Vancouver, like any other city, has its own particular flavour and its own institutions, conventions and features. From this page you can access information about Vancouver that will help you understand the city and find your way around.

If, for example, you're coming to Canada from the US, you'll discover that you can't just pop into any grocery store or the corner convenience store for beer or wine. You'll discover that you can't drink in public places, except in designated areas, that Canadian beer packs a punch and that you can't smoke in buildings, not even pubs.

Under the General Confusions category, you'll discover the difference between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, (it's not called Victoria Island even if the capital of British Columbia, Victoria, is located there.)

And to help you get your bearings, because Vancouver is an easy city to navigate if you have a few basic facts, we've written a bit about Vancouver's eight major bridges. Eight is a lot, but when you consider that the city is surrounded on three sides by fairly narrow bodies of water, not counting the Pacific Ocean which isn't all that narrow, then you'll understand the purpose of the bridges and how downtown Vancouver links to the rest of the city.

If you're looking for things to do, take a look at the Festivals page and time your visit to the Celebration of Light fireworks competition in late July, the Jazz Festival, Film Festival, Lantern Festival or the Children's Festival. And don't forget that you can enjoy the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival all summer long.

On the Phone Facts page, you'll discover that Vancouver requires you to dial the area code and phone number even on local calls. The powers that be decided Vancouver was running out of phone numbers and that this was a necessary inconvenience we'd have to adopt. It was only after we had all adopted it that they discovered it wasn't necessary after all.

There is much more information on these pages that will make you feel like a native even before you arrive. Enjoy the information and your visit to Vancouver.