Getting There

By Bus

Greyhound Bus Lines (tel. 800/231-2222 or 604/482-8747; www.greyhound.ca) offers daily bus service between Vancouver and all major Canadian cities, and between Vancouver and Seattle (at the border crossing, passengers disembark the bus and take their luggage through Customs). For information on Greyhound's cost-cutting Canada Pass, which allows for unlimited travel within Canada, and Discovery Pass, which allows for unlimited travel in the U.S. and Canada, consult their website. Pacific Coach Lines (tel. 604/662-8074; www.pacificcoach.com) provides service between Vancouver and Victoria.

By Car

There are no major freeways within Vancouver, which makes it unique for a major North American city. You'll probably be driving into Vancouver along one of two routes. U.S. Interstate 5 from Seattle becomes Highway 99 when you cross the border at the Peace Arch. The 210km (130-mile) drive from Seattle takes about 2 1/2 hours. On the Canadian side of the border, you'll drive through the cities of White Rock, Delta, and Richmond, pass under the Fraser River through the George Massey Tunnel, and cross the Oak Street Bridge. The highway ends there and becomes Oak Street, a busy urban thoroughfare heading toward downtown. Turn left at the first convenient major arterial (70th, 57th, 49th, 41st, 33rd, 16th, and 12th aves. will all serve) and proceed until you hit the next major street, which will be Granville Street. Turn right on Granville Street. This street heads directly into downtown Vancouver via the Granville Street Bridge.

Trans-Canada Highway 1 is a limited-access freeway that runs to Vancouver's eastern boundary, where it crosses the Second Narrows Bridge to North Vancouver. When traveling on Highway 1 from the east, exit at Cassiar Street and turn left at the first light onto Hastings Street (Hwy. 7A), which is adjacent to Exhibition Park. Follow Hastings Street 6.4km (4 miles) into downtown. When coming to Vancouver from parts north, take exit 13 (the sign says TAYLOR WAY, BRIDGE TO VANCOUVER) and cross the Lions Gate Bridge into Vancouver's West End.

By Plane

The Open Skies agreement between the U.S. and Canada has made flying to Vancouver easier than ever. Daily direct flights between major U.S. cities and Vancouver are offered by Air Canada (tel. 888/247-2262; www.aircanada.com); Alaska Airlines (tel. 800/252-7522; www.alaskaair.com); American Airlines (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com); Continental (tel. 800/231-0856; www.continental.com); Frontier Airlines (tel. 800/432-1359; www.frontierairlines.com): Northwest Airlines (tel. 800/447-4747; www.nwa.com); and United Airlines (tel. 800/241-6522; www.united.com). Direct flights on major carriers serve 33 cities in North America, including Denver, Phoenix, Dallas, New York, Houston, Minneapolis, Reno, and San Francisco; 12 cities in Asia; and 3 cities in Europe.

Domestic travelers within Canada have fewer options. Air Canada (tel. 888/247-2262) operates flights to Vancouver and Victoria from all major Canadian cities, connecting with some of the regional airlines. Cheaper and reaching farther all the time is the no-frills airline WestJet (tel. 888/WEST-JET or 800/538-5696; www.westjet.com), which operates regular flights from Vancouver and Victoria to Prince George, Kelowna, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax, and farther afield.

Direct flights between London and Vancouver are offered by Air Canada (tel. 0871/220-1111; www.aircanada.com) and the no-frills Zoom (tel. 866/359-9666 in North America, or 0870/213-266 in the U.K.; www.flyzoom.com). Other major carriers serving London (United, Continental, British Airways) make stops in the U.S. before continuing on to Vancouver.

Air Canada (tel. 0871/220-1111; www.aircanada.com) also flies to Vancouver from Sydney, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand.

By Ship & Ferry

Vancouver is the major embarkation point for cruises going up British Columbia's Inland Passage to Alaska. The ships carry more than one million passengers annually on their nearly 350 Vancouver-Alaska cruises. In the summer, up to four cruise ships a day berth at Canada Place cruise-ship terminal (tel. 604/665-9085; www.portvancouver.com). A city landmark shaped like a cruise ship and topped by five eye-catching white Teflon sails, Canada Place Pier juts out into the Burrard Inlet at the base of Burrard Street right at the edge of the downtown financial district. It's an easy walk from the terminal to Gastown, downtown, or the West End. You'll also find taxis right outside, and the starting point for the Gray Line city sightseeing loop.

The following cruises dock at Canada Place or the nearby Ballantyne Pier: Princess Cruises (tel. 800/PRINCESS; www.princess.com), Holland America Line (tel. 800/724-5425; www.hollandamerica.com), Royal Caribbean (tel. 800/398-9819; www.royalcaribbean.com), Crystal Cruises (tel. 866/446-6625; www.crystalcruises.com), Norwegian Cruise Line (tel. 800/625-5306; www.norwegiancruiselines.com), Radisson Seven Seas Cruises (tel. 877/505-5370; www.rssc.com), and Carnival (tel. 866/386-7447; www.carnivalcruise.com). Public transit buses and taxis greet new arrivals, but you can also easily walk to many major hotels (the Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver, perched directly atop the cruise-ship terminal, is the most convenient).

If you're arriving from Vancouver Island or Victoria, B.C. Ferries (tel. 888/223-3779 in B.C. only, or 250/386-3431; www.bcferries.com) has three daily routes.

By Train

VIA Rail Canada, 1150 Station St., Vancouver (tel. 888/842-7245; www.viarail.com), connects with Amtrak at Winnipeg, Manitoba. From there you can transfer to The Canadian, the western transcontinental train that travels between Vancouver and Toronto, with stops in Kamloops, Jasper, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and Sudbury Junction. Canadians, U.S. residents, and international travelers can purchase a 30-day, two-country North America Railpass for C$815 (US$693/£369) to C$1,149 (US$978/£517) at peak season, and use it for rail connections to Vancouver. For travel within Canada only, the 12-day Canrailpass (C$523/US$432/£235 off-peak; C$813/US$651/£366 peak) is available. Visit www.viarail.com for more information.

Amtrak (tel. 800/872-7245; www.amtrak.com) offers daily service from Seattle, though there's currently only one train in the morning; otherwise, the Seattle-Vancouver route is covered by an Amtrak bus. Amtrak also has a route from San Diego to Vancouver. It stops at all major U.S. West Coast cities, and takes a little under 2 days to complete the entire journey.