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Arrival, information and accommodation
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There are several ways of
getting to
Whistler. If you're flying to Vancouver on a skiing package (or otherwise) and want to get straight to the resort, then Perimeter (tel 604/266-5386,
www.perimeterbus.com
) run a
bus shuttle
from the airport and various Vancouver hotels to Whistler, with drop-offs at Whistler Creek and several major hotels in and around Whistler Village. Reservations are required for the service, with prepayment by credit card and cancellations allowed up to 24 hours in advance (May-Nov 7 daily, 2 of which are express and do not stop at Vancouver hotels; $46 one-way; Dec-April Mon-Fri 8 daily, including 5 express, Sat & Sun 11 daily, including 9 express $49; 2hr 30min-3hr). Greyhound Buses (tel 604/482-8747 in Vancouver, tel 604/932-5031 in Whistler or 1-800/661-TRIP from anywhere in North America,
www.greyhound.ca
) run six daily
bus
services from Vancouver bus depot
to the Village (2hr 30min; $20 one-way) via Britannia Beach, Whistler Creek and other stops en route. In winter (Dec-April) Greyhound's ski express leaves Vancouver at 6.30am and goes nonstop to Whistler arriving at 8.30am. You can also travel by BC Rail
train
(tel 604/984-5246 or 1-800/663-8238,
www.bcrail.com/bcrpass
) from the station in North Vancouver to Whistler's station near Whistler Creek (1 daily; $33; 2hr 35min). Local buses, WAVE (tel 604/932-4040) run a free shuttle service around Whistler Village, Village North and Upper Village as well as buses to Whistler Creek and other destinations ($1.50 flat fare, 5-day pass $5). If you need taxis to get around locally, try Sea to Sky Taxi (tel 604/932-3333).
Many people in winter are likely to be on a package. If not, or if you're here in summer, all local accommodation can be booked through Whistler Central Reservations (tel 604/664-5625 or 1-800/WHISTLER, www.mywhistler.com/ ), who can help find a room or an apartment for you in an appropriate price bracket. If you're booking for winter, note that reservations should be made well in advance. Such is demand that many hotels have a thirty-day cancellation window and may insist on a minimum of three-days' stay. Accommodation is most expensive from February to the end of March and cheapest from May to mid-June and mid-September to mid-November. For recorded information on Whistler-Blackcomb call 1-800/766-0449 (tel 604/664-5614 from Vancouver or tel 604/932-3434 from Whistler, www.whistler-blackcomb.com ). Tourism Whistler (tel 604/932-3298) is another source of information; they also run the Whistler Activity and Information Centre, in the green-roofed Conference Centre near the Village Square (daily 9am-5pm; tel 604/932-2394). Though they can help with masses of comfortable hotel, chalet and lodge accommodation (remember that chalets can put extra beds in double rooms at nominal rates), and book activities and tickets for local events, they do cater towards the top-end of the market. Whistler Creek is home to the more down-to-earth and friendly Chamber of Commerce , 2097 Lake Placid Rd (daily 9am-5pm, longer hours in summer; tel 604/932-5528). Pick up a copy of Pique , the free local newspaper available in bars and at the information centres - it'll keep you abreast of happening events.
If you're going to do Whistler in style, the top resort
hotel
is the $75 million
Chateau Whistler
on Blackcomb Way (tel 604/938-8000; $175-240). In the same league is the spanking new all-suite
Westin Resort and Spa
(tel 1-888/634-5577,
www.westinwhistler.com
; $175-240) with ski-in, ski-out facilities and the
Pan-Pacific
(tel 1-888/905-9995,
www.panpac.com
; $125-175). At the other end of the scale is the
youth hostel
right on the shores of Alta Lake at 5678 Alta Lake Rd, one of the nicest hostels in BC (tel 604/932-5492
, www.hihostels.bc.ca
; up to $40), a signposted forty-minute walk from Whistler Creek or ten-minute drive to the village centre; local buses (tel 604/932-4020) leave the gondola base in the Village four times a day for the hostel and the journey takes fifteen minutes ($1.50; note that BC Rail trains may sometimes stop alongside the hostel if you ask the conductor). As its popular year-round, reserve ahead. The
Shoestring Lodge
, with an adjacent pub, is a good and equally popular alternative. It has private rooms with small bathrooms ($40-60) as well as dorms (up to $40) and is a ten-minute walk north of Whistler Village on Nancy Greene Drive (tel 604/932-3338). Another reasonable choice is the
Fireside Lodge
, 2117 Nordic Drive (tel 604/932-4545; $40-60) at Nordic Estates, 3km south of the village. Finally, you could try the
Whistler Lodge
(tel 604/932-6604 or 604/228-5851; up to $40), also on Nordic Drive, which is owned by the University of British Columbia but lets nonstudents stay; check-in time is from 4pm to 10pm. Best of the
campsites
is the
Riverside RV Resort and Campground
(tel 1-877/905-5533,
www.whistlercamping .com
), 2km north of Whistler Village, which now has brand-new five-person log cabins for $79-99 and sites for $20. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Canada,
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