Ten Things to do on a Rainy Day in Vancouver

• Have a brolly custom-made at The Umbrella Shop (1106 West Broadway.) Ask Glen Flader for a tour of the workroom and see the Singer sewing machines his grandfather used when he started the business 65 years ago.

• Enter the realm of the unexplored. Take an X-Tour to see where the actual scenes were shot for some of the 118 X-Files episodes filmed in Vancouver.

• Roll out your sleeping bag and overnight next to the beluga whales tank at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre.

• Visit the Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park. The tropical heat and brilliant colors of the exotic plants are startling when contrasted with the gloomy weather outside the glass dome.

• Do lunch in a temperate rainforest at Lighthouse Park with wilderness guide and Culinary Olympics chef, Manfred Scholermann.

• Warm your insides with a tongue-tingling Jalapeno or Chile pepper-and-chocolate gelato from La Casa Gelato, the only retailer in the world with over 388 gelato flavours to choose from.

• Enjoy the tranquility of afternoon tea by the fire in the Bacchus Lounge of the Wedgewood Hotel; or the Fish House in Stanley Park

• Take a trek to the remote east-end dockside location of The Cannery Restaurant. Two fireplaces, one of the city’s best wine list and a baker’s dozen of honestly prepared, seafood choices make this a winner in inclement weather.

• Select some reading material from the 1.2 million books at the coliseum-like Library Square.

• Visit the Vancouver Art Gallery’s permanent collection representing the most comprehensive resource for visual culture in British Columbia.

Compliments of Tourism Vancouver