Just before Christmas I had what can only be described as the best early Christmas present possible. It wasn’t that big bottle of Coco Mademoiselle or those leather boots that I’ve been hinting for (although I must have been a good girl because Santa brought me those too), it was a 10 day trip to Canada!

With the unseasonably warm but wet weather we’d been having in the UK, I was feeling unusually unfestive but thankfully a few days exploring Vancouver and a week on slopes of Sun Peaks put me in the festive spirit in no time – and this was all for a work trip!

These days I’m working as a social media specialist at Flight Centre and it just so happens that our social media team is worldwide. We get together every year to chat about geeky things like Facebook advertising, Google analytics and SEO and this year we all met in Canada. Well we had to meet somewhere…right!?

Myself and two colleagues (Vicky Flip Flop and Lauren Rayner) flew into Vancouver and here’s what we got up to in the city. It was cold and rainy while we were in Vancouver but these were still fun things to do in the rain.

Things to do in Vancouver

Granville Island Markets

Any food lovers out there will love the Granville Island Market. It felt as though every piece of fruit and vegetable was twice the size and twice as bright as anything I’d ever seen before. There was stall after stall filled with cheese and pastries and cakes and freshly baked bread. Unfortunately I was suffering from a major case of ‘hanger’ at this point (anger induced by being hungry) so I don’t have any photos but you’ll have to trust me when I say that this was both the best and worst place to be hungry.

Which leads to my next point….

Local specialities

I finally got round to trying poutine. It’s a Canadian dish that they’re incredibly proud of and is basically chips, cheese and gravy. It sounds kind of gross but I can assure you it’s delicious. This picture is of the poshest poutine you’ll ever find and was served at the Four Seasons with lobster.

Capilano Suspension Bridge

Next up we headed to Capilano Suspension Bridge. It’s just 15 minutes outside the city and there’s a free shuttle bus there so it’s really easy to get to. It was a tense walk across the bridge (if you’re a scardy cat like Vicky Flip Flop) and half way across there is a beautiful view over the river below and the surrounding forest. I’d imagine this would be even more beautiful in the summer but it had a really mysterious and magical feel in the winter with the low fog and Christmas lights sparkling through the trees.

Once you cross the bridge it feels like you enter a whole new world in the forest. You have to let your inner child embrace the treetop adventure and ‘Dr Wood’s Cabin’ where he’ll teach you about the wildlife in the forest and might even let you try a few mushrooms and edible leaves.

The Nature’s Edge Cliff Walk recently opened at the bridge where you can literally walk along the edge of the cliff and look right down into the gauge below.

Gas Town

Gas Town is a quirky area of Vancouver where (I’m told) the cool and stylish people hang out so naturally we headed there for dinner one evening. Like all the coolest places, it was once an undesirable part of town that slowly worked its way up to become an edgy and fashionable place to visit.

This is a photo of the Gas Town steam clock which is an iconic symbol for the area.

I loved Vancouver and I’m hoping that one day I can go back when the weather is warmer so I can explore everything it has to offer. If you have any suggestions, let me know in the comments below!