bicycle or the popular in-line skates is around Robson Street and Denman Street, near Stanley Park. Bayshore Bicycle & Rollerblade Skate Rentals, 745 Denman Street (tel: (604) 688 2453; www.bayshorebikerentals.ca) and Spokes Bicycle Rentals, 1798 West Georgia Street (tel: (604) 688 5141; www.vancouverbikerental.com) are both worth checking out. The city is considering developing a public bike share system similar to those in Paris and Montreal, but proposals have not yet been confirmed.

Along the seawall and within Stanley Park, cyclists should watch for signs indicating if trails may be shared with pedestrians or are pedestrian-only. Elsewhere, the city has a well-marked system of over 300km (186 miles) of bike paths and on-road bike routes, with an ongoing program to increase and improve bikeways. Hills and heavy traffic on the bridges may be challenging for inexperienced riders however. Bicycle helmets are required by law and the same traffic rules for cars apply to cyclists. The City of Vancouver (tel: (604) 871 6070 for bike hotline; www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/cycling) provides further information and a downloadable bike map.