Stanley Park

Vancouver is an absolutely beautiful city. Make sure you rent a bike right outside Stanley Park for the entire day. The park and the entire city have clearly marked lines for those on bicycles. It really is a beautiful way to see Vancouver.

The best way to see Stanley Park is on a bike. My favourite route is around the coast path but the view from Prospect Point is also brilliant and well worth the very steep climb from the costal route to see it. There are plenty of bike rental places next to the park as you walk from downtown and they're very reasonably priced. The Teahouse restaurant has amazing food (but a bit pricy), if you go, book a table by the window and go at sunset, it's spectacular!

Spend the day in Stanley Park, enjoy the pitch and put, walk the seawall, check out the aquarium or have a picnic. Loads to do, with great views of downtown, highly recommend checking it out. No cost to get in the park with small nominal fees for the attractions.

Whether you want to rollerblade, rent a mountain bike or go on a tandem through the many trails in this park it is worth the scenery, the time and definitely the romance.

Stanley Park hosts the Vancouver Aquarium, which is also great to explore with more than 3000 species of animals.

The many totems that are spread out throughout the park make its charm.

Stanley Park offers a lot for people, from expensive food to nice trees, and even an aquarium.

The seawall is a nice walk, and you can see the best parts of the park by taking this route. There's lots of neat things to see on the walk, like the statues and monuments.

It's even nice to drive through the park, but I don't recommend this because of the traffic. It is a major tourist spot and can get quite crowded.

The gardens are nice, and there's a lot of nice old trees to see. There are also the famous totem poles to see as well.

You must visit here even if it is raining. in fact I think when it is raining it is even more beautiful.

Stanley is 1000 acres of incredible park. It is an oasis on the edge of one of North America's more modern cities. I spend a lot of time here in my job yet still love it.

It was given to us in 1880's by Lord Stanley who was the Governor General to Canada at the time. I challenge you to find a more beautiful city run park any place in the world.

Getting here is very easy from downtown. During the summer do yourself a favour and either take a taxi or a city bus into the park. Parking for you car is very hard to find during the busy season. There is a free shuttle bus that runs around the park during the summer that makes you visit much easier.

To get to the park from downtown take the #19 bus Stanley Park. This route runs through downtown along Pender Street. If you are coming off of the Skytrain get off the train at Burrad Station. Once you get out of the station look for the #19 stop near the corner of Burrad and Pender Streets. Make sure the stop says Stanley Park as the same bus returns the opposite direction to the suburb of Burnaby, called #19 Metrotown.

Once on the bus ride it to the end of the line. You will be at the Stanley Park bus loop. You are just up the hill from the Vancouver Aquarium and near many of the attractions in the park.

If it is summer the Parks Board hires the Vancouver Trolley Company to operate a free shuttle around the park. There are 15 stops the park as the shuttle runs a loops around the park. The closest stop to the #19 stop is only about 50 meters up the hill. Just make sure when trying to board the board the shuttle that the bus says free on the side. The same company operates and full city tour, that costs money, and the two buses often share stops in the park.

You can also walk from downtown to the park. The quickest is to find Georgia Street and walk west until you in the park. This can take more then 30 minutes though, depending on where you are and how fast you walk. A more pleasant walk is along the expanded Seawall. Basically find the ocean anywhere between the park and Canada Place and follow it west. If you stay along the water you find the park though it can take a while and it is not a straight line. Currently there is a lot of construction between Canada Place and Thurlow Street but this should be complete in the next 12 months or so.

Stanley Park is a must if you visit Vancouver. At first I thought it would be boring, but I didn't realize how much stuff there was to actually do once I got into the park. It doesn't cost anything to get into the park, but there are a few restaraunts inside the park that are little pricey. For example, cottage cheese and fruit-->10 dollars?!? Ok. Anyway I had also gone to an Aquarium that was inside the park as well, which I can really go to an aquarium any time I want here in Florida but it was a good time. I watched the Beluga Whale show and took lots of pictures of the stinging nettle and jelly fish. Which again I could just go to the beach in Fort Lauderdale at home and find jelly fish, awww but these were so much more pretty!

There was an art auction of painted art going on, which was interesting as well.

Stanley Park is one of the best city parks in the world. It is the largest in Canada at 400 hectares, and contains forest hundreds of years old (including huge Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce). The park sits next to downtown Vancouver and borders the ocean, with an 8.8km seawall. Bicycles and tandem bikes can be hired near the park to ride around it, and there are many good tracks for walking in the forest.

Beaver Lake in the centre of the park once had a beaver in it, but visitors complained that they never got to see it, so the park caught it and put it in a small cage next to the lake until it died. The park is a prominent nesting site for Great Blue Herons, which fly in from far away to nest along the eastern edge of the park, filling the trees near the courts in spring and summer.

Stanley Park is also the site of the Vancouver Aquarium, a stunning aquarium with magnificent otter and whale exhibits, including Beluga whales.

Went there a couple of years ago, while visiting some relatives and friends in Seattle. A really worthwhile experience that I recommend to all :)

Take the afternoon to walk or jog around the seawall, you won't regret it!

There's also a really nice pitch and putt, reasonably priced, toward the Davie Street entrance to Stanley Park. Always full of students!

And of course, don't miss the Aquarium.

I would recommend that you visit Stanley Park if you are in Vancouver.

You can drive through. You can see a small part of the park by going on the horse drawn carriage. That is very informative.

In the park there is also the Vancouver Aquarium. Of course that is not free but you can go into the souvenier shop.

There are also totem poles.

Another way to see the park is to walk or cycle.

All in all, just a beautiful area and there are lots of squirrels throughout the park.

There was a wedding there the day we went. What a beautiful location!

We took a bus from Gastown to get there and the price of the bus ticket was taken off the horse and carriage ride. Great value.

We then went back downtown on an electric bus. So even if you don't want to walk or cycle, it is easy to get there.

We also went back after we had hired a car. On that day we stopped at Starbucks which is at Prospect Point in Stanley Park. There is also a souvenier shop there.