Where to stay?

The Cambie:

Has 2 locations in Vancouver


One in Gastown which is right in the Green zone and close to all the cafes..etc

http://www.cambiehostels.com/gastown/index.htm

Second on is on Seymour:

Still in the downtown area, not as close to the green zone (10 min walk) but close to downtown clubs

http://www.cambiehostels.com/seymour/index.htm

Prices range depending on what you want.



CNNbackpackers

Never dealt with them, but have heard good things.

http://www.cnnbackpackers.com/

Prices range from $16-40 $cdn



HI-Vancouver Central,1025 Granville Street

Right in the heart of downtown night life. A personal favorite. if your young and want too party all night this is where too stay.

http://www.hihostels.ca/hostels/BC/BCRegion/VancouverCentral/Hostels/

Cost start from around $25-$60 CDN per night.



Alot more hostels can be found here:

http://www.travellerspoint.com/hostels-per-plaats.cfm?City=Vancouver&Country=Canada



Where to get weed?

Now no one can give you a phone number or a address, but pot is available everywhere near the cafes. Looking for good pot is a task you will have to do on your own. Picking good pot and nice sized buds can only be done by you. Like I said the street dealers in Fancouver do have great pot, feel free to say 'No thank you' if you don't want to buy it.


Where to eat?

Well vancouver is known for it's countless sushi dine-in's. There are pizza places everwhere. Eating in vancouver will be a very easy task.



How to get around Vancouver?

The public transportation in the lower mainlaid is great, Their are buses that can get you everywhere in vancouver and skytrains for the longer trek's into other cities. Each cost from $2-$3 dollars. Late night buses are also available. Taxis' are everywhere on the streets and are very easy to get.


What else to do in Vancouver?

Vancouver is a amazing city that has something to offer everybody. Whether its skiing/snowboarding on Grouse, Seymour, Cyprus or in Whistler in the winter or enjoying the beaches or a walk through Stanley Park in the summer, Vancouver has everything you could want, you just need to find it.



What not to do in Vancouver?

Pot is still illegal, so smoking it right in public is not always suggested.

Asking for weed is also kinda of a no-no. Most people will offer you some if the have any to sell.

And the rest is common sense.


Well come, stay and love Vancouver.

It is a city you will always remember, I promise.

NGB

As for the 2nd Cambie: I live in the apartment building across from Malones Bar & Grill, the Piccadilly Pub, and the Seymour Cambie. There are always chill people hanging out from the hostel and from around town, as I can see them having a good time every night.

The place is popular and Seymour street is one block from and parallel to Granville street. The Pot Block is a mere two blocks away in the other direction - I walk it all the time!

As for finding pot: a visit to the Pot Block (300 Block West Hastings - BCMP, Blunt Bros, Marc Emery Seeds, etc.), a simple query about purchase, and you will be directed the right way to find your pot of gold! Of course, I just can't tell you where or how online... that would be foolish. Like posting where I live.

Any other questions? NGB, myself and others have plenty of information, of course.

Rather than continue to do this same post over and over again, because Van is the MJ Mecca, and because it is the most often asked question in this forum (look through the back pages, I assure you it's every thirtyth question if not more so), I thought it would be appropreate that the "home base" info was available at the top of the page - as was suggested by Growboy.

So now that it's up here for a while, please add to it and make it as best as it can be.



To that end, here's my 2 cents "Vansterdam visit" wise....

Go to these 3 places and get lost if you only have a couple of days:


http://www.vanvr.com/vanvr/Gallery/VancouverLookout2003/VancouverLookout2003-Images/23.jpg

1) "The pot block" - my work space at Pot TV - 300 WEST Hastings (Be sure to look for WEST Hastings, as 300 EAST hastings is probably the poorest and most desperate place in Canada - those in the nearby jail call it "Wastings and Pain")

At 300 WEST Hastings is "Crosstown" - the place where old meets young and rich meets poor - the very heart of "Old Vancouver" and the most interesting place both architectually and anthropologically.

Here are the remains of the fire - The BC Marijuana Party/Pot TV/The Urban Shaman/Mark Emery Seeds, The New Amstedam Cafe, Kind Seeds, Smoking Seeds and The Spirit Within. What got destroyed in the fire was Blunt Brothers, the old Kind Seed office, Sparticus Books and Cabbages and Kinks.

The Pot Block is alive and well, and the smell of the fire has been replaced with the smell of big fat stinky organic fatties and bowls and bowls of bubble hash, butter hash, jelly hash and whatever new type of hash they come up with next. Flavors are big this year - grapefruit and mango are plentiful.

