Cheap Flights to Vancouver (YVR)

Vancouver is the largest city in Western Canada, sitting at the edge of the coastal province of British Columbia. It's known for its spectacular mountain scenery as showcased during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, which were held here, and in the Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort within easy reach of the city centre. So flights to Vancouver can mean both a city break as well as time on the slopes!

Vancouver is known for its diverse group of residents, which has led to a cosmopolitan city with plenty of interesting districts to visit - over half of the citizens don't speak English as their first language. It's definitely worth exploring the city with your stomach when it comes to seeing the diversity - each culture has brought its food along and you can find dishes from all across the world to satisfy your hunger after your flight to Vancouver arrives! Great news for dim sum fans, there is a huge Chinese population and there are countless restaurants across the city, not just in Chinatown.

A flight to Vancouver can certainly challenge your perceptions of what Canada is like when it comes to city living, but it can also get you right out into the wide open spaces that the country is famous for. Cheap Vancouver flights are becoming more widely available in 2013 and we see no change on the horizon for 2014 either!

Flights to Vancouver

Thanks to the draw of the ski season in Whistler, there are many more flights to Vancouver over the winter months than in the summer months. This means that if you're looking for cheap flights to Vancouver then you really have to look for flights at this time, as prices can be approximately half that of the summer months. Flight times are faster too, thanks to one-stop Vancouver flights becoming the norm rather than two-stop flights.

You can expect to be in the air for at least 10 hours if you splash out on a direct flight to Vancouver, and it's well worth doing with little difference in price and travelling times on indirect flights often increasing by another nine or 10 hours! All flights land at Vancouver International Airport, which is just south of the city centre. For a really cheap options on flights to Vancouver, especially in the summer, it's also worth looking at a flight to Seattle followed by an onward journey across the border from the USA, although you will also need to get a US visa for this trip.

After landing at Vancouver International on your flight, you have a couple of options for onward travel. The Skytrain is the only public transport route, but luckily it's fairly cheap and it's nice and fast, whisking you into the centre in under half an hour. Your other main option is to hop in a taxi, and these are not too expensive, especially if you are sharing with others. If you're planning on taking in the mountains or scenery outside the city after your Vancouver flight lands then getting car hire from the airport will be very handy.

If you're heading straight to Whistler and don't want to drive yourself, there are a number of specialist coach transfer companies so book online before you get on your flight to Vancouver and let them do the hard work.

Getting around Vancouver

Vancouver is a lot more compact and easy to get around than most of the other North American cities, so you should definitely consider walking whenever possible! When it comes to public transport, you can get anywhere you want to go with a combination of local buses, the SkyTrain and ferries, which all operate on the same ticketing system. If you want to get around by car, note that Downtown is practically an island, which means that bridge congestion can slow down your journey a lot. Another great way to get around is by bike, and you will find that Vancouver is very cycle-friendly. If you do hire a bike, make sure you ride the Seawall route.

What to do in Vancouver

It's all about the great outdoors in this fun-loving city, so expect to spend quite a lot of time outside, whatever reason you have for booking that flight to Vancouver. Top attractions include Stanley Park, Grouse Mountain, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Chinatown, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Garden, Granville Island and harbour cruises! If you want to get inside for a bit try the Vancouver Lookout, the Vancouver Aquarium and Science World.

For more tips why not head to our Vancouver guide!