Travel in Vancouver

tspilker · 05-02-2009, 09:22 PM

So SWMBO and I are planning a trip to Vancouver, BC for her birthday in June. She and I are very excited about it, but I was just wondering if anyone was from that area or has frequented the area and knows some "must stop" places for drinking pleasure.

We are staying at a hotel that apparently has a brewpub on site. She knows all of the details, and isn't here at the moment otherwise Id post them (ie the name of the establishment)

Also, more so than just beer, what are some cool things to do in the Vancouver, I figure its usually better to hear from someone who has been there instead of some tourism website.

Thanks

jbford · 05-02-2009, 11:44 PM

go to the aquarium, walk down Robson street, go to Chinatown. If you have several days, think about going over to Victoria, it is bitchin also.

**Denny's Evil Concoctions** · 05-03-2009, 12:20 AM

Best beer store is on Main and 15th. All types of imports. Though Russel, RB, storm are local. Phillips from Victoria is great.

Let me know what hotel and I'll tell you where to go from there.

Oh and you have to check out the cobalt on main. Bring your metal spiked jean jacket.

If you do pop over to Victoria, go to swans hotel near the water. Downtown. Best brewpub I've been in. Vic is full of breweries and brewpubs. I think at one point Swans had 24 brewpub beers on tap, including 4 -6 cask conditioned ales served witha beer pump. Great food too. God, I need to movbe back to that city.

**Nugent** · 05-03-2009, 05:45 AM

Vangroovy! Excellent!

First ... the beer. My recommendation is to hit the Alibi Room in Gastown (http://www.alibi.ca/) @ 157 Alexander St. It has keg upon keg of local microbrewed ales - some aren't available anywhere but there. The best brewpubs, IMHO, are Steamworks in Gastown and Dix in Yaletown . As for liquor stores, we have government liquor stores (varied selection, but no cold beer - grrrr!) or privates, like Brewery Creek, that Denny was talking about (15th ave and Main St.). There are a few others that you can check out here - CAMRA Vancouver: Campaigning for Real Ale, Pubs, and Drinkers' Rights - Guide.

As for attractions, aquarium, Gastown and, if you're looking for funky and laid-back, check out Commercial Drive, especially Stella's (Commercial and William St.) - great selection of Belgians. Check out the north shore mountains and Victoria is a great spot - British-style, great restaurants (Pagliacci's!) and brewpubs (Swans and Spinnakers). If you go to Spinnakers, have an IPA. it was the first IPA that I ever had, and I have been trying to mimick it ever since.

Please feel free to PM me with any other questions.

The weather has been great lately and it's looking good from now on.

**ChshreCat** · 05-03-2009, 06:40 AM

Never been to Vancouver, but I used to live walking distance to Victoria (via a 90 minute ferry ride) and can't recommend it more. Great place. When I was younger there was an ice cream shop on government street we'd go to to sit, eat ice cream and watch the hookers work outside.

There'd be one on each corner and we'd place bets on which one would get picked up first.

**Denny's Evil Concoctions** · 05-03-2009, 10:42 AM

Victoria is also great if you are a single male. 7 to 1 hot girl to guy ratio.

tspilker · 05-04-2009, 01:05 AM

So it sounds like this WILL be a good place to go. I guess my impression of Vancouver was just "that place the olympics will be next year"

SWMBO has picked a good destination, I am super excited. Thanks for all of your advice.

What are laws regarding home brewing in Canada like anyway? Also, what about the number of microbreweries? I guess I have never thought about the laws being different. Are there more breweries or less due to favorable/unfavorable alcohol laws?

**Nugent** · 05-04-2009, 03:52 AM

Brewing homebrew is regulated by the province. As long as you're not distilling moonshine, the laws are suprisingly straightforward. This is shocking since stupid bureaucracy regarding alcohol is a Canadian pastime. Pop into Dan's Homebrewing on Hastings St., if you have time.

