My City Celebrates: Natasha’s Vancouver

Happy Holidays to all of our readers! Things on the blog will be a bit quieter over the next few days while the staff is busy traveling. We look forward to picking things up full force in the new year.

This year, inspired by our “I Heart My City”

series on Intelligent Travel, we’re reveling in the holiday season by asking our readers to share their favorite ways to celebrate in their cities. Today’s city-lover is travel writer Natasha John, who gives us a glimpse of Vancouver. “On a perfect sunny day, you can see the North Shore mountains and their snow capped tips. De-vine!” John says. (Click here for our walking tour of the city, featured in our January/February issue.)

What to share the things that make your city special?

We’ve put together a festively-themed fill-in-the-blank questionnaire, and we’d love to hear your responses. So cut and paste the list, fill in your answers, and e-mail us your picks at intelligenttravel@ngs.org.

(Please include links and photos if possible). We’ll be featuring your “My City Celebrates” posts through the New Year, click here for a list of cities we’ve featured so far. Happy Holidays!

My City Celebrates: Vancouver

When I need a dose of holiday cheer, I always head to St. Paul’s Hospital after dark for the largest display of Christmas lights downtown.

The best place to grab a cup of cocoa is at any JJ Bean.

If you want to find great sledding you have to head Mount Seymour, which also offers a great view of downtown Vancouver.

Strap on your skates at Robson Square (pictured, above) and enjoy the view of the smiles on your fellow skaters’ faces.

For a classic holiday photo op, be sure to check out the Van Dusen Gardens, which is known for its Festival of Lights.

A great place to take the kids during the season is Stanley Park’s Bright Nights.

For all of your gift-giving shopping in one store, check out The Bay, complete with the official Winter Olympics merchandise store.

Granville Island has the best markets; be sure to pick up fresh oysters from the Lobster Man for your next holiday gathering.

No holiday meal in my city is complete without a locally raised, organic turkey from JD Farms in Langley.

My favorite holiday tradition in my city is the Polar Bear Swim on New Year’s day in English Bay.

Locals know to avoid the throngs of Robson Street and find the real magic at home with friends, cooking with fresh ingredients from Granville Island and sipping on local BC wine.

The best part about my city during the holiday season is snow-capped mountains create a picture-perfect backdrop to Vancouver’s downtown.

Photo: Flickr user tripleman through Creative Commons