When to go
Summer is the best time to visit this upbeat city on Canada's west coast, with beaches, a great outdoor vibe and direct access to forests and mountains and the attractions of Vancouver Island just across the sound. Or try September, Vancouverites' favourite month, with fewer tourists but weather that's still warm and dry before the winter rains set in.
Stay here
The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver is the city's traditional grand railway hotel, right in the centre of town. For more contemporary style the Shangri-La Hotel is more discreetly located in a new glass tower just around the corner.