Vancouver

For Canadians from the east, Vancouver offers a change of climate without leaving the country: a mild winter, mountains above the harbour and the ocean at the end of the street. Fairmont Pacific Rim on Coal Harbour is the natural base — floatplanes outside the windows, the seawall to Stanley Park on foot, and the ski runs of Grouse Mountain within half an hour.

Vancouver sits between ocean and mountains like few cities on earth. Stanley Park, the North Shore peaks, the seawall and a strong Pacific Rim culture make it a city where wilderness begins at the edge of downtown and outdoor life is part of the everyday.

Vancouver occupies a peninsula between Burrard Inlet and the Fraser River, on the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. Downtown is compact and surrounded by water: Coal Harbour and its seaplanes to the north, English Bay’s beaches to the west, False Creek and Granville Island to the south.

Stanley Park, larger than Central Park, occupies the tip of the peninsula, its seawall circling the shore. Across the inlet the North Shore mountains rise straight from the water, Whistler lies two hours up the Sea-to-Sky Highway, and the cuisine reflects the city’s strong ties to Asia and the Pacific.

Summer is dry, bright and rarely hot, the season for the seawall, kayaking on False Creek, whale-watching from the harbour and floatplane flights to Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. July brings the Celebration of Light fireworks over English Bay, and all summer long Bard on the Beach stages its outdoor theatre. Days are long, and the light lingers over the water until late in the evening, with the mountains clear on most days.

From November to March the city is mild and rainy while the mountains collect snow: Grouse, Cypress and Seymour are minutes from downtown, Whistler not much further. Spring arrives early, with cherry blossom lining the streets in March and April, while the slopes above the city still hold snow for spring skiing.

On Coal Harbour, Fairmont Pacific Rim looks across the inlet to the North Shore mountains. Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, the copper-roofed railway hotel of 1939, stands at the heart of downtown, and Rosewood Hotel Georgia, restored from its 1927 original, faces the Vancouver Art Gallery. Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver and the intimate Wedgewood Hotel complete the circle of the city’s best addresses.

Every one of them lies within a short walk of the seawall, Stanley Park or the harbour. LVXVRY books the two Fairmont hotels through Accor Preferred — at the official hotel rate, with the privileges the programme attaches to the stay — and advises on and arranges stays at the Rosewood, the Shangri-La and the Wedgewood.