In Vancouver, it seems everyone you meet is from somewhere else.

Info Available Online
Through a number of web sites, you can get up-to-date information on everything I'll tell you here. MyBC.com has online yellow pages with search engines and maps including ways to generate directions.
Vancouver.hm is another great resource.
You don't need me for this!

Geography
Vancouver is the largest city in the province of British Columbia, on the West coast of Canada. Within easy reach of world class skiing at Whistler Blackcomb as well as some of the best climbing and hiking anywhere.

Accommodation
Depending on what you're planning on doing after you arrive, there are a couple of hostels in the Downtown area, as well as in North Vancouver.

Downtown, we have the Cambie International Hostel. Or, just outside of the downtown core is C&N Backpacker's Hostel. You'll also find the International Youth Hostel at Jerico Beach. Check the online yellow pages for others.

Transport
Once again, you can get this information online. BC Transit operates a Ferry Service, Skytrain, city buses as well as the 'Sea Bus'; basically a foot-traffic-only ferry between downtown and North Vancouver (you are allowed to take your bicycle on this one.)

Getting From the Airport
It is possible to take a city bus from the airport to where ever you want to go for under $4, but that would require you to learn the bus system (my least favorite thing after a long flight). If you're going downtown you can hop on a shuttle called 'The Airporter' and get off at a downtown hotel near where you want to go for about $10 one way. There are also shuttles to Whistler and the Island; get your tickets from the same place (Arrivals Level).

Money
Loads of places to change money all over the downtown area, and at the Airport. Visa/MC are accepted widely, and Plus and Cirrus System debit cards also useful everywhere.

So, it's September and summer's ending, sorry. To this point we've had around 9 sunny days compared to the norm of around 30 so it has really sucked.

Okay, I'll shut up, it's still summery, and is likely to stay that way for a little longer yet, but we have started losing about 4 minutes of daylight every day! So, make hay my friends, the rain's begin in about a month and will not stop 'til spring. :(

Events in September
The Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) is on 'til Sept. 6th.
Fringe Festival from September 9th to 19th.
Tom Petty's in town on September 2nd.
Jeff Beck plays the Queen Elizabeth Theater September 18th.
The Vancouver Molson Indy is also downtown September 3rd, 4th and 5th.

** Ticketmaster's got a little schedule of events here, and there's always the Georgia Straight for the latest info.

The Outdoors
If you hurry, you can still get in on some pre-snow hiking opportunities on the trails of the North Shore mountains and up in the higher alpine around Whistler and Squamish. Last winter's snow has failed to melt and by now is compressed to ice. If you're going to be high and steep an ice ax, or better, is in order.

Given the amount of traffic on some of the more popular trails around here, a gray sky and some rain will make for a less crowded, more enjoyable hike. So, don't let the imperfect weather stop you.

Cheap CD's!
According to a recent article, and verified by yours truly with a Kiwi expat I know, the price of compact discs in Vancouver is really cheap compared to much of the world.

For example, a new release rarely costs more than $20 Cdn. If you look shop around you may find some for under $15 Cdn. I'm looking at the back page of the Georgia Straight right now, and there's some early stuff on for around $13.

The places to go for price are A&B Sound and/or Future Shop. The Virgin Mega Store on Robson and Burrard has a good selection, but I wouldn't go there for the price. Charlie's on Granville street has mass quantities of second hand CD's. In Kitsilano there's Zulu, and if you're into 'extreme' music you could try Scrape Records on West Broadway.

Maps and phone numbers for all these places can be tracked down through MyBC.com.

Places To Go
Granville Mall, most of the downtown bit of Granville Street, is still trying to revive the 'Theater District' feel it had in the 50's. The Vogue and Orpheum theaters will have anything from the Vancouver Symphony to the Violent Femmes as well as drama and dance productions. A friend once described Granville mall after midnight as 'ground zero for weirdness'. You will get pan-handled a lot here, but it's quite safe.

Head roughly North on Granville St. turning right at the end of the street and you end up in Gastown. The history of Gastown is quite interesting and will be a paragraph in a future travel guide.

The Vancouver Chinatown area is just east of downtown, past the east end of Gastown. It's second only to San Francisco's Chinatown in size, well worth checking out.

Kitsilano (aka Kits) is another area with an abundance of places to see. The Kings Head Pub and the Urban Well are a couple of places to check out for food and drink. The Jerico Hostel is in the area and there's always Kits Beach.

Arts/Music Scene
The live music scene in Vancouver oscillates between awesome and really crappy, but there's usually something going on. The place to look is The Georgia Straight. This comes out every Thursday and lists all the theater, concerts, movies and whatever else is happening in Vancouver in the coming week.

One of the best venues for live music at the moment is the Starfish Room on Homer Street. They're small, which is good, and tend to bring in fairly major acts, which is also good. Another interesting place to check out is The Brickyard.

Not to be confused with the Brick House, the Brickyard is at the end of Gas Town on Carrol Street. The bands they bring in tend to be a bit raw and the music a bit on the heavy side. They display artwork from one of the local graphic artists and tend to attract a more interesting people than the more generic bars on Granville St.

Questions?
If you want more information about this area you can email the author or check out our North America Insiders page.