I went to Vancouver and Seattle with two of my best friends from college and one of my childhood best friends. This trip was originally supposed to be to Dublin for St. Patty's Day, but the prices had skyrocketed by the time we were ready to book, so Vancouver became the backup plan. Most people go to Vancouver to ski Whistler, but none of us were skiers -- we still had a lot of fun and were able to incorporate Seattle into the trip as well. Would recommend as a quick getaway long weekend trip from the East Coast because of its natural beauty and ease of planning.

Day 1: Inbound Flight + Settling In

• Take an Air Canada flight from JFK to Vancouver and arrive in the evening at 7 PM

• Use the train to get into city center and walk to the Airbnb, seeing museums and nice streets along the way

• Head to eat dinner and then come back and sleep

Day 2: Grouse Mountain + GasTown

• Head to Tim Horton's to grab breakfast and walk the Seawall Water Park to take scenic pictures with the mountains in the background of the water

• Uber to Grouse Mountain -- make sure to buy the day pass beforehand

  • The day pass includes the round trip journey to the top of the mountain as well as any activities at the top

  • We started by renting snowshoes and hiking the trails -- would definitely recommend this experience. None of us had ever snowshoed before and it was a very fun and enjoyable activity and the views of the snow-capped mountains over the lake and city are beautiful

  • There is also a Light Walk and ice skating to partake in

• Uber back to downtown Vancouver to a happy hour to eat some snacks and walk around the shopping district

• Head to MeeT, a vegan restaurant in Gastown, for a unique food experience that was quite enjoyable and then see the historic neighborhood of Gastown

Day 3: Stanley Park + Granville Island

• Walk through the streets of Vancouver towards Bread x Butter, a local spot with great breakfast sandwiches

• Head to Stanley Park and walk the entire loop -- a very peaceful journey and lots of picture opportunities

• Uber to Granville Island to check out the public market and eat food

  • There are lots of stalls inside the Island to pick from so make sure to grab an assortment of everything​

• Head back to the Airbnb for a bit to relax and unwind

• Uber to Fat Mao Noodles for dinner when ready -- great ramen and one of the best meals on the trip

  • Definitely would recommend the Thai Iced Tea

• Head back to the Airbnb to pregame before hopping around Downtown Vancouver

Day 4: Stanley Park Round 2 + Suspension Bridge Park + Conservatory

• Start the morning by grabbing the Mobi bikes, similar to Citi bikes, and taking a lap around Stanley Park to experience another version of the iconic area

• Head to West End Vancouver to walk another neighborhood of the city and eat lunch at VietSub

• Uber to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, one of Vancouver's top tourist destinations

  • This was a cute walk through nature and had some highlights, but largely was probably not worth the time and ticket price and could have been skipped

• Uber to the Bloedel Conservatory Garden

  • Great views of the entire city and a nice place to relax and sit in the grass for a bit

• Head to dinner at Karma Indian Bistro for dinner

Day 5: St. Patty's Day in Seattle

• Take a Greyhound from Vancouver to Seattle in the morning, getting dropped off at the University of Washington

  • This is an international border crossing so make sure to adhere to border crossing guidelines

• Eat lunch at Agua Verde, a restaurant along the water near campus and then walk through the streets of UW campus

• Uber to the Space Needle, where there is a Bounce-sponsored luggage locker and leave bags

• Walk through the streets of Seattle towards Pike Place Market and spend some time shopping around and seeing the gum wall

• Start St. Patty's Day Bar and Ice Cream Hopping:

  • Kells Irish Pub has live music and takes up an entire outdoor alley -- we ended up getting in, but were not allowed to go to the outdoor section so we ended up leaving, but it did look fun

  • Molly Moon's Ice Cream is famous and definitely worth a visit

  • Barrio's is a bar that is no longer open, but was a good spot for Mexican food/snacks and happy hour

  • Momiji has great lychee martinis and edamame for a quick snack

  • Herb and Bitter was our favorite bar because of its outdoor seating area and the bartenders were really fun

• After all the drinking, head to Plenty of Clouds for a nice Chinese dinner

• Pick up bags from Bounce and head to the airport for a Delta red-eye back to JFK