Travel destination: Vancouver

Bright lights, cool city

Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful, Vancouver has often protested. And there’s certainly no arguing that Vancouver is beautiful. Regularly rated among the most livable cities in the world, it has a temperate climate and landscape that offer an enviable lifestyle, from kayaking to work to escaping up a mountain on any given Saturday. But for all its scenic merits and plethora of culinary triumphs, the city has faced criticism that it has neglected to nurture a sophisticated urban social scene. Not anymore. Vancouver is silencing its critics, and it has gone back to its roots to do so.

Hip hood

The city’s oldest neighbourhood, Gastown, is the epicentre of the urban revolution. Established the same year Canada became a nation, it’s got everything going for it: enchanting architecture, breathtaking views of nature and a central location. There are even the gritty imperfections that give a place soul. Doesn’t sound like the Vancouver you saw on your last visit? Guaranteed it’s not, since the city’s changing daily. And while the chic hotels, fashionable boutiques and innovative drinking holes continue to open their doors, the mountains, forest and ocean are still right there beside them. Whether you’ve got a long weekend or a week, Vancouver now truly has something for everyone.

Checking in

Hotels synonymous with luxury popped up in time for the 2010 Olympics, including Shangri-La Vancouver. Its restaurant Market is helmed by celeb chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. (Rooms from $250).

The Fairmont Pacific Rim is all about relaxation. Chill by a rooftop fire or in a meditation pod, or soak in an in-room Japanese ofuro tub.(Rooms from $240).

For a quaint stay, the modest but modernized Victorian Hotel, one of the city’s original guest houses, will outfit you with a classic country bike for about $30 a day. (Rooms from $99).

The quiet, centrally located Loden Hotel’s 77 rooms are spacious and serene, ideal for an in-room yoga session or a tea of fresh scones and jam. (Rooms from $195).

Fun lunch

Pull up at Meat & Bread’s communal table and bite into a hearty roast-meat sandwich concocted daily by a rotation of the restaurant’s top chefs. Take home the tasty mustards and rubs. 

More vegetarian-friendly is Nuba, home of savoury authentic Lebanese cuisine with all the trimmings. 

Acme Cafe is a mom-and-pop diner serving up comfort food in a simple manner (think Premium Plus crackers with homemade soup) and its famous fruit pies. 

Best brunch

Sip a lavender latte and tuck into a short-rib fricassee served sizzling in a skillet — just two of the scrumptious offerings at Medina Café. 

In an ornately decorated room, Kirin delivers Vancouver’s top-rated authentic Cantonese brunch. Dim sum arrives in tiny painted bowls and saucers. 

Deacon’s Corner is the place for a classic morning-after fry-up, serving down-home favourites like house-made biscuits with country gravy and eggs. 

Five o'clocktails

With its old-school affordable cocktails, the Diamond draws a hip crowd to its chill lounge setting. 

In Chinatown, the Keefer Bar offers “apothecary cocktails,” Chinese medicinal-herb-infused tipples to cure whatever ails you.

Have a tasting plate of cured meats, artisanal cheese and condiments at Salt Tasting Room. Staff advise on the best wines, including many B.C. varietals, to complement it all. 

Take it outside

Stanley Park is 1,001 acres of lush green forest that rubs shoulders with the skyscrapers of downtown Vancouver. Here you can picnic on the beach (Third Beach is our favourite, as it’s tucked away and faces the sunset), rent cruiser bikes to pedal the seawall, visit the Vancouver Aquarium (its fuzzy sea otters have turned burly men into cooing schoolgirls) or just stroll about, marvelling at nature.

For a unique and scenic vantage point on downtown, the Aquabus is a cheap and cheerful way to tour the inner harbour in little rainbowpainted boats that look like bathtub toys. If you’re without a car, it’s also the easiest way to get to Granville Island.

Nearby Grouse Mountain (pictured) has a wilderness refuge with two grizzly bears and several wolves, and you’re guaranteed to feel a lot farther than 20 minutes from downtown.

Dining out

Gastown’s historic Alhambra building is home to three distinct restaurants. Find white tablecloths, an oyster bar, a $30 prix-fixe option and melt-in-your-mouth Qualicum Scallop Ceviche at the tranquil and blissfully unpretentious Cork & Fin.

Next door, modern French bistro L’Abattoir is always bustling, thanks to local celeb chef Lee Cooper’s market-inspired menu. An atrium in the back of the restaurant overlooks the area’s historic Gaoler’s Mews and is soaked in sunlight come summer. 

Rustic Six Acres takes the idea of casual dining down a notch with its eclectic shared plates and a beer menu with over 40 bottles. Menus are made from vintage school textbooks, old radio shows loop in the bathrooms and there’s no shortage of conversation-starting retro paraphernalia on the walls. 

In a city bursting with Asian restaurant options, Bao Bei in nearby Chinatown has locals lining up for its cozy atmosphere, stellar service and authenticity. Owner Tannis Ling serves her mother’s sticky-rice cake with julienned pork, salted mustard greens and wood-ear mushrooms. 

Rainy day

Even in the rain, Granville Island (known as Granola Island) shines with West Coast craft studios and art exhibits housed in old industrial buildings near sturdy wooden docks. There’s a renowned farmer’s market, myriad restaurants and a brewery, which offers tours and tastings.

Standing inside the Museum of Anthropology on the UBC campus is like being outdoors, thanks to the brilliant architecture of Arthur Erickson. Here, soaring totem poles rise above you, gazing out upon the Georgia Strait and the North Shore mountains. 

Also on campus, the Beaty Biodiversity Museum wows kids with its vast collections of mammal, bird and bug specimens. It’s also home to an entire 26-metre-long blue-whale skeleton. Just watch their jaws drop.

Hit the shops

Lola Home & Apparel is a romantic vision — the Paris apartment you wish you lived in. Its whitewashed wardrobes and dressers display objects and clothing of classic beauty, from Lili Gaufrette and Burberry kids’ lines to refined Tocca candles. 

Shopping at One of a Few is like raiding a fashion editor’s closet. A carefully chosen selection of threads and accessories is sourced around the globe and locally, such as Vancouver-based Isabelle Dunlop’s whimsical vintage crochet-hook necklaces. 354 Water St.

Treasure hunt at Örling & Wu for handmade Scandinavian and European home trappings, many of which can’t be found elsewhere in Canada. 

The Vancouver shoe company renowned worldwide for its unique soles, Fluevog launched in Gastown decades ago and is now back in a stunning two-storey glass emporium with views of the North Shore mountains.