Has anyone been to Vancouver and/or British Columbia?

How would I spend 10 days around there?

What are your interests?

If I have to rent a car for a little bit that would be OK.

Vancouver has a really compact downtown, but the city and surrounding metro area has some pretty immense sprawl.

There's no place to park and the drivers are all on drugs....really good drugs.

Queen E Park is nice. Upscale shopping and good restaurants on Robson St. The Capilano Suspension Bridge is cool.

Check this out: http://www.tourismvancouver.com/visitors/things_to_do/

Have fun.

Lighthouse Park, Stanley Park, gardens.

Make sure to take at least one ferry ride to an island. The views are beautiful! Vancouver Island is lovely, but very expensive.

It's a bus ride to the ferry (plus light rail to the bus depot first if you're not near it already), then the ferry, then back on the (same) bus to get to Victoria. Takes about 4 or 5 hours altogether (one way). So not a fun day trip. But Victoria is well worth the visit.

Best bet IMHO: take the bus/ferry/bus to Victoria, and spend the last few days of your trip in Victoria. Then take the bus/ferry/bus back to Vancouver, straight to the airport, and fly home. Much better than unpacking again in Vancouver.

Both are great cities!

The drive is beautiful, although undergoing heavy construction for the Olympics. Whistler is stunning, and there is lots to do, even if you are in the wrong season, or don't like skiing.

Granville Island is kind of a yuppie boutique/tourist trap, but it can be fun, and you can get some excellent food there.

There is a huge Chinatown, and a large Asian population in general, so lots of interesting restaurants including some great sushi. I know there's an ice cream parlor somewhere that sells Durien flavored ice cream.

Some of the natives can probably give you more, but it's a really nice city.

I believe there's a ferry from Vancouver to Victoria. Victoria is on the southeast part of Vancouver Island (The City of Vancouver is on the mainland and not on Vancouver Island) and has a British flavor. Lots of outdoorsy things to do on Vancouver Island, including hikes and cycling.

Edited to add stuff on Vancouver City:
Granville Island is kind of artsy and also has a Farmer's Market worth going to. The Vancouver Art Museum has a collection of Emily Carr's work. You will learn a lot about the Native Americans in BC from her art.
Also go to the museum at the University of British Columbia. It has totem poles and much of the museum is devoted to the First Nations.

In Chinatown, there is the world renown Gardens on Pender St. the is also the World's Thinnest building.
Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden - http://www.vancouverchinesegarden.com

Vancouver Lookout at Harbour Centre - http://www.vancouverlookout.com

Vancouver Museum - http://www.vanmuseum.bc.ca

Vancouver Maritime Museum - http://www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com

Stanley Park is a must see as well.

People love to take the Skytrain as a way to tour the Lower Mainland, along with the Sea Bus. - http://www.translink.bc.ca/

Check out this website: Vancouver Tourist InfoCentre - http://www.tourismvancouver.com

Hope this helps.

Crafty

Vancouver is one of the trips that I've got swirling around for this summer.

http://www.capbridge.com/explore_vancouver_park/treetop_attraction.html

It's BEAUTIFUL.

You can drive up to Whisler and do some hiking--go over to Vancouver Island for hiking. You might consider taking the ferry to one of the Gulf Islands. If you go to Vancouver Is., you'll take the ferry from Tswassen, so stop in Richmond where the newer Chinese malls are. Vancouver is quite walkable, but there is also decent public transportation--buses, Skytrain and ferry to N. Van. Have fun!

has some of the best food. My mother and I love eating there when we visit Vancouver.

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4DKUS_enUS226US227&q=Tofino,+BC,+Canada&um=1&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=title

Then hop the boat to the hotsprings. You will never regret it.

sigh

If you start early, it's a day trip.

Walk up to the glacier and look for the exhibit on global warming. They've got signs showing where the glacier was and how fast it's receding.

Do NOT walk up onto the glacier. You'll fall into a crevace and ever be seen again.

Jasper and Banff are also nice day-trips if you don't mind a bit of a drive.

For an overnight trip, go all the way through to Edmonton. If you're interested, I'll post a separate thread.

Stay out of Drayton/Dreadful Valley. They call it that for a reason.

I hope I get time to do it.

It sucks. Nobody should ever go there.

California either. :P