There are some great microbreweries in Vancouver (R&B, Storm, Granville Island [a bigger microbrewery]), plus brewpubs (Steamworks, Dix, Yaletown, Central City [in a suburb outside of Van.]). A lot of smaller restaurants have R&B and Storm on tap, especially on the eastside. Check out the CAMRA Vancouver guide for some good beer spots. The Alibi Room is the place for microbrew variety, and it's more or less in the downtown.

Lots of patios in Vancouver, and the weather has been pretty good lately. Finally, in the past two-three years, you can sit on a patio and enjoy a few tasty microbrews without having to order food.

Enjoy your trip!

finn_ethan · 05-04-2009, 04:14 AM

Go to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.

Depending on the weather... Wreck beach (our famous nude beach) also at UBC.

Go to Granville Island (not actually an island, and in the middle of Vancouver) home of the Granville island brewery, the Market (all kinds of fresh food) and craft stores and restaurants - touristy yes, but very good. Take a water taxi from there downtown or vice versa.

x2 for the Aquarium (Better than honolulu, or Sydney, Aus.) walk around Stanley park when you're done.

-1 Robson street. (Ooo, Levis store... Aaah, the Gap)

The Chief is a huge monolith of granite an easy 1hr drive north of Vancouver
Stawamus Chief Park - Squamish British Columbia (BC) - StawamusChiefPark.ca You can walk to the top for free too.

Vancouver has an extremely diverse culture of citizens and therefore food. (English is probably a three way tie as the most common language with Chinese and Punjabi. You'll often hear 5 or more languages on a busy street or coffee shop!) Don't miss out on the food. Too many to list...

Pick up a copy of the Georgia Straight (free weekly newspaper) available almost everywhere. Has restaurant, concert, gallery and other info.

tspilker · 05-12-2009, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nugent

Brewing homebrew is regulated by the province. As long as you're not distilling moonshine, the laws are suprisingly straightforward. This is shocking since stupid bureaucracy regarding alcohol is a Canadian pastime. Pop into Dan's Homebrewing on Hastings St., if you have time.

There are some great microbreweries in Vancouver (R&B, Storm, Granville Island [a bigger microbrewery]), plus brewpubs (Steamworks, Dix, Yaletown, Central City [in a suburb outside of Van.]). A lot of smaller restaurants have R&B and Storm on tap, especially on the eastside. Check out the CAMRA Vancouver guide for some good beer spots. The Alibi Room is the place for microbrew variety, and it's more or less in the downtown.

Lots of patios in Vancouver, and the weather has been pretty good lately. Finally, in the past two-three years, you can sit on a patio and enjoy a few tasty microbrews without having to order food.

Enjoy your trip!

Do you know if you can bring homebrew equipment back to the States?

Quote:

Originally Posted by finn_ethan

Go to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.

Depending on the weather... Wreck beach (our famous nude beach) also at UBC.

Go to Granville Island (not actually an island, and in the middle of Vancouver) home of the Granville island brewery, the Market (all kinds of fresh food) and craft stores and restaurants - touristy yes, but very good. Take a water taxi from there downtown or vice versa.

x2 for the Aquarium (Better than honolulu, or Sydney, Aus.) walk around Stanley park when you're done.

-1 Robson street. (Ooo, Levis store... Aaah, the Gap)

The Chief is a huge monolith of granite an easy 1hr drive north of Vancouver
Stawamus Chief Park - Squamish British Columbia (BC) - StawamusChiefPark.ca You can walk to the top for free too.

Vancouver has an extremely diverse culture of citizens and therefore food. (English is probably a three way tie as the most common language with Chinese and Punjabi. You'll often hear 5 or more languages on a busy street or coffee shop!) Don't miss out on the food. Too many to list...

Pick up a copy of the Georgia Straight (free weekly newspaper) available almost everywhere. Has restaurant, concert, gallery and other info.

HAHA, ill see what she thinks about a nude beach!