Vancouver is a foodie city. So if you’re up for dining out, grab the chance. Take the kids for Belgi

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The thing about Vancouver is she's beautiful, sexy and outdoorsy—like that popular girl in high school you always wanted to be. Even better, you'll like her as much as the kids will. Sandwiched between jagged, snowcapped mountains and the ocean, the City of Glass, with its distinctive Asian flair and squeaky clean, Canadian exterior is as much about skiing, kayaking and single-track as it is about noshing samantha brown and biography and travel channel Japanese udon or Indian-fusion and prowling upstart designer ateliers. You'll feel equally at home here in Icebreaker as Prada.
While it's got all the metro perks, Vancouver is still a smallish city easily conquered by the stroller and kids set. Downtown is vertical and walkable from Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver , with a SkyTrain, convenient public transit network and tons of fun things to see and do. Dozen miles of publicly accessible beaches and waterfront park are made for family picnics, strolls and bike rides. Pick up a Georgia Straight to see what's doing in town.
Tack on side trips to Whistler for world-class skiing/snowboarding and mountain biking; nearby Bowen Island (where samantha brown and biography and travel channel we live) for a trek around Killarney Lake , paddling and pebbly beaches all to yourself; or British Columbia's desert-y wine country in the Okanagan Valley .
Your urban base to outdoor, quintessentially BC adventures: in winter, snowshoeing, tubing, sledding, skating and skiing/boarding at nearby Cypress , Grouse and Mt. Seymour ; in summer, beach time (try Kitsilano "Kits" Beach), kayaking, skating, sailing, fishing, golfing, samantha brown and biography and travel channel hiking and cycling.
In winter, samantha brown and biography and travel channel ice skating across samantha brown and biography and travel channel the street at open-air Robson Square Ice Rink . In summer, sprinting along the handsome waterfront promenade of Coal Harbour and watching samantha brown and biography and travel channel the float planes land on the water.
The easiness of it all. Shopping: right under the hotel at Pacific Centre Mall. (More retail therapy a few blocks west to Alberni Street: Tiffany Co., Betsey Johnson, Hermes, BluBird samantha brown and biography and travel channel ) Art gallery: across the street. Waterfront park: just down the hill.
For grown-ups, anything seafood at stylish YEW Restaurant + Bar . Vancouver is seafood paradise, and Executive Chef Ned Bell knows how to treat it right. Steelhead salmon, Fanny Bay oysters, scallops, mussels, Arctic char, Ahi, Dungeness… it's all here. YEW specializes in local, sustainable, in-season seafood samantha brown and biography and travel channel and delivers masterful, exciting dishes.
For kids, try the edamame ($4) and chicken noodle soup ($4) or the $6 pasta and grilled chicken with broccoli, asparagus and green beans. Add a giant strawberry-banana smoothie ($2). Grown-ups will love the prices (kids eat free if dining with hotel guest parents) and healthy selections on the YEW kid's menu. Best of all, parents can relax. Because the tony wood-and-glass dining area is so spacious, no one will even notice the kids and their tabletop antics. A splurge on in-room dining is also especially memorable and stress-free.
Vancouver is a foodie samantha brown and biography and travel channel city. So if you're up for dining out, grab the chance. Take the kids for Belgian samantha brown and biography and travel channel waffles at Café Medina ; the city's best sushi at Tojo's (perhaps book a sitter for a date night); New York Times-lauded Indian-fusion at Vij's Rangoli (the casual sister restaurant to Vij's) or a down-home bowl of Chinese samantha brown and biography and travel channel noodles samantha brown and biography and travel channel at Hon's Wun-Tun House on Robson. Vancouver's burgeoning street cart scene is also worth sampling: we like Japa Dog , Fresh Local Wild and Eli's Serious Sausage samantha brown and biography and travel channel .
Stanley Park : One our most favourite Vancouver day ever was cycling the Stanley Park Seawall on a crisp autumn day, toting the giggling toddlers in a bike trailer around the 5.5-mile loop. We rented bikes just across the street at Spokes , then slurped bowls of steaming ramen on Denman Street afterwards. Visit the totems and flower gardens, find a playground, chase Canada geese, stroll the paths or ride bikes. The miniature train and lights display at Halloween and Christmas time is a delight. Don't miss the ethereal cherry blossoms in spring time .
Museum of Anthropology : Though way on the other side of the city, on the University of British Columbia campus, it's worth the trek to see BC's celebrated giant totem poles and First Nations art up close. The vast collection of artifacts and treasures is stunning. Even little kids seem to appreciate the magnitude.
China Town : Either walk from Four Seasons or take a quick SkyTrain hop. While it's slightly seedy, kids will be riveted samantha brown and biography and travel channel by the exotic aromas, bustle and clatter, scarlet lanterns and shiny satin dresses, samantha brown and biography and travel channel and sacks of candied insects, dried 'shrooms and stacked fish. Pop into a resto, if you're feeling adventurous, and dip into some Chinese fare with the locals. The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden makes a nice diversion, then catch a matinee at Tinseltown . Riding samantha brown and biography and travel channel the multi-tiered samantha brown and biography and travel channel escalator and the dollar store is a kids' fave here.
Kids In The City : This is a club for kids during school vacation times, such as Christmas samantha brown and biography and travel channel and spring break. Complimentary for hotel guests, with programming daily for kids 5 to 12 from 9:30 am to 10:45 am, activities might be designing your own pizza, a scavenger hunt, puppet making and show or hat designing. Sign up with the concierge by 7:30 am the day of. There's also a Play Zone room for children accompanied by their parents, open 7 am to 11 pm. It's got table hockey and ping-pong, stuffed-animal beanbags, books, crafts, games, a ginormous samantha brown and biography and travel channel TV with DVDs and three gaming stations including Wii. The hotel also offers babysitting; just ask the concierge.
Aquarium, Science World : First of all, ride the SkyTrain. It zooms below and mostly samantha brown and biography and travel channel above the city, costs only a few bucks (buy fare savers at 7-11) and is especially a hit with little boys. Make sure to let the kids sit in the nose at the very front for that whoosh feeling. The SkyTrain will zoom you to Science World , an experiential and educational kids' zone that teaches about nature, physics and science in an interactive, hands-on way. Note across the water at False Creek The Village , now a model of urban, sustainable living. Make time for the Vancouver Aquarium , in Stanley Park, and especially for the cute sea otters and flirty belugas. (You can schedule a sleepover with belugas , too.) Downstairs, there's an interactive kids' craft area and regular scuba diver fish feeding samantha brown and biography and travel channel sessions.
Michelle Pentz Glave is the Have Family Will Travel editor. Before diving into communications/PR, she was a journalist for 25 years in the US and Germany including stints with The Wall Street Journal Europe , Gruner+Jahr (Bertelsman) and the Albuquerque Journal . Her work has appeared in Outside , Wired , Travel + Leisure , Sunset samantha brown and biography and travel channel and Fortune . Michelle is passionate about family, food, farmers, her garden and taekwondo. She lives on Bowen Island, near Vancouver, Canada, with her husband and two kids: Sabrina, 10, and Duncan, 9.
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Beach Biking Cooking Crafts Culture/Museums Dining Out Fishing Fitness Golf Hiking Horseback Riding Kid's Club Music/Dance Nature/Wildlife Scuba Diving Sightseeing Skiing/Snowboarding Snow Sports Spa Swimming/Pool Time Water Sports Yoga Ziplining