In Context: In 2004, 2005 and 2006, Conde Nast Traveler magazine announced Vancouver as the "Best City in the Americas" in their annual Readers' Choice Awards . Cities are scored for ambience, friendliness, culture and sites, restaurants, lodging and shopping.

Multi-cultural, cosmopolitan Greater Vancouver is one of the most popular cities on the planet for visiting and living. One unusual recognition of its special status is the respected British Economist Intelligence Unit assessment which rated Vancouver in 2005 and 2007 as the best place in the world to live out of 132 major cities. The research is completed every two years. Health and safety, culture, environment and well-maintained infrastructure, public facilities and transportation have all helped to place Vancouver in this enviable top spot. The City of Vancouver, population 582,000, is just one of 18 municipalities that make up Greater Vancouver's total population of 2.2 million. That's 50% of the province of British Columbia's 4.4 million residents, but still a small, manageable city by the world's standards.

For complete information about visiting the city, including a list of world-class festivals and theme events throughout the year, contact Tourism Vancouver, www.tourismvancouver.com. In equally close proximity to land, sea, accessible mountains and wilderness, Vancouver mixes and matches cultural, natural and educational vacationing opportunities with ease.

Under the management of the Bill Reid Foundation, a stunning new Aboriginal art gallery in the heart of downtown Vancouver opened its doors in May 2008. Essentially a museum in celebration of the work of Bill Reid, Canada’s most celebrated native artist, it collects together works by this prolific, creative man that range in size from mammoth to miniature, from tree-sized wooden totem poles and a complete carved canoe to world-recognized bronze sculptures and exquisite gold and silver jewellery.

Haida artist, Bill Reid (1920 to 1998), was pivotal in reviving and introducing to the world the rich art traditions of the indigenous people of Northwest North America. The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, is an exciting new addition to Vancouver’s cultural attractions. Located off Hornby Street but not visible from the street, go up a set of stairs into an enclosed grassy quadrangle. The distinctive building and courtyard are ideal for a relaxed contemplation of the unique beauty of the collection, indoors and outdoors. The gallery will also showcase pieces by other Canadian Aboriginal talents, both established and emerging artists.

The Museum of Anthropology (MOA), overlooking mountains and sea on the grounds of the University of British Columbia, is a visual treat from entry through the massive carved front doors into the Great Hall featuring full size totem poles, feast dishes and canoes and on through every gallery of this world-leader in museum design and presentation. Focusing mainly on Northwest Coast of British Columbia First Nation [native] themes, it also owns an impressive collection of South Pacific objects and artefacts and representative collections from other regions, more than half a million ethnographic and archaeological objects ranging in size from enormous to delicately tiny in gold, silver, argillite, wood, ceramic and fabric.

As Canada's largest teaching museum, MOA pioneered the concept of Visible Storage whereby a much higher percentage than usual of any museum collection may be viewed for comparison and study, as well as for community-based research by artists, elders, students and visitors. The content of this museum is truly dazzling. There is also a constant enrichment of public programming ranging from films and expert lectures to workshops and native performance. Recognized native artists and artisans may also be found working in the Great Hall, creating their next commission and sharing stories with visitors.

Takaya Tours is a native culture and eco-tourism venture owned by the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation native community in North Vancouver.

Having "traveled the land and waters of our territory for thousands of years", Takaya's trained guides and native elders share an indigenous perspective with visitors who sign up for a number of active and educational tours, special programs and events. These range from paddling traditional ocean-going canoes while listening to tribal songs and legends to nature walks, sea kayaking, native feasts and Coast Salish ceremonial concerts.

Just a 15-minute drive from downtown Vancouver plus an eight-minute cable car ride from the base of Grouse Mountain to the top, opens up an exciting multi-interest destination for all ages to experience at their own pace. Click on www.grousemountain.com, to discover why the view is just the beginning…..

Open 365 days a year, Grouse Mountain attracts 1.1 million visitors whose reasons for spending time in this spectacular piece of accessible wilderness range from guided and self-guided nature walks and hikes in summer to cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and downhill skiing in winter. For those indoor retreat times and for evening visitors, there is the Theatre in the Sky and a fine dining restaurant as well as more casual cafés and gift shops stocked with original west coasty temptations from specialty foods and souveniers to designer jewelery and clothing.

Be sure to visit Grouse Mountain's educational Refuge for Endangered Wildlife a sprawling natural acreage where grizzly bear cubs, orphaned too young to survive on their own, are brought from all over British Columbia for initial rearing and to hone their survival skills. This leading-edge rescue and rehabilitation facility is attempting to prepare these increasingly rare and always-fascinating creatures for a life in the wilderness, not in a zoo.

Have you discovered Granville Island under the bridge of the same name? Clearly, it is an intriguing multi-theme destination in a realm all its own, and just five minutes' drive from the city's downtown core. This phoenix risen from a hundred years of industrial ashes deserves to be singled out not only for its award-winning Public Market, humming artistic community in the broadest brush imaginable, and world-class theme festivals. It also deserves high praise for its eateries [fabulous for both menus and locations], and its singular boutique accommodation, the Granville Island Hotel. Don't miss our companion article that introduces readers to this uniquely Vancouver experience!

Vancouver City Talks Audio Tours
A walking audio tour package allows independent visitors to experience the highlights of Gastown, Chinatown, Stanley Park and the West End, going at their own pace.

