What we did & where we stayed in Vancouver with a baby and toddler
There are lots of things that I love about living in Seattle. The perfect, sunny summers. The thriving geek culture. The diversity of cultures and foods.
And the easy access to Vancouver, BC!
We are so lucky that we can decide to pop up to Vancouver for a weekend whenever we want. It’s an incredible city! It’s often touted as being very similar to Seattle, so it’s no surprise that we love to visit.
On our most recent visit, we made the absolute most of 2 days with 2 kids in Vancouver.
Vancouver is just one of those places that is so fun to wander around. It’s stunningly beautiful, and full of life. It has amazing food, a blend of cultures, and the people watching is wonderful!
Our toddler loved the old steam clock! In fact, this might have been what inspired her weird obsession with clocks, to the point where she was a clock for Halloween this year, and regularly (inexplicably) asks me to call her “Dr. Clock”. [Shrug]
It’s a major tourist attraction. Be sure to be there on the hour to hear the steam-powered chimes!
She also could not get enough of the ferry. This pedestrian ferry between North Vancouver, where we stayed in an awesome AirBnb, and downtown was a lot of fun!
Closer to where we stayed in North Van, we stumbled upon the Cleveland Dam when I was looking for a nice parking lot to nurse in. We decided to leave my husband in the car with the milk-drunk-passed-out baby, and my toddler and I went to explore what we thought was just a nice little park.
It opened up to this beautiful scenery:
So we explored a bit more, and discovered that it was a reservoir, and that we could walk out over the dam! And then we were shocked when we looked over the edge! I don’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t a 300 ft. drop off!
Lounging like a model on top of the dam. 
Peering down over the edge!
Another favorite activity in North Van was Maplewood Farm. This cute little petting farm turned out to be more than we were expecting. Pigs, cows, goats, horses, chickens, peacocks, and so much more… a great way to spend an hour or two with a toddler! Click here for my full review of Maplewood Farm.
Just outside is a small playground, which definitely entertained us for another half hour, and helped lead to a fantastic nap that afternoon (the ultimate goal, of course).
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Add to all that a fun evening strolling through Gastown and having the BEST gelato at Bella Gelateria, and we had a jam-packed couple of days.
If you’re into listicles and want ideas that go beyond what we did on this trip, check out my top ten things to do in Vancouver with a toddler!
Where we stayed in Vancouver
Like I mentioned, we stayed in North Vancouver, which is across the water from downtown. We chose this for two reasons. First, our ulterior motive for being in Vancouver was so that my husband could mountain bike in Vancouver’s famous North Shore, and we wanted to stay near the mountains.
But North Van is also a very family-friendly neighborhood, and it is chock-full of cute AirBnBs. This is the AirBnB that we stayed in, and it was perfect for our family. The owners were lovely, but at the same time we had complete privacy in our own space. We couldn’t hear the owners upstairs, and they assured us they couldn’t hear us when the baby woke to feed in the middle of the night!
If you have any questions about what it’s like to visit Vancouver with a baby or toddler, let me know in the comments!
Want to leave all the gear at home?
Did you know that you can rent baby and toddler gear in destinations all around the country and internationally? For rentals in the US and Canada, the industry leader is BabyQuip. You can find them in over 600 locations, including Vancouver! They have incredibly high standards for product quality and cleaning, and you get the peace of mind of having big (or small!) items delivered right to your destination doorstep.
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