Our Lufthansa flight to Vancouver departed from Brussels Airport (BRU) to 11u00 (am) to land with a short stopover in Frankfurt (FRA) at Vanvouver Airport (YVR) 14u30 (2.30 pm) Local time. The flight was performed with an 747-400. I'd rather fly with an 747 than with the new 787 Dreamliner. You have a little more space in such an old Boeing 747 compared to an 787 Dreamliner. The food on board was good, the staff friendly and there were plenty of new films on the media system, although it could have been something more. On the return flight we had to make do with the same films, so it was a bit of a search to find something new.
Flight to Vancouver - Boarding
At Lufthansa you will be kept well informed via email and text message, also at the airport. For example, you receive the boarding pass on your smarthphone via email. On this mail was for our flight to Vancouver, the flight number, the gate, the terminal and your seat on the plane. You can check in at the gate with the QR code shown. When the boarding starts, you will receive a text message and one more if the gate changes. I could have pre-arranged the seats for our flight to Vancouver and sat next to each other in the middle row. The children were each on a corner for easy access to the toilet. The flight to Vancouver via Frankfurt was over in no time.
By taxi or shuttle to the Hotel?
After we picked up our bags, we could choose to take the train shuttle or a Taxi to our hotel in Vancouver. We had booked a hotel in advance through Expedia. The price for a taxi was noted on a large sign at the taxi depot. The hotel we chose, the Victorian Hotel, was a few blocks from a stop. Downtown Vancouver cost $ 59 CAD, but the price of a train shuttle ticket was much less ($ 21,75 - 1 adult - 1 free from someone and 2 children). You can buy the tickets at the many machines on the platform of the Shuttle.
The Victorian Hotel
After 15 several minutes we arrived at the beautiful Victorian Hotel. At the reception there was a sign: Airport taxi shuttle 39 $ CAD! So if you want a taxi, you can better arrange this in advance with the hotel. The hotel was located in the center of Vancouver and one of the cheaper ones. The price for a superior 2 room with 2 double beds was 232 euro including breakfast. The price was the cheapest this time Expedia. You can find the link to the website of the hotel here..
Too early to go to sleep
We first freshened up a bit and then moved into the city. The next day we had our morning pick up the camper and we only had this day to see a piece of Vancouver. We didn't really want to visit Vancouver, because we had to make a choice in the planning. We could, of course, also choose to stay an extra day in Vancouver, but then we had to cancel a trip and drive a longer distance one day. And if it depends on me to choose between city or nature, then it is by nature nature that it makes it. Jessica likes to visit cities, so tired or not, we went to see the city. NOW. At that time it was only 16u30 and much too early to go to sleep.
First we went looking for China Town, but that was disappointing. Via Water Street in Gastown we went via Carrell Street to China Town. A little further on Carrell Street we saw many homeless people at first sight, but it turned out that they were drug addicts. We had not seen so many homeless people together yet. They didn't bother us, but didn't like Vancouver's first impression.
China Town
We moved on to China Town, but also in an 2de side street (E Hastings St) were a huge number of drug addicts. Everywhere you saw blankets and cardboard boxes. In retrospect, we heard that these people are being granted apartments from the state, but that they are subletting them to finance their drug use. That is why these people live on the streets and their problem is not solved.
Steam Clock & Vancouver Lookout Tower
It was almost evening and against the wishes of Jessica that we went back to the more touristy Gastown. We are through the famous Steam Clock to the Vancouver Lookout Tower walked. On top of the tower (168 meters) you have a 360 ° panoramic view of Vancouver. It was a bit on the expensive side ($ 56,72), but still glad we did. I read somewhere that you can go to the restaurant just below or above the lookout point for free. Here you can find the link of the restaurant. After a long flight and an hour difference of 9 hour you do not feel like walking around miles and kilometers through a city.
At the moment we were admiring the surroundings above Vancouver, it was 2:30 am (am) in Belgium. What I found “strange” is that the coupons that are in the tourist booklets and at the till of the Lookout tower were torn out. I checked 10 booklets, the coupons were all torn out. If you are one block away or even in the hotel, wherever those booklets are, remember to rip out the receipts.
The Old Spaghetti Factory
After our visit to the Vancouver Lookout Tower, we walked around Gastown for an hour and searched for a restaurant. In Gastown there are enough places to eat, but do not wait too long to go somewhere. At 18u30 all restaurants were full and there were long queues. We did not feel like it, but we had no choice. Everywhere people were waiting for a table. We then signed up at The Old Spaghetti Factory and had to wait for half an hour. The Old Spaghetti Factory is a large restaurant (chain) so that it quickly changes customers. The food was tasty and not expensive (85 $). Recommended!
Victorian Hotel: Nice rooms & good beds
After dinner we went back to our hotel. The Victorian Hotel is an old, but cozy hotel with good box spring beds. The continental breakfast was a bit simple, but more than adequate. We slept well, but because the alarm clock works with an am and pm indication I had mistakenly erased myself in the evening. I thought that the 11u00 was in the morning instead of 11PM (23u00). I woke everyone up with the message that we had overslept and we had to be picked up by Traveland for a long time to pick up the camper. Afterwards it was funny, but at the time it was still panic.
After Jessica told me that it was 11u00 PM and I had to be quiet, I fell asleep due to the fatigue until 6u00 AM Our children in the double bed next to us did not notice it.
Pick up the camper at Traveland Langley
Day 2: After breakfast we were picked up at the Victorian Hotel in Vancouver to pick up our RV at Traveland Rv Rentals in Langley, BC.
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