Vancouver
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Families Travel! Taking the Kids to Vancouver on Amtrak
Canadian-born Seattle resident Connie Wanklin-Iskra, her husband Matt, son Makhno (almost 3) and daughter Naomi (6 months) decided to enjoy a car-free weekend in Vancouver, BC. So, over the long US Memorial Day weekend, they decided to take the Amtrak train‘s route to Vancouver for a two-day trip. “We wanted to stay longer, but felt we might need a day to recover when we returned,†Wanklin-Iskra says. “Which was definitely the case.†They boarded the Amtrak in Edmonds, Washington at 8:07 a.m. and arrived in Vancouver, BC, almost four hours later. The train was $70 round trip for each adult, half-off for Makhno and free for her daughter (and other children under age 2). Once in Vancouver, it was…
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10 Family-Friendly Vancouver Restaurants
I’m going up to Vancouver, BC, this weekend and thought I’d spill the soup on our favorite kid-friendly restaurants, those places we miss when we return home. Vancouver’s restaurants exhibit amazing Eastern flair, unsurprising for a Pacific-Rim city. Here are my 10 favorites – find even more places to eat in my new book, Northwest Kid Trips: Portland, Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver. 1. Little Nest Cafe serves honest breakfasts and lunches to parents tired of lame-o kid meals and half-effort adult dishes. Fresh West Coast fare, super-cool décor and a kids’ play area filled with retro toys. Read my full write-up here. 2. Here’s how to enjoy downtown Vancouver’s Sciue. Get in…
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Four Family-Friendly Markets in the NW & BC
We have markets by the bushelful here in Casadia and traveling families are always welcome. Bring the kids, $30 and a sense of adventure to these farmers’ markets. It’s a cheap vacation solution and a memorable excursion, all rolled into one afternoon. Here are my favorite four markets — indoor and outdoor, large and small. Don’t miss them when you’re visiting! Portland Farmers Market, Portland. This weekend, the Saturday Portland Farmers Market reopens for the growing (and grazing) season. The outdoor, downtown market features dozens of local-vendor booths, great food trucks (I like Pine State Biscuits) and musical performers. Chefs put on cooking demos, and children’s cooking classes take center…
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10 Things to Do with Kids in Vancouver in the Rain
Vancouver is one of my favorite cities in the entire world, especially with kids. There's so much to do -- whether the winds are warm or wintery. Here are my top 10 picks for cool-weather visitors.
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Surviving and Thriving at Vancouver 2010
8:00 a.m. We drove through the Canadian border. No lineups. Yes, it was a little eerie. After years of fearing the worst, the crossing ended up being no more problematic than a Starbucks’ drive-through at 9 p.m. 8:30 a.m. We parked at the King George SkyTrain Station (on the Metro Line), easily found a space, then paid the parking kiosk with our credit card (about $10 for parking). We boarded the first car, and the kids shared a lone forward-facing seat as the train weaved through housing, over bridges, past construction, and between stands of fir and cedar. “I’m driving,” my 4-year-old son whispered. Uh oh. 9:20 a.m. We arrived…
