Vancouver - Canada Travel Guide, Tourism, Vacation World Travel https://www.youtube.com/user/World1Tube Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada http://goo.gl/APc2nq Shimmering skyscrapers and colourful heritage homes, culturally diverse neighbourhoods crammed with indie stores, cool eateries and nanobreweries, kayaking on the ocean and skiing in the mountains: this is Vancouver. It's no wonder the successful host of the 2010 Winter Olympics features near the top of the world's most liveable cities surveys, with its meld of stylish 21st-century architecture, regenerated industrial districts and laid-back beachside neighbourhoods. Look down any street downtown and there's a strong chance you'll catch a glimpse of the North Shore Mountains, the sea or both. The West End is chock-a-block full of juice bars and coffee shops, with colourful Davie Street home to a large gay community. In revitalised Yaletown, designer boutiques and trendy restaurants fill former warehouses, with diners spilling onto busy patios in summer. Historic Gastown and the adjacent Downtown Eastside are undergoing a stratospheric gentrification, with new condos, restaurants and high-end shops taking over decrepit or demolished buildings, sometimes controversially; hipsters and homeless rub shoulders in this rapidly evolving district. Wave after wave of new immigrants have given Vancouver its cosmopolitan feel -- a whopping 40% of its population is foreign-born, meaning you can uncover an eclectic array of cuisines and cultures. In particular, arrivals from mainland China mean one in five of the city's residents is now of Chinese origin. Chinatown is jammed with noodle houses, bakeries, medicine shops and a lively market. Meanwhile, multicultural Commercial Drive is lined with Italian cafés and delis, and vibrant Punjabi Market is a bustling South Asian hub. Vancouverites live for the outdoors. Year-round, hordes of joggers, in-line skaters and cyclists jostle for space on the seawall while hard-core runners pound up the lung-bustingly steep Grouse Grind trail. There are countless opportunities for rafting, mountain biking, camping and skiing; sports junkies can ski one of three local mountains and sail in English Bay on the same day. Visitor attractions are world class too, whether you choose to edge your way round the vertigo-inducing Cliffwalk at Capilano Bridge Suspension Park, eye up ethereal jellyfish at the Vancouver Aquarium or take to the skies in a simulated helicopter ride at Flyover Canada. Locals are known for being environmentally conscious. Vancouver has the smallest per capita carbon footprint of any North American city. Greenpeace was founded here, the public transit system is excellent and well used, bike routes are being created and improved, and the population embraces the culture of growing and buying locally. Through its Greenest City plan, Vancouver aims to become the greenest city in the world by 2020 with an ambitious vision for sustainability, zero waste and zero carbon. All this does come at a cost to locals however: Vancouver is the most expensive place in Canada to buy a house. In 2013, the penthouse unit at the Fairmont Pacific Rim sold for a record C$25 million. Even the average detached house sells for over C$1 million. Fortunately, if you're here on holiday, you can forget about spending your life savings on a pied-à-terre and instead check in to one of Vancouver's many super-chic hotels. ========================================= Vancouver Museums, Vancouver Transport, Vancouver Tours, Vancouver Introduction, Vancouver Attractions, Vancouver Hotels, Vancouver Restaurants, Vancouver Shopping, Vancouver Nightlife, world travel video, Vancouver video, Vancouver , Vancouver Travel guide, Vancouver Tourism, Vancouver Vacation, Canada, Canada travel guide, Canada tourism, Canada Vacation, Canada Attractions, North America, British Columbia === Vancouver - British Columbia - Canada Travel Guide, Tourism, Vacation, Travel Tips, Attractions

• published: 20 Nov 2013
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