Vancouver is my favorite city in Canada and also its third largest city. It is a terrific place to visit because it is so beautiful, and has been voted the most beautiful city to live in. The city is nestled between the Coast Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It is also a diverse city with the second largest Chinatown in North America, just behind San Francisco.

There are loads of things to do when you take a Vancouver vacation, these can vary depending on the time of year but here are a few of the best:

Skiing and Snowboarding – Vancouver is a world famous skiing destination, with Whistler Mountain ranked as one of the best in the world. The more local destination of North shore is always popular because it is so close to the city, with Cypress Mountain (which has great views of the city) and Mount Seymour coming out as favorites. Each of the ski areas offers a variety of runs and offer ski/snowboard equipment for hire. If you are here in the summer don’t worry there is also great mountain biking and breath taking hiking.

Vancouver Aquarium – This is Canada’s largest aquarium and is a non-profit organization dedicated to conserving and saving sea-life. They have awesome daily shows like dolphin, shark and otter shows – not together – a range of shops and eateries, animal encounters and even do sleepovers for families and school groups. It is a great place to visit and really interesting – highly recommended.

Grouse Mountain – There is a great deal to do all through the year on Grouse Mountain and it normally offers fantastic views of the city. In the winter there is skiing, snowboarding, ice skating and sleigh rides, in the summer there are helicopter rides, bird shows, a lumberjack show, spectacular hiking and paragliding. On the mountain are a range of restaurants and shops and even a cinema. To get up the mountain you can either take the sky tram or hike but be warned that hiking is very hard.

Granville Market – Granville Island is heralded as a success of urban planning, as the island used to be a derelict industrial park. In the 70’s the government cleaned it up and encouraged investment, the result today is an entertainment and shopping Mecca. For me the main thing here is the market where every ingredient and food type that you can imagine is available. Everything is fresh and delicious and far too tempting. There is also a great and sometimes real unusual shopping as well as theatres, galleries and street performances. The market is open from 9 till 7 everyday but closes early on some public holidays. To get to the island you can go by bus, boat, aqua bus, car, on foot or by bicycle, not to of course mention parachute, handglider, helicopter etc… although I am not sure the last three are allowed.

Take a Vancouver vacation and you will be in for a great time, the nightlife scene is great, there is loads of shopping, great food and there is loads to see. Definitely my favorite place in Canada.