What to do in Vancouver, BC

[ESF]

H and I are going to a wedding there in April. Trying to figure out what the best sights are and how much time we should plan to be there.

The challenge is that H and I will be leaving five days later for a two week vacation. I don't want to miss something super cool, and am willing to arrange my flights to see the good stuff. But I'm not interested in making myself stressed out for my actual vacation just to hang around to check random things off the list.

It's a two hour flight with lots of direct options for us, so it's a question of whether to leave the Friday afternoon, late evening or Saturday am, and then whether to return mid-afternoon or late on the Sunday. Wedding is the Saturday evening and is a dinner cruise, so we will get out on the water.

I can find sightseeing lists, but I'd love to get some opinions on what is really great.

If you've been, what there did you just LOVE? Food/restaurants count.

[dearprudence]

Granville Island and Stanley Park are my favorite areas. Granville has a great Public Market and adorable store. Stanley Park has trails, the aquarium - I love just walking around.

[momin2013]

Ditto PP - Granville Island and Stanley Park were the biggest highlights for me. I also loved just walking along the beach (we stayed in the West End, and walked along the Stanley Park Seawall Path, which was gorgeous).