Vancouver travel info

Ride the Stanley Park seawall and you've got the sea on one side and a forest of huge cedars on the other. A floatplane drones in overhead and skims down onto Coal Harbour, and behind it the downtown glass towers stack up against the white-topped North Shore mountains. The city and the peaks are so close that snow on Grouse Mountain in the morning and paddling at Kitsilano Beach in the afternoon is a real day out, not a brochure line.

Then there's the rain. From October to March it falls on 15 to 20 days a month, less downpour than a steady all-day drizzle, and locals skip the umbrella and walk around in hooded rain shells as if nothing's happening. July and August are another story: about six wet days a month, highs of 22°C and daylight past 9pm. Come in summer and you start to understand why everyone puts up with the rents.

The food leans toward the sea and toward Asia. Spot prawns in spring, wild salmon in summer, sushi as common as corner sandwich shops, and for Chinese food people skip Chinatown and drive out to Richmond, next to the airport. Many visitors fly in visa-free but need a Canadian eTA first, so check the rules for your passport before you book. Whistler, the provincial capital Victoria and Seattle across the border are all within a day or two, so it pairs well with a longer trip.

Vancouver International Airport (YVR)