The businesses that remain from the arson attack are THE pioneers, and they need everyone's support. It is your cultural duty to make a pilgrimage to MJ Mecca, and shake the hands of the front-line sodiers for drug peace in this brutal drug war.

http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/archive.cgi?q=Fire&x=30&y=11





http://www.pennysplacevancouver.com/images/commercial.jpg
http://www.pennysplacevancouver.com/location.html


http://www.aptrentals.net/vancouverfiles/commercial14.jpg

2) Commercial Drive. Actually, I lied. Anthropology is very, very cool on the Pot Block - quite diverse. But if you like the study of humans, there is no more diverse assortment in Canada than on Commecial. Everything here ... blacks, italians, portugese, chinese, east indians, vietnamese, native north american indians and everything else as well. Plus the hippies, the punks, the squeegee entrepreneurs and the beggars plus the occational suit that dares drop by or even live among the proles. There's a sizeable lezbian community here, and a few fags (but they mostly hang out on Davie st. downtown) and lots and lots and lots and lots of anarchist/dreamers like myself. I couldn't dream of living anywhere else, because the only other possible alternative would be Montreal and they have more smokers and less Islands and Hotsprings and Mountains and Forests ........... so it's settled.


http://www.vwleather.com/logos/womynsware-sponsor.jpg


http://www.amputee-online.com/sfugreens/park2.jpg

Good pics of Vancouver:
http://www.bearspage.info/h/tra/ca/bc/va.html

"The Drive" as it's affectionately known to locals is laden with pot heads of every type, flavor and selection of human. There are at least 5 public cannabis businesses or organizations operating on the drive - there's:

the BC Compassion Club Society (604-875-0448 for sick people, media or med-pot activists only please) www.thecompassionclub.org

http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-535.html



Grassroots (4th and Commercial)

http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-448.html


Rasta Wares (Grant and Commercial),


The Melting Point (1111 Commercial)

http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2609.html




and Da Kine (Napier and Commercial).

http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2631.html

http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-1820.html





http://www.lighthousepark.com/images/stanleypark/beaches_pools.jpg
http://www.lighthousepark.com/stanleypark.html


3) If you've seen the Drive and you've hung out in the New Amsterdam cafe and smoked one, and you want to do something really cool, take a bus down to Stanley Park. Big trees. You can get lost in the big tree park ... nice sunsets.


http://www.lighthousepark.com/stanleypark.html




If you have MORE than three days, I recommend seeking out the fabled hot springs or Islands. They are indeed heaven. If you have longer, visit Nelson (hippie city central). Thanks out to all the granolas and hippie kids who continue to fight for our eco-heaven preservation.


If you have any questions, there are many Vancouverites in the forums, and they will be happy to answer them here. There will be a "tourist guide to vansterdam" in the 50th edition of Cannabis Culture (the cover is now on the home page) so that will be reposted here soon too.

Hooray! That's a fabulous write up David. Admittedly, I have yet to visit the Drive. But I will know that all soon! I just gotta get out of the downtown core.

Apparently the newest CC is fantastic! Go get yours. I'm going to get mine.

Yes well done and very informative.Damn I want to come for a visit now.Nah.I'll stay on the island.

when in Vancouver, I always like to bike around town.. its a great way to see the city, and Vancouver is quite bike friendly..Ive made a habit of just hitting a pawn shop, and buying an old beater bicycle and a lock, and just riding it around while I am on vacation.. renting a bike is too much hassle, and this method is way cheaper,no worrys, and its always cool to just give it away to some cool peep you may met while in the hostels..


Seattle allowed folks to use bike racks in the front of the bus.. does Skytrain accomodate bicyclist??

Our buses and the skytrain are bike friendly, I believe. Bikes have to stay in the last car on the train though, or something....

I'm not a frequent rider - living right downtown erradicated any need! But Vancouver is VERY bike-friendly. Stanley Park is a great dya on a bike, so I hear.

For those of you who have never crossed the Canadian border here are a few tips that will increase your chances of getting in without incident.

1. DO NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT TOKER'S BOWL

2. Have at least $100 in cash for every day that you plan to be there. Having a couple of credit cards is also a good idea.

3. Have a verifiable itenirary because they will ask where you are staying and sometimes they call to check.
Have a tourist agenda even if you aren't planning to going whale watching or whatever.

4. Have your return tickets ready to show. If you have e-tickets tell them that.

5. Dress like a Republican. Nice casual clothes and proper grooming will go a long way in helping to avoid any unnecessary questions that could eventually lead to a body cavity search.

6. Make sure you have all of your documents as in passport, license, birth certificate (license and birth cert are only needed if you have no passport)
I also find it helpful to take a utility bill with your home address on it....just in case.

7. Be polite to the Customs agent (I know that can be difficult but is best)

That is about all I can think of.

Be safe, have fun and smoke a nice joint for me!

Voo

I'd like to thank growboy and everyone else who replied to this topic. As a potential visitor to your beautiful city, I appreciate it very much.

My wife and I love to travel to Vancouver and try to make it there every year! We love smoking in the great outdoors and North Van has some sweet spots to take in the beauty while smoking a J.
A trip on the Sky train to the ferry and then a bus ride up to Grouse Mountain is well worth the trip and the cash for the Sky Lift.