Would you choose Vancouver or Acadia?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if you have 9 and 10 year daughters who don’t like to hike? Is Acadia still good? NP here.

If you don’t like to hike, why would you go to Acadia?
Base yourself in Bar Harbor- not sure exactly what you’d do there for a week...

My husband and I love hiking. Unfortunately our daughters do not despite our best efforts. We thought we’d give it one more shot and try Acadia with them since it’s so scenic there...

There are options, sure. Many trails I would say are nice walks, not hikes. That’s partly why it appeals to so many older folks and people with young kids - it’s so accessible. Walk the ocean path, drive up to Cadillac Mountain, hang out at Sand Beach, Swim at Echo Lake, do boat tours, etc.

[Anonymous]

If you are heading out to Vancouver I’d actually go to Victoria. Cute harbor town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Been to both - Acadia, hands down. In Vancouver, you have to really work at finding the fun. I enjoyed my trip to Vancouver as an adult, newly married. It's like any other big city, really.

But, with kids, Acadia is the place to go. Ice cream stores, hiking, natural beauty everywhere, lobster, the national park.

Really? We were there last summer and I didn't feel that we were "working" to find fun?

explored Stanley Park our first day (went to the aquarium, took a carriage ride, saw the totem poles, rented bikes and rode along the sea wall, walked along the beach at low tide looking at tidal pools)
did the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Cliff walk
rode the aquabus to Granville Island
checked out the the Chinese Garden
rode the gondola up to Grouse Mountain and did the aerial obstacle course
drove up the Sea to Sky highway, stopped at Shannon Falls and Brandywine Falls, and did the Sea to Sky gondola
Went whale watching
took a seaplane to Victoria, walked around the harbor area, had a nice lunch at the Empress hotel

[Anonymous]

Acadia at the height of the season is really annoying to me. I think I'd do Vancouver if late July was my set timeframe, and try to do Acadia another time after Labor Day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Been to both - Acadia, hands down. In Vancouver, you have to really work at finding the fun. I enjoyed my trip to Vancouver as an adult, newly married. It's like any other big city, really.

But, with kids, Acadia is the place to go. Ice cream stores, hiking, natural beauty everywhere, lobster, the national park.

Really? We were there last summer and I didn't feel that we were "working" to find fun?

explored Stanley Park our first day (went to the aquarium, took a carriage ride, saw the totem poles, rented bikes and rode along the sea wall, walked along the beach at low tide looking at tidal pools)
did the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Cliff walk
rode the aquabus to Granville Island
checked out the the Chinese Garden
rode the gondola up to Grouse Mountain and did the aerial obstacle course
drove up the Sea to Sky highway, stopped at Shannon Falls and Brandywine Falls, and did the Sea to Sky gondola
Went whale watching
took a seaplane to Victoria, walked around the harbor area, had a nice lunch at the Empress hotel

NP here. We did many similar things a few years back (plus saw the Women's World Cup). There is so much to do in Vancouver. If your girls don't love to hike, then I vote Vancouver. You can still do lots of active things (and lots of walking too) but balance it out with other activities.

[Anonymous]

Many places in Maine are overrated. Ogunquit? Please.

Acadia is worth the hype. There is nowhere like it in the eastern us.

But yes, that brings the crowds...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many places in Maine are overrated. Ogunquit? Please.

Acadia is worth the hype. There is nowhere like it in the eastern us.

But yes, that brings the crowds...

I completely agree with the bolded part of you statement and still found it completely underwhelming. Once you've been to Western North America, nothing on the East Coast compares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Been to both - Acadia, hands down. In Vancouver, you have to really work at finding the fun. I enjoyed my trip to Vancouver as an adult, newly married. It's like any other big city, really.

But, with kids, Acadia is the place to go. Ice cream stores, hiking, natural beauty everywhere, lobster, the national park.

Really? We were there last summer and I didn't feel that we were "working" to find fun?

explored Stanley Park our first day (went to the aquarium, took a carriage ride, saw the totem poles, rented bikes and rode along the sea wall, walked along the beach at low tide looking at tidal pools)
did the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Cliff walk
rode the aquabus to Granville Island
checked out the the Chinese Garden
rode the gondola up to Grouse Mountain and did the aerial obstacle course
drove up the Sea to Sky highway, stopped at Shannon Falls and Brandywine Falls, and did the Sea to Sky gondola
Went whale watching
took a seaplane to Victoria, walked around the harbor area, had a nice lunch at the Empress hotel

NP here. We did many similar things a few years back (plus saw the Women's World Cup). There is so much to do in Vancouver. If your girls don't love to hike, then I vote Vancouver. You can still do lots of active things (and lots of walking too) but balance it out with other activities.

