What’s Crackin’: Vancouver Winter Spots

• Jan
  10th

Our apartment in Vancity tends to be somewhat of a hostel. We have random friends from all over the world crash at our place while they are visiting the city. People from Australia, New York, Toronto, Europe, and this weekend we had two friends from Portland kicking it. They asked me what they should check out, so here’s what I came up with for a rainy weekend in Van.

Grouse Mountain

15 minutes from city, this is a convenient spot for beautiful views of Vancouver. If the weather is decent, you should hike up Grouse or the BCMC with waterproof hikers. If it’s pouring rain, you can take the tram up and still enjoy the amazing view of the city. If it’s snowing, bring your board up and hit the slopes!

Whistler

A little bit further, but the Sea to Sky highway is really nice drive for anyone who hasn’t been to the coast. Please do not go to whistler and just to check out the village and even worse, take the gondola/peak to peak without wearing ski/snowboarding boats. Unless you have some sort of injury, you NEED to actually ski/snowboard to enjoy the mountains to the fullest.

Granville Island

Classic tourism spot right in the middle of the city. Cute little shops, an art school, unique restaurants, theatres, galleries, and random street performers. The Public Market is a great place to go for lunch and the seawall is nice for an afternoon walk. For dinner, I would check out Sandbar for an amazing view of the water and downtown.

Clubs/Pubs on Granville Street

Instead of picking a particular club for my friends to go to, I told them to just bar hop up and down Granville. There are so many different spots to choose from, so you can make a game time decision when you get there. It all depends on your mood at the time: if you are feeling chill, hit up a bar like Doolins, or if you feel like going hard, check out Caprice. For the more adventurous try the newly fixed up Cobalt or the always wild Funky’s!

Canuck’s Game At Rogers

If you can get a hold of a pair of tickets, cheer on the Canucks as they defeat any team in the league. Vancouver fans love their team, so my advice is to not show up wearing an opposing team’s jersey unless you intend on getting chirped.

Shopping on Robson

Vancouver’s most famous shopping street in the heart of downtown. Not the best spot if it’s raining or if you are a broke student, but definitely great for your shopaholics with some cash flow.

Vancouver Aquarium

Yay! Indoors! To escape the rain, head to the aquarium in Stanley Park. This non-profit association showcases some of the coastal aquatic life and provides a relaxing outing for families and couples.

Gastown

Walk down the cobbled streets of Gastown and read the signs to learn of about the history of Vancouver. At night, this area has some of the dope bars/clubs, such as Shine, the Lamplighter, Guilt and Post Modern.

Commercial Drive

Here you’ll find the most diverse mix of people, dining, shopping and entertainment that Vancouver has to offer. African and Italian food, dreadlocks and hippies, and there’s a good chance someone will try and sell you weed.

Other popular spots include Science World, Canada Place, Chinatown and the Art Gallery.

Baby Boo

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