The tour can also be done by bicycle or bus. Using quotations from pioneers and interviews with present-day Vancouverites to recount the rich history of the city, the audio tour's dramatic format and creatively-chosen music bring more than 100 years of history to life. Laying aside the common format of dry, unrelated facts in favor of the storyteller format, the audio tour focuses on a series of anecdotes and vignettes, mostly told by a narrator and actors. Accompanying handpainted maps have numbered points of interest that correspond to the audio tour tracks.

The audio tour may be purchased in advance via the website, www.citytalks.ca, or from several Vancouver-area bookstores. For visitors whose first language is not English, there is an English as a Second Language (ESL) version, spoken more slowly and using easier words.

Gastown's quirky Hotel Europe. City Talks Audio Tours Inc.

The name C Restaurant seems altogether too plain for a Vancouver waterfront eatery that has earned a solid reputation as one of Canada’s finest fish and seafood culinary ambassadors. Innovation is the watchword with each menu choice, whether in the combination of flavors and products, in the presentation that makes every plate a piece of art placed in front of the guest, or in the wine pairing suggestions that are made with equal expertise by a resident sommelier.

While the wine cellar is selectively international, the fish and other seafood are proudly local and utterly fresh. C also works in partnership with Pacific area harvesters to conserve wild seafood resources and to be a leader in introducing new products to its menu lineup. Oysters marinated in Japanese sake, wild salmon fresh from the Pacific Ocean, sea urchin, spot prawns and Dungeness crab, abalone and lobster soup, scallops and octopus all showcase adventurous options in a cheerful, attentive atmosphere.

It will be undeniably challenging to retreat to plain old fish and chips after a C lunch on the garden patio overlooking a piece of Vancouver’s always-active harbor, or an evening meal amidst the magical lights that decorate the outlook as darkness gradually overtakes the city.

The Word is out! A David among a forest of Goliath-like downtown hotels is proving that small is exquisitely beautiful, graciously efficient, and warmly welcoming. And yes, Vancouver's Wedgewood Hotel has been discovered!

Already the object of a Santa Claus-sized sack of awards in every category of hospitality delivery, this 89-room boutique jewel has just tucked another one into the bag for 2008 courtesy of Travel + Leisure magazine readers. For the 5th year in a row, The Wedgewood was named to the list of top 500 hotels in the world and "#1 in Vancouver" around the criteria of what differentiates it from its competitors, including the services, amenities and perks of each property.

In business since 1984, under the creative vision of two Greek-Canadian sisters with a powerful design flare and a natural gift for hospitality, the Wedgewood Hotel has an enviable occupancy rate of close to 90% year round. It is hardly surprising that many are repeat clients, and many more are mature travelers, especially those lingering in Vancouver before or after a cruiseship holiday. Whether it is the "Old World" flavor of public spaces and guest rooms, the fresh-baked cookies on pillows when beds are turned down at night, the elegant live piano music or the crackling fire in the French-influenced dining room, these two hoteliers have written their own rulebook on prize-winning hospitality.

Visually hinting at its long-established presence on the Vancouver restaurant scene, Le Gavroche is a modest historic property of Victorian vintage, with a sweeping view of Vancouver’s Coast Mountains. Though the restaurant name translates as a "Parisian street urchin", its neat exterior façade projects far greater dignity and lingering good taste than the surrounding generic buildings of a more recent unimaginative architectural era. Bravo the little guy!

From the small front entry hall, up the narrow staircase to the second floor dining room and friendly elbow-height bar where owner Manuel Ferreira usually presides, the atmosphere is intimate and welcoming. Classic French cuisine is the foundation of its very diverse menu, with sauce accompaniments and those illusive herbs that make French cooking so timelessly appealing. Guaranteed Le Gavroche will be full any evening with connoisseurs of good food well into the wee hours. The restaurant is internationally famous for its inspired selection of French and American vintage wines, some substantially older than the near-thirty year history of the restaurant itself! Clearly the cellar is Manuel’s greatest pride.

Being Vancouver, there are plenty of expertly prepared seafood specialties on the Le Gavroche menu – how about seafood turin with lobster champagne sauce and seaweed caviar? – but there is also a wide range of walking and flying options, from tender local lamb and buffalo to duck and venison. Predictably, the dessert collection too reflects classic French cuisine – rich, smooth and utterly delicious. I’ll walk across town any evening for the dessert chef’s heavenly honey custard crème brulée!

The Listel Vancouver Hotel has actively cultivated a well-deserved reputation as Vancouver's "most artful hotel" and "a cultural tourist's dream". In addition to public areas amply decorated with paintings, ceramics and sculptures of local professional artists, there are several floors where hallways and rooms carry on the art patron theme. The Gallery Floors are curated by the prestigious Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, to feature original and limited edition works by 30 artists, each room showcasing the work of a single artist.

The hotel's Museum Floor whose hallway and 25 rooms feature Northwest Coast art by Northwest Coast native contemporary artists is curated by the Museum of Anthropology [see information about the museum above].

Equally strong in the music patron category is the Listel Vancouver Hotel's popular Robson Street O'Doul's Restaurant & Bar where outstanding food, wine, and jazz create a pleasantly lethal mix seven nights a week. With a seven-year track record as a venue in the Vancouver International Jazz Festival [late June/early July], and an eighth-year-in-a-row winner of Wine Spectator Magazine's "Award of Excellence", this restaurant in the heart of Vancouver offers multiple reasons to pay a visit.