OP here. Do you have any other activities to add to this list?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Been to both - Acadia, hands down. In Vancouver, you have to really work at finding the fun. I enjoyed my trip to Vancouver as an adult, newly married. It's like any other big city, really.

But, with kids, Acadia is the place to go. Ice cream stores, hiking, natural beauty everywhere, lobster, the national park.

Really? We were there last summer and I didn't feel that we were "working" to find fun?

explored Stanley Park our first day (went to the aquarium, took a carriage ride, saw the totem poles, rented bikes and rode along the sea wall, walked along the beach at low tide looking at tidal pools)
did the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Cliff walk
rode the aquabus to Granville Island
checked out the the Chinese Garden
rode the gondola up to Grouse Mountain and did the aerial obstacle course
drove up the Sea to Sky highway, stopped at Shannon Falls and Brandywine Falls, and did the Sea to Sky gondola
Went whale watching
took a seaplane to Victoria, walked around the harbor area, had a nice lunch at the Empress hotel

NP here. We did many similar things a few years back (plus saw the Women's World Cup). There is so much to do in Vancouver. If your girls don't love to hike, then I vote Vancouver. You can still do lots of active things (and lots of walking too) but balance it out with other activities.

OP here. Do you have any other activities to add to this list?

Not the PP, but that's a solid list, and a few other nice things in Vancouver:

VanDusen Botantical Gardens (if you are into plants/flowers/gardens it's amazing)
Kitsilano Beach/English Bay Beach
The food! Such good food, especially various East Asian and Indian

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many places in Maine are overrated. Ogunquit? Please.

Acadia is worth the hype. There is nowhere like it in the eastern us.

But yes, that brings the crowds...

I completely agree with the bolded part of you statement and still found it completely underwhelming. Once you've been to Western North America, nothing on the East Coast compares.

Disagree. Totally agree that anything west of Rockies (including Rockies) is 10000x more amazing than east coast places like Shenandoah and Smokies. But Acadia is still very beautiful and dramatic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Acadia at the height of the season is really annoying to me. I think I'd do Vancouver if late July was my set timeframe, and try to do Acadia another time after Labor Day.

I agree with this.

[Anonymous]

Vancouver for sure. It's gorgeous.

[Anonymous]

They are two of my favorite places in North America. You'll enjoy either vacation immensely. Acadia might be slightly better with kids - my two loved it. I liked that the hikes are generally pretty short but so scenic and they change terrain every 10 mins or so. No one got bored or whined at all! Plus mine loved looking for sea glass out on the sandbar. And Diver Ed's Dive In Theater was hilariously fun.

[Anonymous]

Acadia, no contest. Even if kids dont "hike," thereare the shirt walks above and I will add Ships Harbor and Wonderland. Both short, both essentially a circle, with cool stuff in the middle - ride pools to explore and rocks to scamper on.

Acadia also has all the free ranger programs, including a jr ranger program for kids.

My kids don't like visiting cities - they say it isn't relaxing...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Been to both - Acadia, hands down. In Vancouver, you have to really work at finding the fun. I enjoyed my trip to Vancouver as an adult, newly married. It's like any other big city, really.

But, with kids, Acadia is the place to go. Ice cream stores, hiking, natural beauty everywhere, lobster, the national park.

Really? We were there last summer and I didn't feel that we were "working" to find fun?

explored Stanley Park our first day (went to the aquarium, took a carriage ride, saw the totem poles, rented bikes and rode along the sea wall, walked along the beach at low tide looking at tidal pools)
did the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Cliff walk
rode the aquabus to Granville Island
checked out the the Chinese Garden
rode the gondola up to Grouse Mountain and did the aerial obstacle course
drove up the Sea to Sky highway, stopped at Shannon Falls and Brandywine Falls, and did the Sea to Sky gondola
Went whale watching
took a seaplane to Victoria, walked around the harbor area, had a nice lunch at the Empress hotel

NP here. We did many similar things a few years back (plus saw the Women's World Cup). There is so much to do in Vancouver. If your girls don't love to hike, then I vote Vancouver. You can still do lots of active things (and lots of walking too) but balance it out with other activities.

OP here. Do you have any other activities to add to this list?

Not the PP, but that's a solid list, and a few other nice things in Vancouver:

VanDusen Botantical Gardens (if you are into plants/flowers/gardens it's amazing)
Kitsilano Beach/English Bay Beach
The food! Such good food, especially various East Asian and Indian

Another NP here. My 2cents for the list:
Lynn Canyon Park
Museum of Anthropology
Brittania mine museum
Richmond night market (Asian market)
Joffre Lake Park and Whistler are about 2.5 - 3 hours away for some great hiking