South West Canada

[defurax]

must sees in Vancouver?

Watching junkies shooting up in back alleys and main streets in the morning is a popular and free activity

 

[PLANT]

Grouse mountain.... Get up there to see the bears!
Lake Louise walk the lake.
Banff walk the main Street.

 

[JohnM]

Water St Cafe in Gastown Water St. Cafe | Vancouver, BC is good - much better than might be expected for a restaurant right on the main street in a tourist location. Good location right across the road from the steam clock.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Watching junkies shooting up in back alleys and main streets in the morning is a popular and free activity

Probably not the type of info I was looking for.

 

[defurax]

Probably not the type of info I was looking for.

hard to please...alternatively, lunch at Carderos on a sunny day can be nice (https://www.vancouverdine.com/carderos/)

 

[Cruiser Elite]

hard to please...alternatively, lunch at Carderos on a sunny day can be nice (https://www.vancouverdine.com/carderos/)

Now your talking!

 

[RooFlyer]

Vancouver - a bit of a TR with pics here.

* You might like to take a light plane trip up the coast a bit, leaving from off the water right in front of the city.
* Rent a car and drive up to Whistler; take the Peak2Peak gondolas up to and between peaks. Whistler BC Canada | PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola | Tourism Whistler
* Museum of Anthropology at Uni BC is world-class, if you like that sort of thing.
* On your way back, or just go there if you don't do the museum, get dropped off at Granville Island and do the markets & schmooze; good pubs & casual eateries; Granville Island Public Market | Granville Island
* Walk along the waterfront, morning, noon or night; my favourite restaurant is Lift near the Westin towards the Stanley Park end. Fantastic views from the outside tables.
* Cardero's, also on the Waterfront near the Westin is both a pub and restaurant; had many great meals there.
* Yaletown for some trendy pubs and restaurants and more waterfront eating. You can get the (newish) underground from downtown to Yaletown.

Banff

* Sorry, no grub or pub recommendations. The pubs along the main drag are pretty happening - look out for 'craft beer' (microbrewery) places. Just remembered: Earl's has a good live music scene.
* The Fairmont is a bit out of town but they would have transp into/from downtown
* Gondola up Sulphur Mountain is right behind the hotel.
* Wild Flour Café in bear street - best coffee in Canada 9many Aussie ski etc bums behind the counter)

Lake Louise
* The Lake, the Lake, the Lake. Walking, canoeing, having drinks in the lounge looking over ...

Calgary.
To be continued!

 

[RooFlyer]

Calgary
* Trip Report - more than you'll ever need to know about Calgary - here.


* A block from the Fairmont is both Charcut CHARCUT Roast House and Saltlik Steak House (steaks are a big item in Cow Town)
* Joey's (formerly Joey Tomato's) is a bit of a Calgary institution. At the Eau Claire markets (forget the 'markets') near the Sheraton - you can't book, but its a good place for a feed; quite big, so you rarely have to wait long; decent bar to wait in
* Kensington, across the River has some nice, small restaurants
* 17th Ave SW and Mission, not far south of your hotel down 4th Ave are 'buzzy restaurant' part of town - lots of hip restaurants and bars
* Vin Room Mission looks shocking from the outside, but nice food and they know their wine (not that common)

* Go Flames, Go!! Try to go to an ice hocky game at the SaddleDome. Buy tickets in advance at Flames Central (but not sure if you will be there in the season)
* Try to find a Bass Pro place just to gawk at a Temple devoted to Killing Animals. The biggest is out of town, past the airport, but if you are into hunt'n and fish'n etc, its a must see!! (I'm not, but as I had a car it was still a must see :shock: )
* If you need outdoors type gear, Mountain Designs on the corner of 10th Ave SW and 8th Street SW (watch the Streets and Avenues) has a great range and youcan pick up some good, cheap gear.
*A walk along the Bow River pathway west of the Centre St bridge is nice; I know I'm laying on the walks and not so much Champagne, but gotta get that clean mountain air!!

* Wines - try the Okanagan valley stuff from BC; I recommend the Burrowing Owl especially!

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

How many nights in Banff?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

How many nights in Banff?

