Weekend Trip to Vancouver, Canada
Okay, so it's not in the Bay Area, but I thought it would be fun to talk about some weekend trips you can take from the Bay Area. I didn't realize just how close we are to Canada until a recent trip I took to Vancouver with my husband. I was stunningly impressed - it's a very international city.
When people ask me about living in the Bay Area I always tell them that it's great because you can get anywhere in 1 - 4 hours. It's 1 hour to the beach (Capitola, Half Moon Bay), 1 hour to the forest (Santa Cruz Mountains), 1 hour to the city (San Francisco), and 4 hours to the snow (Lake Tahoe). In Vancouver it's 1 - 4 minutes! Really...they have the largest urban park in North America called Stanley Park (yes, it's bigger than Central Park in NYC). The park is in downtown, next to the excellent shops and restaurants that you'd find in any international city and also has a few beaches. And, Whistler and other ski mountains are right in their backyard.
It's only a 2 hour flight direct from San Francisco. You'll need a passport to get in, but it's so easy that you can make this a weekend trip. The city is also getting ready for the 2010 Olympics and building out their SkyTrain system to take you from the airport to downtown.
