Vancouver Travel Guide

Surrounded by ocean, with impressive mountains immediately to the north, Vancouver is a shiny, modern North American metropolis infused with a Pacific flavour. It's also the perfect jumping-off point for exploring British Columbia's beautiful wilderness.

Vancouverites live for the outdoors. Year-round, hordes of joggers, in-line skaters and cyclists jostle for space on the seawall while hard-core runners pound up the lung-bustingly steep Grouse Grind trail. With countless opportunities for rafting, mountain biking, camping and skiing, sports junkies can ski one of three local mountains or sail in English Bay.

Vancouver's West End is chock-a-block full of juice bars and coffee shops, and colourful Davie Village is home to a sizeable gay community. Chinatown is jammed with noodle houses, bakeries, medicine shops and a lively market. Vancouver's cosmopolitan mix is further evident in multicultural Commercial Drive and vibrant Punjabi Market.

Vancouver will aim to cement its place as a world city after it hosts the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Among the long-term benefits are a new light-rail line, a clutch of new hotels, a stylish Olympic Village (to become apartments) and a state-of-the-art sports centre.