2 ATPIT - that probably won't change.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

2 ATPIT - that probably won't change.

Banff:

Places to go out : Banff can be very much a Big Party town depending of the night of the week.

Friday & Saturday nights see Banff swamped with The folks from Calgary heading to the Rockies for the weekend which in turn gives the town a rocking Vibe at the pubs and bars on the weekends.
Other nights are generally quieter, but will still see a decent crowd.
Monday nights in particular are big, due to it being " industry night" where much of the local population who work in the hospitality industry get a night off, some attractive drink deals to to be had perhaps

- The rose & Crown ( English pub) is a bit of a dive bar, but has great live rock music on the weekends and certainly great for the 30+ age demographic that the venue caters for. My favourite for live music, just don't eat there.

- Wild Bills. The biggest venue in Banff, you'll certainly get your western fix here with some cowboy boot scoot'n music pumped out here.
A good mix of people hang out here from tourists on tour groups, to locals and of course those Calgarians.
The food was quite good when I was here last, good place for a pub style feed.
Not a fancy pants type of place through

- St James Gate (Irish bar) more somber atmosphere but occasionally have a live band, sometimes they manage to host some great Canadian talent originating from Nova Scotia. They have done a good job of the interior as it feels well & truely very Irish in the internal aesthetics. Good demographic mix of patrons.

- Magpie & Stump ( Mexican ).
Small cosy bar, complete with saw dust on the floor. Love the Wooden interior/exterior of the place and feels more like your in southern Arizona than you do in the Rockies. No live music, but plenty of Corona's

- Tommy's , younger demographic, medium sized bar one of my favourites if you want to watch some sport such as hockey with a crowd to cheer the game on.

- Banff Avenue Brewing Company,
Great microbrewery, plenty of space overlooking the day's activities going on the main drag below. Food reasonably good and certainly Not to rowdy either atmosphere either.

Other Dining options include the Keg Steakhouse & Bar, The Elk & Oarsman, along with the more up-market Saltlik steakhouse ( also in Calgary).

The Eddie Burger Bar & Aardvark ( for pizza slices) are the 'go to' places after 12am for that late night feed before heading home to assist with hangover reduction. Both places are buzzing at 3am let me tell you

Places to see/go: ( I'll just list the not so obvious to start with)

- Hire a canoe on the bow river ( at the intersection of Wolf Street/ Bow Avenue) for two hours and head upstream towards the Vermilion Lakes for calm and majestic mountain scenery.
I must have done this at least half a dozen times when I lived in Banff, the perfect way to escape and upwind for a couple of hours.

- Hike up Sulphur Mountain.
If you got the energy, the hike takes about 90-100 minutes ( 6km uphill) although you'll be glad you did it the hard way as opposed to the easy way ( ie the Gondola ) , with those lungs well & truely pumped clean of mountain fresh air. Spectacular views at the summit.
Just don't eat at the restaurant, typical Captive Tourist Audience set-up.

- Sunshine Meadows.
Take a half day tour , take the chairlift up what would normally be the Sunshine ski resort in the winter and go hiking to see some lush wild flowers and open pastures. Some Wildlife sightings all being well too.


- Lake Minnewanka. I'll Admit this is not Not the most exciting of things to do , although interesting learning about the geology of the lake and local flora and fauna whilst on an hour long cruise. Regularly throughout summer good bear sightings are reported around the lake. Only 15 minutes from Banff.

- Bike ride to Canmore.
Only recommended if you have sufficient time in Banff.
Bike hire is easy to pick up in Banff and a cost effective way to get around. A designated bike path exists for most of the way parallel to the Trans-Canada Highway to the larger town of Canmore ( located outside the National Park).
A picturesque picnic spot exists half way to Canmore for a break and a great way to breath in the fresh mountain air and see the sights.

-Horse back riding adventures exist, particularly around the Cave and Basin Hotpool. Never did one myself, but certainly a different way of taking in the sights.

- Numerous white Water rafting adventures exist in this part of the world ,although my pick though is to do white water rafting on the nearby Kananaskis River and be prepared for a bumpy ride and to get wet Once again, picturesque scenery.