Vancouver Links

The following is a collection of useful links for starting your exploration of Vancouver, BC.

General

• CANADA.COM - Best starting point for almost anything and everything in Canada! Including news, city guides, shopping, TV etc
• canoe.ca - Another canadian guides / search engine thingy
• MyTelus - And another one, this time by Telus, the western Canadian telecom company
• Telephone Directory (with direct link to maps) – residential and yellowpages
• The Georgia Straight - THE source of information for Vancouver. Published Thursdays and it’s FREE! Pick it up anywhere in the city… the web page shows only a fraction of the contents!
• VANCOUVER Magazine - Another free magazine. Great tips, especially in the restaurants section! Look for the “Best of…” and “Wine Awards” sections
• Vancouver Public Library - Good source for most books… beautiful building!!!
• UBC Library - Very good source for virtually every scientific and non-scientific reference
• Canada – A People’s History - CBC production outlining Canada’s history
• BC Archives - Whateveryoueverwantedtoknow about B.C.’s past. Great pictures and even videos are available
• BC Archives Time Machine - Really nice overview of B.C.’s past in pictures and videos
• Virtual Vancouver - VR Tour of Vancouver’s downtown

Tourism

• Tourism BC - The official tourism page for B.C.
• Tourism Vancouver - Dito for Vancouver
• Adventure British Columbia - A little more outdoorish… Lists Lodges etc.
• BC Parks - Information about state-run parks throughout B.C.
• Greater Vancouver and Victoria Parks - Very nice picture and information site for parks in greater Vancouver
• Vancouver Airport - Vancouver’s international airport. Features real-time Flight Information
• Air Canada - Canada’s airline
• BC Ferries - Chances are you’ll need this service while you’re here
• VIA Rail Canada - Beautiful and relaxed way to cross the continent
• BC Transit - Has links to all public transit authorities throughout BC
• Vancouver Hotels - This seems to be a good page for booking hotels in Vancouver. Haven’t tried it, though
• Vancouver Hotels #2 - Here’s another one…
• HighStreet Corporate Rentals - Corporate apartment rentals
• YH Jericho Beach - This hostel is a great place to spend your first night(s) in Vancouver
• BBCanada: British Columbia - Bed and Breakfasts in BC
• Ticketmaster Canada - Just in case you want to do something this evening…
• The Canadian Wine Home Page - Yes! There are great wines from Canada!!! Surf and sip…
• BCWine.ca - Forget Napa! Plan your BC winery-tour here
• Home Winemakers’ Manual - Learn how it goes… Taxation-forced pastime in B.C.!!!
• Canadian Coast Guard Pacific Region - For the boaters among us…
• NOTMAR - Notices to Mariners
• Mapping Tool - Very good atlas of Canada
• BaseMap – A bit more in depth about B.C.’s geography
• Whistler-Blackcomb – Great skiing 2 hrs. north of Vancouver
• Cypress Bowl - Definitely the nicest skiing within the immediate Vancouver area… GREAT views of Howe Sound and Vancouver
• Grouse Mountain - The closest skiing area. 15 min. (to 1 1/2 hrs. depending on the BRIDGE!) from Downtown. Great views of the city and nice restaurant
• Mount Seymour - A little further away and featuring the easier runs
• Gulf Islands Guide - Great getaways!!! Only a short ferry ride from Vancouver
• Gulf Islands BC - More infos…
• Gulf Islands Online - And even more…
• Mountain Equipment Co-Op - You either wear stuff from this outdoor supplier already, or you will very soon…

News / Weather

• Vancouver @ Canada.com - The Vancouver page on Global’s Canada.com Network
• Vancouver Sun - The better half of Vancouver’s daily publishing. All the news from around town and BC
• Vancouver Province - The other half
• National Post - The big brother of the aforementioned two… A more fashionable competition to the next one
• The Globe and Mail - A little more traditional…
• UBC Library: British Columbia Newspapers - If you need some more…
• Canadian Stock Quotes - For specific financial information look here
• Toronto Stock Exchange - The direct link to the main Canadian Stock Exchange
• Weather for Vancouver - Oh, yeah… REALLY important!!! One of the two ways to find out if it rains outside…
• Avalanche Advisory - Some nice, super-important, lifesaving pages for the great winter outdoors… daily updates!
• The Kat Kam - Shows live-pix of Vancouver’s beautiful beaches. Located at the edge of False Creek. Also has links to other Lower Mainland Webcams
• Kat Kam Image - Live shot of Burrard Street Bridge / False Creek / English Bay / Kitsilano
• CBC British-Columbia - The great, traditional, public Radio and TV station’s British-Columbia site
• CTV - Another local TV station

Administrative / Misc. Infos

• City of Vancouver - The official City page. Good if you need facts about living here or any official help when you have arrived. Features a GIS Map of Vancouver
• Vancouver 2010 – Official Olympics site for the winter games in 2010
  
• Government of British Columbia - Oh, yeah… a loooong story… But full of information and links!
• Canada Post Corporation - Just in case you forgot which stamps to put on that letter…
• Citizenship and Immigration Canada – For those who like this place as much as I do…
• RealtyLink – Find a home in the Greater Vancouver area if you have the money for it…
• University of British-Columbia (UBC) – Yes, and that is THE university in Vancouver, my Alma Mater
• Simon Fraser University (SFU) – One more, this one is in Burnaby
• British-Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) – A technical college, also in Burnaby
• VCN Community Pages Index - Some local homegrown web stuff…

Art

• Vancouver Art Gallery - Vancouver’s main art gallery… Features mostly contemporary local or classic temporary exhibits, has a permanent Emily Carr exhibition
• Contemporary Art Gallery - Small but contemporary
• Museum of Anthropology - Great collection of Pacific-coast native art
• Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design - Art school on Granville Island…
• Spirits of the North - Native art gallery on Granville Street

Literature

The following list is by far not exhaustive. It should give you some interesting suggestions, though:

• British-Columbia Handbook by J. King and A. Hempstead – This is a great travel guide for entire BC as well as Vancouver
• City of Glass by D. Coupland – A thorough examination of what current (2000) Vancouver is all about
• Dream City: Vancouver and the Global Imagination by Lance Berelowitz – Why everyone is interested in Vancouver… Haven’t read it yet, but it is an interesting approach.
• Vancouver and its Region by G. Wynn and T. Oke – A very exhaustive documentation of Vancouver’s history, both social as well as physical
• A History of Canadian Architecture by H. Kalman – Although this book by the nature of its topic is more focused on eastern Canada, it features some chapters describing the development of the western parts of this country
• Adbusters Magazine – Although its topics are certainly more focused on the US mass media and consumer market, this magazine represents a large portion of Vancouver thinking

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I am taking suggestions for more links, but I HATE link exchanges, so don’t even try. Post any useful links with a short description as a comment below: