A Road Tripping Adventure: Vancouver and Whistler

A Road Tripping Adventure: Vancouver and Whistler follows on from our previous adventures in Seattle which you can read about here and takes us across the border into Canada! I cannot even explain how excited I was at this point because Canada has been No.1 front and centre on my bucket list for the last 10 years and I was about to TICK IT OFF! So we got up early and left Seattle heading up Interstate 5 again for about 2 and a half hours. The border crossing was pretty easy. The guy asked us a couple of questions while trying to act like a big tough military man. I don’t think he was too happy that I was taking photos the whole time. I really wanted to take one of him but the look on his face wasn’t exactly welcoming! We had read on the net that it would be a good hour wait or more to try and cross but it literally took us 5 minutes. I guess because it was a Tuesday at about 10am and there was not much traffic around it made it easy. So what did we get up to in Vancouver?

After crossing the border we noticed immediately how different Canada was and Im not joking. It seemed to be so much cleaner and tidier and straight away we started seeing the typical pine trees that are synonymous with alpine regions. It just had a completely different vibe to it.

It took us a while to find our accommodation because we were staying in a gorgeous little flat on the outskirts of Vancouver. It was time to do some washing so we opted for an AirBNB place for two nights that had a washer and dryer and kitchen so we could cook our own meals too. The flat was in a beautiful maple tree lined street and all the trees were turning a vibrant red colour. I could never get sick of seeing those trees.

After settling in for Oh, 20 minutes we were off exploring again! I swear after I have a holiday I need another one just to relax from the previous one because we rarely stop. We only had a day and a half to explore Vancouver before moving onto the Rocky Mountains so I wanted to make sure I got a good feel for the place. First thing I noticed as we drove towards downtown Vancouver – its a huge city!

Its also a beautiful city. There is also a massive Asian population which really surprised me. I was talking to a friend who was in Chicago while were were in Seattle and she asked where we were off to next and when I said Vancouver she laughed and said “have fun in Hongcouver”. I had no idea what she meant at the time but I soon realised! No offence to the asian population. Im sure they are part of the reason its such a beautiful city!

After grabbing some lunch at Wholefoods (which was my saving grace from gaining 50 thousand pounds from all the bad food in USA) we were off to explore Stanley Park. Unfortunately the weather was miserable but this park is absolutely massive and I can imagine on a beautiful sunny day it would be an awesome place to have a picnic and spend the day. Parts of this park are still densely forested and you can actually drive the whole way around the park it is that big. The drive is a good 15 minutes too which shows how massive this area really is.

Vancouver is sometimes referred to as Hollywood North. It is second to Los Angeles in television production and third behind New York and Los Angeles in film production. 21 Jump Street, Fringe, The L Word, Smallville, Battlestar Gallactica, MacGyver, and The X-Files were all filmed there. Was anyone else in love with Richard Dean Anderson? Come on, you have to admit he was pretty sexy especially with that mullet. 🙂  And he could do anything!

For anyone wanting to reminisce:

Anyway, back to reality….we saw a movie being made inside Stanley Park. There were big movie star trailers everywhere and I was keeping my eyes peeled for a movie stars but unfortunately didn’t recognise any.

By the time we had finished exploring and getting lost in Stanley Park it was well passed sunset so we headed back to our accommodation. We decided we were going to go and check out Whistler the next day because the weather wasn’t going to let up plus I have always wanted to see Whistler. I wish we had more time to explore Vancouver properly but it just means I have to go back again!

Next morning it was an hour and a half drive to Whistler. We stopped at Brandywine Falls Provincial Park on the way which is home to a 70 metre high waterfall and bears! Luckily we didn’t see any although Andrew was wishing we did!

Once we got to Whistler we went for a walk around the entire village. It is just gorgeous and exactly what I imagined it to be. Im definitely putting it on my list of places to come back to and it would be magical to see in Winter. There were tonnes of Aussies and Kiwis working in the shops and cafes too, I felt like I was at home.

On the drive back to Vancouver we stopped on the side of the road for sunset again which seemed to be becoming a habit on this road trip. The mist was rolling in really fast along the river and looked beautiful with the mountains behind it.

So that is Vancouver and Whistler all wrapped up. Like I said and seem to be saying a lot lately, I would love to go back and spend more time there. I guess the world is just too big and beautiful and there is not enough time to see it all though. Stayed tuned for the next leg of the trip which is all about The Rocky Mountains. I think this was the best and most beautiful part of the whole trip and I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Have you been to Vancouver and Whistler? What are your favourite things about these places? I would love to know for next time so leave a comment below! 🙂