Seattle, Vancouver, & Whistler

February 2019

What a great trip!! Still get chills when I think about how cold it was. But what a treat this trip was in celebration of my 25th birthday! We happened to travel after the area had received a near record breaking snow storm, however this made for even more fun. This was the most snow I have ever seen in my adult life! I look forward to sharing our adventures with y'all as we came across so many gems in these cities and also figured out some challenges along the way (ie: Vancouver doesn't have Uber/Lyft and we had just hiked in the snow...had to figure out the bus system quick!)

Check out our other pages for our FULL itinerary & highlight video!

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Seattle 

The Best Eats

• Beecher's Handmade Cheese

• Ivar's Acres of Clams

• The Original Starbucks

• Stateside - a French Vietnamese fusion restaurant

• Theo Chocolate Shop

• Schilling Cider House

Must Do, Must See

• Space Needle

• the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPop)

• Kerry Park (great view of downtown)

• Underground Tour

• Harbor Boat Tour

• Olympic Sculpture Park

• Gas Works Park

• Washington Park Arboretum

Tips & Tricks

• We found great value in the Seattle City Pass! We love doing both the touristy things and more local, off-the-beaten-path things. This was an economic way to check a lot of the big touristy things off in the city! It includes the Space Needle, MoPop, Chihuly Garden & Glass or Pacific Science Center, Aquarium or Zoo, Harbor Boat Tour

• Seattle has a lot of great neighborhood regions downtown and it helped us to plan our days based on the area. The areas we bounced between include: Downtown, Capitol Hill, Pioneer Square, the Waterfront, Seattle Center, and Fremont. Other include: Ballard, Wallingford, South Lake Union

• Free shuttle along the Waterfront to the Seattle Center!

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Vancouver

The Best Eats

• The Flying Pig

• Street Hot Dogs

• Granville Island Market

• Poutine at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

• Gastown (lots of options)

• Denman Street (lots of options)

Must Do, Must See

• Granville Island (take the ferry!)

• Stanley Park (bike rentals on Denman St)

• Gastown - shopping & restaurants

• Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

• Grouse Mountain

• Queen Elizabeth's Park & Bloedel Conservatory

Tips & Tricks

• Vancouver is pending legislation to allow ride sharing apps and programs. In the mean time, to get around, you either need to use taxis or public transportation. There are three taxi companies in the area and they have apps to call taxis to your area however, we found that waiting or trying to hail a taxi took too long. Most taxi drivers had a card machine, but they also definitely preferred cash in CAD.

• We had much better success with the sky train (underground in downtown) and the bus system. You can purchase tickets at the sky train entrances, but we also found that you can use a credit card, cell phone, or smart watch with "tapping" technology to tap into and out of the sky train as well as onto a bus! We were very impressed with the ease, user-friendly nature, cleanliness, and availability of public transportation in Vancouver.

• Bring cash in CAD for ferry rides! Be aware of times for last ferry rides.

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Whistler

The Best Eats

• El Furniture Warehouse

• Rocky Mountain Chocolates

• Longhorn Saloon - energetic atmosphere for post-ski drinks (caution: very overpriced)

• Crepe Montagne

• 21 Steps

• Gnarly Roots Pizza

Must Do, Must See

• SKI!!!

• Scandinave Spa - We recommend purchasing entry for the baths. The hydrotherapy maximizes hot & cold temperatures and includes relaxation time.

• Olympic Village

• Shop

• Art Galleries

• Cultural Center

Tips & Tricks

• Buy your lift tickets and ski rentals in advance! The price onsite is unreal!

• We used Epic Rides to get from Vancouver to Whistler and were not disappointed! It was $35 round trip per person and you get to chose from available dates & times. Plenty of room for luggage below on the bus. Amazing views throughout the drive on the Sea to Sky Highway.

• Recommendations for beginner-intermediate level skiers:

• 7th Heaven has a lot of great blue slope action but the lift gets busy. We hit this section of the mountain up nearly every morning before it got busy!

• Hotels can be expensive in the ski village. We opted for a new experience and stayed at Pangea Pod hotel which was a pod-hostel fusion. It was less than a three minute walk to the lifts up both Whistler & Blackcomb mountains. They have a ski gear storage area and a restaurant that offers great deals for daily Apres (loose French translation for "after ski drinks & snacks").

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Link to Seattle, Vancouver, and Whistler Itinerary

Our trip was a combination of enjoying the great outdoors, tourist destinations, and good food all while trying to absorb the cultures found in these two beautifully natural Pacific Northwest cities & Olympic ski village. 

If you want more details from our trip, follow the links to our itinerary and highlight video! 

XOXO, Tom & Katie "The Wandering Olivers"

Last updated: 03/12/2019