🍂 COVID-Conscious in Vancouver

A family trip to the beautiful west coast

In October 2024, my boy and I travelled to Vancouver for an Indigenous graduate student conference I had been accepted to present at. While the trip was centered around the conference, we found some down time after-hours and on our last day to make it restful, memorable and COVID-conscious.

✈️ Getting there: Travel with Intention

We flew from Pearson (Toronto) with Porter Airlines, my go-to carrier for comfort and consistency. I am a huge fan of their two-person seating layout - perfect for our family of two! In general, their aircraft feel less crowded than larger planes and flights are reliably on time. We chose an early morning flight to avoid busy terminals and remained masked from Pearson, through the flight, on the Sky Train to our hotel and until we had stepped into our room.

On our return trip, we rented a car for the day. It gave us a chance to explore further out of the city and take a much-needed break from masking before the 5-hour flight home.

🏨 The Coast Hotel: Clean, Comfortable & Well-located

Origami welcoming from Coast Hotel Vancouver!

Vancouver isn't notably more COVID-conscious than Toronto - I can count the number of masked people we encountered throughout our entire visit on my two hands. But, our accommodations at the Coast Hotel made navigating our exposure a bit easier. We stayed on an upper floor with a lovely view of the waterfront. We avoided indoor dining, choosing instead to eat either in our room or at the nearby waterfront park. When we ordered room service, we always met staff at the door masked and brought the trays into our room ourselves.

Our room was convenient as the conference was held in the hotel and offered a masking rest between conference events. It's proximity to the water made it easy to enjoy short outdoor breaks.

🌲 Capilano Suspension Bridge: Go early, Get Outdoors

On our last day, we rented a car and drove out to Capilano Suspension Bridge and Stanley Park - a short trip outside the city that is well worth it! We arrived right when it opened, which I highly recommend for COVID-conscious travellers. As we were leaving roughly 90 minutes later, the lineup and crowds were growing quickly! Unfortunately, the layout of the attraction does not support safe distancing once its full.

The bridge itself is exhilarating to cross, but for those who want something calmer and/or more accessible, there's a smaller forest trail within the park that is beautiful, peaceful and much less crowded. Because we visited in October, the park was delightfully decorated with skeletons and other Halloween touches, adding some festive fun to the stunning natural setting. Capilano Suspension Bridge is definitely a more luxury attraction as the prices are "not cheap"!

The food was creative but definitely "Vancouver" pricing. I say this as someone who doesn't flinch at "Toronto" prices: the mini-pancakes we tried were tasty...but not $$ tasty! 😅 While I would definitely visit Capilano again, I would skip the cafe inside the park next.

Bonus: The gift shop is excellent - full of high quality items and well worth a visit and indulgence! 😉. My son purchased a leather wallet from the gift shop that is still in fantastic shape! We also picked up a few cute souvenirs to share with my mom and auntie, who didn't get to join us on this adventure.

🚙 Exploring Safely

Driving in Vancouver (or any major city for that matter!) isn't my favourite, but renting a vehicle through my favourite provider Enterprise, offered the flexibility to avoid indoor public or shared transportation, explore outdoor sites on our own schedule and take much needed mask breaks between destinations.

Visiting the E. Pauline Johnson memorial

After Capilano, we visited Stanley Park on our final day, and it was a definite highlight to our visit - it's massive, gorgeous and full of peaceful walking trails. It's also home to one of my community's most famous poets - E. Pauline Johnson. We stopped to pay our respects and appreciated the opportunity to feel "at home" for a moment during our trip. It was the perfect rest before heading on to the beautiful Vancouver Airport to make our way home.

💡 COVID-Conscious Travel Tips

Here's a few of the precautions we took to minimize our exposure during this trip:

• Rent a vehicle if you can: It offers control, comfort, and is helpful for accessing outdoor attractions like Capilano.

• Visit outdoor attractions early in the day: You'll enjoy the peaceful pathways, beautiful landscapes, and lower your potential exposure with much smaller crowds.

• Choose a hotel with room service: I haven't yet found a COVID-conscious hotel, but at least the convenience of in-room dining and nearby quiet parks makes it easier to eat safely, rest quietly, and enjoy the city on our terms.

🦄 Final Thoughts

I would and would not choose the Coast Hotel again. Our room was lovely - we were fortunate to receive a free room upgrade and enjoyed a corner room with a stunning view of the city. Yet, I'm drawn to try other hotels/accommodations and hopefully find the "unicorn" that actively take COVID precautions for staff and visitors.