Located at the southwestern corner of the coastal province of British Columbia, Vancouver is the largest city in Western Canada and third largest in Canada. Only Toronto and Montreal are bigger. Vancouver is well known for its majestic natural beauty, as it is nestled between the coastal mountains and the Pacific ocean.

Vancouver is a very safe city, and always seems to be ranked as one of the "best cities to live in" and is certainly a beautiful destination to visit.

While Vancouver is a comparatively young city, at just over 100 years, its history begins long before. The indigenous peoples have lived in the area for thousands of years, and Vancouver's namesake Captain George Vancouver sailed through the First Narrows in 1792. The first settlement on the downtown peninsula was Granville, located on the spot of today's Gastown. In the year of Canada's confederation - 1867 - a saloon was built on this site and this gave birth to a small shantytown of bars and stores adjacent to the original mill on the south shore of what is now the city's harbour.

Factor in constant growth every year since (many in the double digits), and Greater Vancouver today is Canada's largest metropolitan area west of Toronto with well over 2,000,000 residents, roughly half of British Columbia's population as a whole. It is also the fastest growing part of Canada. Greater Vancouver has one of the most ethnically diverse metropolitan areas in the world and it is home to the second largest Chinatown in the world.

Vancouver is perhaps best known for its scenic beauty, and the opportunities afforded by its natural environment. Vancouver is one of those rare places where you can ski in the mountains, windsurf in the ocean, and play a round of golf all in the same day. Surrounded by water on three sides, and crowned by the North Shore mountains, Vancouver is a great destination in itself, as well a a great starting point for discovering the area's many outdoor activities.

With the exception of Victoria, Vancouver has the mildest climate of any major city in Canada; palm trees can even grow here. It can rain a lot in Vancouver especially during the winters, but the temperature rarely goes below freezing. Snowfalls are an unusual sight and often lead to major traffic congestion. The weather in Vancouver is similar to the southern UK and almost identical to Seattle's. In the early summer the days often start out cloudy, due to marine air but becomes clear by noon. Contrary to Vancouver's wet reputation it is actually the driest major Canadian city during the summer. Summer temperatures are not extreme, the typical day time high between June and August is around 25 °C.

If you are visting the city between May and September you will likely have excellent weather. If you are coming to the city for a ski holiday the best time to visit is February; the region has a great record for excellent ski conditions during this month.

A good spot to move on to from Vancouver is British Columbia's capital Victoria, on Vancouver Island. Vancouver is also quite close to Seattle and a bit further off are the excellent destinations of Jasper and Banff in the famed Jasper National Park and Banff National Park on the BC-Alberta border.