Vancouver at Christmas

Our family headed to British Columbia Canada in December 2023 in the hopes of having a white Christmas. First stop on our three weeks holiday was Vancouver.

Markets & Lights

One must-do activity is to attend Christmas markets. We checked out the Vancouver Christmas Market held at Jack Poole Place. We arrived just before dusk to have a good look around then the magic happened when you could see the lights against the black of the night.  Though there wasn’t snow it was still fun to attend especially with the differences in a Northern Christmas to a Southern Christmas (hemisphere)

The VanDusen Botanical Gardens hold their Festival of Lights every Christmas from the beginning of December to Early January. The garden itself is on 55 acres and is in the Shaughnessy neighborhood. Even though it rained it was an epic place to visit.

Aquabus

The Aquabus is a cool way to see some of Vancouver and they are the cutest little boats. The boats make stops every 15 minutes as they travel up and down False Creek and you can hop on and off starting at Hornby street all the way to The Village near Science World or any of the other points in between. To plan your trip check out the website 

False creek is so named because when the coast was surveyed it was thought it was a creek however this was False. To find out more about the history of the area including Granville Island some information can be read here.

 

Granville Island

The island is home to many artists and creatives. There are events and all sorts that take place, including displays by artists, and places to shop and eat. The public market is open from 9am until 7pm daily and sells food from many local food businesses.

Granville Island is man-made using material dredged from False Creek. The island was completed in 1916 for more information pop over to the website regarding the history

 

 

Stanley park

Stanley Park is a 400 hectare urban park and is located in downtown Vancouver. With lots of different things to do such as walking trails, beaches, eateries, historical landmarks  and so much more. Read about the many activities you can do at this fabulous place.

 

Park Run

In the first five days of our holiday we stayed in an area close to Central Park Burnaby where a park run is held every Saturday, so along we went . The park runs, are a free 5km run or walk and are located the world over.

 

Canadian Treats

Of course a trip to Canada wouldn’t be without a stop at Tim Hortons, a national institution. Plus Walmart and Canadian Tire all of which we don’t have in NZ.

Watch out for more installments of our Holiday/vacation