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Alaska Cruise Ship Ports - Vancouver

Overview



Vancouver is the largest city in the province of British Columbia and the third largest city in Canada. It's surrounded by water on three sides and is nestled alongside the Coast Mountain Range. Vancouver is home to spectacular natural scenery and a bustling metropolitan core, and boasts one of the mildest climates in Canada.

The City of Vancouver supports a wide range of destination sites — from more than 190 parks to three different civic theatres — that are interesting places to visit for tourists and residents alike. Vancouver is also home to many other sights and is networked by a comprehensive transportation system.

The city's population is estimated to be 602,000 and that of the metropolitan area 2,186,000. Vancouver will be the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2007 Memorial Cup and the 2009 World Police and Fire Games. Swangard Stadium, just across the city line in Burnaby, will host some games for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

History

Archeological records indicate the presence of Aboriginal peoples in the Vancouver area for at least 3,000 years. The traces of several settlements around Vancouver, indicate a food-gathering people with a complex social system.
The arrival of ships captained by Jose Maria Narvaez of Spain in 1791 and George Vancouver of Britain the following year, heralded great change for the lives of the First Nations. The first European settlement was established in 1862 at McLeery's Farm on the Fraser River, just east of the ancient village of Musqueam in what is now Marpole. A sawmill established at Moodyville (now North Vancouver) in 1863, began the city's long relationship with lumbering, and was quickly followed by mills on the south shore of the inlet owned by Captain Edward Stamp. Stamp, who had begun lumbering in the Port Alberni area, first attempted to run a mill at Brokcton Point, but difficult currents and reefs forced the relocation of the operation to a point near the foot of Dunlevy Street, known as Hastings Mill.

The settlement of Gastown grew up quickly around the original makeshift tavern established by “Gassy” Jack Deighton in 1867 on the edge of the Hastings Mill property. In 1870, the colonial government surveyed the settlement and laid out a townsite, renamed “Granville.” This site, with its natural harbour, was eventually selected as the terminus for the Canadian Pacific Railway to the chagrin of Port Moody, New Westminster and Victoria, all of which had vied to be the railhead. The building of the railway was among the preconditions for British Columbia joining Confederation in 1871. The City of Vancouver was incorporated on April 6, 1886, the same year that the first transcontinental train arrived.

A fire on Sunday, June 13 of that year destroyed most of the city, which was quickly rebuilt. Due to the advent of the railway, the population increased rapidly from 5,000 in 1887 to 100,000 in 1900. During the first decade of the twentieth century, Vancouver's population tripled and along with it came a construction boom and, as Rudyard Kipling noted on his visit to the new city in 1887, the "curious institution...called 'real estate'" and the speculative buying and selling of property. By 1890 the beginnings of one of the world's first electric street railways were promoting growth along what are now the city's main arterials, powered by ample hydroelectricity generated from nearby rivers and lakes (first at Buntzen Lake, and soon after on the Stave River, and two "interurban" rail lines were built between Vancouver and New Westminster, with one of those lines - all owned and operated by the BC Electric Railway Company, extending through the Fraser Valley to Chilliwack. Another separately-owned interurban line, the Lulu Island Railway, ran via the Arbutus corridor to Richmond from a station near Granville and Drake Streets. The first pavement in British Columbia was the Stanley Park ring road, and was made out of the crushed shells of the large midden at the old native village of Qwhy-qwhy (Lumberman's Arch); it was paved for use by bicycles, which until the introduction of the autmobile later on were a popular form of transportation. Automobiles were scarce until after World War I due to the distance from the industrial centres of eastern North America.

Things to do

Vancouver may well be the most active city in the world, and it's hardly surprising given the mild climate and its proximity to a huge natural playground of forests, mountains, trails, rivers, creeks and the Pacific Ocean. Vancouverites ski, snow board, snowshoe, sail, boat, swim, paddle, run, cycle, climb, hike and walk during at least part of the year. Many of these activities are popular year round.

During the winter you'll find three mountain ski areas, all within a half hour of the city and only minutes from the North Shore: Cypress Mountain at the top of Hollyburn Mountain, Grouse Mountain Ski Resort at the top of Grouse Mountain and Mount Seymour Provincial Park.

Mild winter days provide the perfect hiking, walking, cycling, running and paddling climate. Sewell's Marina is open all year round if you want to rent a boat, and so is Ecomarine Ocean Kayak Centre. Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak is open in the winter for special paddles.

Of course if it's raining or if you happen to be lucky enough to arrive during Vancouver's rare winter snowfall (it happens about once a winter), you may prefer one of the 9 indoor pools in Vancouver or one of the 5 on the North Shore. Most public pools also have saunas, whirlpools, and/or steam rooms. If you're looking for entertainment, Vancouver has a varied, sophisticated theatre and music scene. You can attend the opera, theatre, ballet or symphony. You can listen to chamber music, early music and baroque music. You can listen to jazz, blues and popular music. It is literally the case that Vancouver has something for everyone.