Vancouver

Vancouver is what San Francisco might be with more rain, more wilderness, and snow-topped mountains visible from downtown. Stanley Park is the signature — a 1,000-acre forest peninsula attached to the city core, with a seawall walk of skyline, beaches, cedar trees, totem poles, water, and mountain views. The food scene leans beautifully Asian, with Richmond offering some of the best Chinese food outside Asia. Across the inlet, North and West Vancouver become forested slopes, mountain trails, and fjord-like water with the city behind them. Ride the Grouse Mountain gondola for the view that explains Vancouver in one glance: glass towers, harbor, Stanley Park, ocean, islands, and mountains all stacked together. Then step into the forested drama of Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, where a bridge hangs over a deep green gorge and the rainforest suddenly feels larger than the city. Drive north on the Sea-to-Sky Highway toward Whistler and the road itself starts to feel like a destination. Come for the skyline, but stay for the feeling that wilderness is always waiting at the edge of the city.