VANCOUVER - It all started when my wife decided she wanted to see some of those West Vancouver mansions.

The hop-on, hop-off trolley was $32 each and many of the stops were hotels. Nothing went to West Vancouver, and we'd returned our rental car after a trip to the interior.

Forget that, we said on a recent three-night stopover, we'll create our own tour. For $8 a day, we bought a transit DayPass -- available at many corner stores -- that let us ride any city bus, light-rail SkyTrain or SeaBus ferry. Then we grabbed a transit map and packed the city's highlights into a two-day tour, courtesy of Vancouver's transit drivers, possibly the country's friendliest and most helpful.

We first pored over the transit map for a few minutes, familiarizing ourselves with the routes and noting our preferred attractions: West Vancouver, Horseshoe Bay, the West End, Gastown, Chinatown, Yaletown, Stanley Park, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the public library and Granville Island.

It was a lot to do in two days, but we did it. We found the No. 19 bus crosses downtown from Chinatown, past Gastown and west to Stanley Park. Inside the park is an all-day free shuttle that stops at such attractions as the Aquarium, Lions Gate Bridge and English Bay.

Several Granville Street buses will take you to Granville Island, where the market features shops and boutiques and an array of restaurants. At the other end of Granville is the Waterfront transit station and entrance to the SeaBus Terminal.

The SeaBus crosses Coal Harbour to Lonsdale Quay Market in North Vancouver. From this bustling market, you can grab a No. 239 bus to Park Royal Shopping Centre. Here we had two options. We took both.

First, we boarded a No. 254 to British Properties. Soon, the bus began climbing the mountain and wending its way through forested, landscaped avenues, up switchback hills and into an area where even fixer-uppers are said to go for nearly $1 million. Some of the homes are palatial, and the views down the mountain, across Coal Harbour and English Bay, Lions Gate Bridge and downtown are sensational.

Back at Park Royal, we switched to a No. 250 that took us along Marine Drive, past West Vancouver's trendy shops, along Eagle Harbour and, after a half-hour ride, to Horseshoe Bay. From here you can catch ferries to Bowen Island, Langdale and Nanaimo. Instead, we chose a sunny patio that overlooked the bay and watched the ferries and pleasure boats, framed by blue sea and towering mountains.

We took the express No. 257 back and the driver dropped us off at the north end of Lions Gate Bridge, so we could walk across and enjoy the early evening sun.

Across the bridge in Stanley Park, we walked along the seawall to English Bay.

The Nos. 5 and 6 buses skirt the edge of Vancouver's West End where highrises snuggle up to English Bay and make the neighbourhood the most densely populated in Canada. But this is urban living at its best, a lesson for those who oppose intensification in downtown Ottawa. Davie Village, with its colourful street banners, is the core of the city's gay and lesbian community, with shopping and dining choices to make your head spin.

Despite our casual attire, we chose an august-looking heritage mansion and enjoyed dinner on the lawn, Victorian-style, at the deceptively unassuming Romano's Macaroni Grill.

The Nos. 5 and 6 also take you along Robson Street where you can hop off at the Vancouver Art Gallery, currently featuring architect Arthur Erickson and the magnificent library styled after the Roman Coliseum.

With time running out on our short Vancouver stop, we headed to Yaletown and the Bar None R&B club. Yaletown is a neighbourhood of warehouses transformed into bars, restaurants, clubs, condos, galleries and boutiques, served by bus Nos. 15, 17, 21 and 23. It was a pleasant way to unwind and celebrate two great self-guided days in Vancouver.

Vancouver Transit DayPass: You can purchase a DayPass at convenience stores, the Vancouver Tourist InfoCentre, or wherever you see the FareDealer sign, SeaBus terminals or SkyTrain stations. Adult fare is $8. Those over age 65, children aged 5 to 13 years and students 14 to 19 with a valid GoCard can buy them for $6.

This story appeared in the Edmonton Journal, Sept. 9, 2006

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