Vancouver & Whistler Canada 2016
Christmas travels this year took us far away from sunny 70 degrees Christmas to the beautiful country of Canada! Our last trip of 2016, to Vancouver, Canada! We arrived in time to make the taxi drive through the decorated city lined with fresh snow on the ground. Our hotel was located downtown with an amazing view of the city and water! One of my favorite parts of Vancouver was the seamless glass on all the buildings, hotels, shops, and restaurants!
Sea to Sky Highway
The next morning, we drove the most beautiful road, Sea to Sky highway from Vancouver to Whistler!! As we wound the road up we watched the rain change to snow and the beautiful nature scenery along the way! The large snowflakes and fresh powder accumulating on the huge pine trees! The kids loved watching the waterfalls sprout up out of the cliffs, and as we made our way up the flowing water turned to frozen long icicles. The view to the left on our way up wide open water views and snow covered pines or the steepest high cliffs and mountains on our right! Absolutely breath taking!!
Squamish
You might be asking, Why do you have a picture of 7-11? If you want discount lift tickets to Whistler this is the place you have to stop by. Squamish is located halfway between Vancouver and Whistler and is a lot easier than standing in line at the mountain. In the same town across from the gas station was a perfect little grocery store, Nesters Food Market. Here you can stock up on food and drink supplies. They had an amazing assortments of soup, sandwiches, and salads! We also stocked up on the essentials such as hot chocolate, snacks, and wine! Back on the road to Whistler we were very grateful for our SUV rental, as the snow fell fast and furious on the steep mountain climb to the quaint village of Whistler!
Whistler Village
Whistler Village was just as I imagined it would be, if not better! The perfect little snow village, lined with amazing shops, restaurants, and only a handful of condos, and hotels. The snow carved out sidewalks were perfect for the kids to throw snowballs at each other as we walked along! We stayed at a perfect villa only a short walk to the bottom of Whistler/Blackcomb ski mountain. Our first night we ate a yummy Pizza Place right next to our place, Pizzeria Antico. The ambiance of brick walls, long tables full of families laughing and talking about the day, and brick ovens turning out the best pizzas! Our second night we ate at, The Keg, where we enjoyed aged steaks, red wine, and reminisced about our day on the mountain. Being in Canada we had our fair share of crepes! My favorite breakfast spot was right across from us at Crepe Montagne. We sat at the coziest table, drank French pressed coffee and had the best breakfast, we went early and there was a long line of happy customers as we were leaving!
Skiing
Skiing could not have been better, we woke up to 30 degrees and bright sun shine after a huge snow storm the night before. For those of you who ski you know that is perfect temperature and conditions, but for those of you that ski with kids its even MORE perfect!! Kids can get absolutely miserable if they are too cold and that was not the case. Thank goodness!!! There are two lifts at the bottom of the mountain with a dozen more along each mountain side. We rode the Whistler Gondola up first thing and were able to access some great runs from the top, with amazing views of snow covered mountains! We stayed on the mountain for lunch (to avoid the long lift lines coming back up) and had a fabulous lunch, thai bowls full of chicken and vegetables. The tables seemed crowded as every warming house does, but they turn over quite quickly! A great lunch and regroup for an afternoon of skiing!!
Peak to Peak
After a yummy lunch we were ready to go on an adventure. We decided to ride the Peak to Peak Lift from Whistler Mountain to Blackcomb. As I’ve mentioned before on other posts, I have always had a fear of heights, but I am really trying to let go of that for my kids~it is not a fun fear and can keep you from experiencing some truly beautiful places and I do not want them to have this fear! So off we went in the Bright Red Gondola holding 28 people and traveled from Whistler Mountain to Blackcomb Mountain, about 2 miles long, and hanging over 1,427 feet!!! Wow it was amazing and yes my feet did sweat and I tried to look out and not down, the trees looked like tiny Lego trees!! A simply beautiful ride, which delivered us to the other mountain. We continued our day of skiing, finally graduating to all blues (Evian was so relieved!! that Miles was ready!) The kids both did awesome and it was a great day of skiing!!
Granville Island
The next morning we made our way down the Ski to Sky Highway, this time in reverse of leaving snow heading into rain! But once again the most amazing views of steep high mountains and cliffs on one side and water views lined with pine trees and scattered islands on the other! As we made our way into Vancouver we stopped at Granville Island to explore their shops and Public Market! I could not get over the vast assortment of specialty meats, cheeses, fresh produce, breads, desserts to die for, and fresh flowers. Along with amazing groceries, was an area full of eateries!! Each one of us, picked a different delights for lunch from fresh pizza, sushi, sandwiches, and soups!! With fresh fudge in our hands we made our way out of the market to explore the streets. Stopping in the Kids Market to see all the amazing shops and activities for kids, watching a glass blower at work, and in and out of gift shops!
Coast Coal Harbour Hotel
love these coasters from New Years Eve dinner!
New Years Eve was spent in Coast Coal Harbour Hotel, once again with floor to ceiling windows and an amazing view of the water! We enjoyed the heated pool and kids always love to jump on the treadmills in the workout run! Dressed to say goodbye to 2016 and cheers a New Year we walked with our umbrellas, in the falling snow to Cactus Club Café! A beautiful restaurant with glass covered windows looking out over the water. We enjoyed a faboulous meal and toasted to all of our many blessings over the year and our dreams and aspirations for the New Year!
We wish you all a Happy New Year,
full of finding your Happy Playce in life!!
Accommodations:
AlpenLodge Whistler, Canada
Coal Coast Harbour Hotel Vancouver, Canada
Transportation: Taxi ride to and from airport. Car rental to drive to Whistler (Thrifty rental downtown easy walkable location)
Excursion: Skiing Whistler Mountain. Ski rentals from Solomon. There are many places to choose from in Whistler. Our advice is to look for a rental place that is close to your hotel/condo so you do not have to walk that far with your equipment.
Cuisine: Here are a couple links to some of our favorite spots!
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Oh siiiiigh, Great pictures, brings back such memories, feeling of almost reexperiencing being on the hill. (hills) The snow cold, and yes the looking out and not down from the highest ski lifts. Life is unbelievably great, because we are so BLESSED. Thank you 💖
Hi Katy, what lovely photographs. Canada is one country I would love to visit even though I hate the cold! It looks as if you had a fabulous festive season!
How clever is that shop giving out free fruit to children? That small act of kindness will pay off dividends I’m sure.
xx
Thanks Debbie. We did have a wonderful time and cannot wait to go back. I think you would really love Canada. Maybe put it on your travel list during the Summer time. Take care…