Vancouver recs

I've been to Vancouver, BC three times and always found good food. The only disappointment was a hamburger at the hotel restaurant and later I found out they are only allowed, by law, to serve well done ones.

Joyeaux Cafe and Restaurant
This is a link to a small place at 551 Howe St that we ate at twice in 2018. The food was very fresh. It's about a 1/2 mile from your hotel. We were just walking around and saw it and went in. Probably not somewhere you want to go for a birthday celebration though.

As far as things to do I recommend Stanley Park and Granville Island. We took the bus to Stanley Park but you can drive. I would take the boat to Granville Island as there is not much parking. The train may go there too. They have a market there, at least it was open in the summer, that has all kinds of food. I was told it is similar to the one in Seattle but smaller. IDK

There is the Gastown area which has a lot of restaurants and jade stores. It's a 1/2 mile from your hotel to the Gastown Steam Clock. You can also rent bikes and get around that way.

If you have time I would ride to Whistler. There are a couple of water falls along the way if you like to look at those; it is a short hike to each one. The water may not be flowing this time of year though.

I don’t have any great recommendations but I’ve gone there for work twice last year and will go again in January. Unfortunately never had a ton of time to explore except a few hours after work.

Take the kids down by the water near the Canada Place building. You can see the sea planes landing in the water which was super cool. As someone else said, the trains are pretty clean and easy to get around.

Stay away from E Hastings St in Vancouver since you’ll be with kids. It’s basically 3rd street in Seattle if you’ve ever been. It’s littered with homeless people openly doing drugs and causing a ruckus, closed businesses, etc.