Vancouver + Whistler in August

Trip Date - August 2025

Number of Days - 4

Who went - Jenn (51) & Terry (52) We took an Alaskan Cruise that departed out of Vancouver, and decided to spend a few days in the area beforehand. We are so happy we made this decision, we fell in love with Western BC!

Olympic Rings Whistler Village

We landed late on a Thursday and spent the night at the Westin near the airport. Perfect for a late night arrival. We rented a car from Ascent Car Rental because they allowed us to pick up at the Vancouver airport and drop off at the Cruise Ship terminal - super convenient! Day 1 - Vancouver To Whistler We got up early on Friday (taking advantage of being on east coast time) and started with breakfast on the water at OEB (Yaletown location). Terry had the breakfast poutine and I had a bacon caramel waffle that was worth every single calorie!

Breakfast at OEB

We were glad we carbed up for the day, because we decided to jump right in with a fairly serious hike. We drove to the Sea to Summit trail and headed headed up, up, up. The trail climbs over 3,000 feet in about 3.5 miles - with plenty of rock scrambling included. This was one of the tougher hikes we have completed, and I was thrilled when we reached the summit. This is not a great choice for a casual hike, but if you're looking to really stretch your legs and get your heart pumping, it's a great choice!

View from the Summit

We had lunch at the summit and enjoyed the view before taking the gondola back down the mountain (it is not recommended to hike the trail back down due to the nature of the trail, which was just fine by us!).

View looking up - we hiked that!

We left the trail and headed to Whistler, where we stayed 2 nights at the Delta Hotel in Whistler Village. The location was great (right in the heart of the village) and the staff was extremely welcoming. The room was a little dated, but roomy and perfect for 2 nights. The lobby and pool area had been renovated and were lovely. We LOVED Whistler Village (but sadly didn't get too many pictures of it) Somehow it pulls off being both upscale and laidback at the same time... was really great to just wander in and out of shops and people watch. We highly recommend this area!

We had a pasta dinner at the bar at Il Caminetto, which was superb!

Dinner at Il Caminetto

Day 2 - Whistler

After a simple but delicious breakfast in the village, we headed up Whistler Mountain. Whistler is highly renowned ski resort in the winter - which becomes a mountain bike haven in the summer. We happened to be there the weekend of a bikers event so there was a ton of activity on the mountain.

Cloudraker Skybridge

Top of the World Summit

There are a series of gondolas to enjoy, we went up the Whistler Village Gondola to Peak Express before taking the Peak 2 Peak (the world's longest unsupported span - amazing) and then coming back down the Blackcomb Gondola. The whole thing took us 2-3 hours (we opted not to do more hiking - but we could have extended our time).

Above the clouds!

Once back at sea level, we wandered back to the hotel and then drove to an incredible ATV Tour (Bushwacker Tour).

Ready to ride!

This small group tour (6 people) was exhilarating and a great way to end the day!

We got a little fancy for dinner at Barefoot Bistro. The food was just okay (Terry enjoyed his fish more than I enjoyed my steak), but the atmosphere was a lot of fun!

Dinner at Bearfoot Bistro

Day 3 - Whistler to Vancouver We had a great breakfast at the Southside Diner (recommended by a local) before heading to the Whistler Sliding Centre for their summer bobsleigh experience. This world-class bobsleih, skeleton and luge track hosted sliding events of the the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Authentic Olympic Bobsled!

This is the fastest ice track in the world, with a total length of 1,700 meters and 16 curves. We were driven to the top and then escorted on a tour walking down the highest parts of the track (this was fascinating!) We learned all about how they maintain the track in the winter and heard stories from the Olympics.

Walking down the track...

After learning about it, we loaded into a 3-man (the two of us + a trained pilot) bobsleigh for a bumpy but super fun ride down the rest of the concrete track. A once-in-a-lifetime experience!

...Riding down the track

After saying goodbye to Whistler, we headed back towards Vancouver, stopping first at the Capliano Suspension Bridge. This was a cool experience, but was also very crowded (we were there on a Saturday, which I would recommend avoiding). We spent about 90 minutes here.

We continued on to our hotel in Vancouver to check in and get ready for dinner. This was our 3rd wedding anniversary, so we booked a special 10-course tasting menu at Published on Main. While the food was good and the service was amazing - we didn't find this to be our favorite tasting menu, I'm not sure we would do it again.

Pubished on Main

Published on Main

What we WOULD do again is drinks at the Shameful Tiki Room! Super fun!

In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room

Day 4 - Stanley Park + Cruise Embarkation

After taking advantage of the hotel's cruise package (luggage delivery to your ship state room, a brilliant idea!), we took a walk along the seawall to Stanley Park, where we rented e-bikes for the afternoon.

Stanley Park

We loved cycling around Stanley Park and were blessed with a beautiful summer day to do it! We stopped for brunch at the Stanley Park Teahouse (divine!)

Brunch at the Tea Room

We spent about 2.5 hours in the park before grabbing an uber back to the Cruise Ship Terminal. We loved Vancouver and hope to be back!

Ready to cruise!