The Best of Vancouver: Top 5 Places to Shop when on an Alaskan cruise

Planning an Alaskan cruise or cruise-plus-land tour (called a cruisetour)? If you embark or disembark your cruise ship in Vancouver, British Columbia, CruiseExperts.com suggests you stay an extra day or two and explore this large metropolitan Canadian city. We’ve found some fun places to go shopping while you’re there. Vancouver has an abundance of stores. But where are the gems?  We’ve picked our favorite places to shop, which include places with free wine tasting, a huge vintage clothing store, hand-crafted artisan broom shop, celebrity-must-have designer shoes and a soap gallery that wins the award for creativity and quality.

This is our third, and final, blog in our series of “The Best of Vancouver.”  Be sure to also read our other blogs: Our favorite picks for Vancouver eateries and Fun things to do in Vancouver. Here are our picks for best shopping:

1. In the mood for some wine tasting? Located in the West End neighborhood, Marquis Wine Cellars has 16 wines selected for sampling every day. And there’s no cost or appointment needed to sample. Expect to find hard-to-get European wines including Burgundy and Bordeaux from countries like France, Italy and Spain. You can browse wines by country or by food match.  Step inside their temperature and humidity-controlled Fine Wine Room to view their premium wine selection, one of the finest in the region.

2. Vintage clothing is the latest fashion craze–and Mintage is the place to treasure hunt.  For those trendy men or women who love to have something unique, this is your kind of store. Located in the Grandview-Woodlands area of Vancouver, you’ll find vintage clothes for men and women, shoes, and accessories. Read more about Mintage in this great write-up at #30SmallBusinesses What’s Old Is Hot Again Thanks To @MintageClothing.

3. Ever been to a broom store? Granville Island Broom Co. has an artisan selection to fall in love with. There’s a variety of handles made of wood from manzanita, birch, hickory, fir, driftwood, diamond willow AND even hockey sticks. The whisks are made with either shaped iron or braided straw handles. Who would ever think a broom would make a great gift? Once you see these brooms, you’ll know why.

4. Fluevog Shoes is a favorite celebrity destination for unique, hand-crafted shoes. A great pair of shoes is all that’s needed to bump up your everyday outfit into a fashion statement. So fuel your shoe addiction and add a Fluevog to your collection. It’s like wearing walking artwork. Fluevog  Shoes has two locations in Vancouver–one in Gastown district and one on Granville Street near Robson.

5. While you’re on Granville Island, be sure to stop by the Granville Island Soap Gallery, where you’ll find all kinds of unique soaps, candles and soap holders. It’s a great place to find the perfect uncommon gift for that special someone–artisan soap that looks like a pastry.  They also specialize in creating soaps that are good for different skin types. Using muds and mineral-rich natural resources , they create soaps that are good for your skin.

We can help you plan your Alaskan cruise

Now is the time to book your 2014 cruise or cruisetour to Alaska with a stop in Vancouver. For more information, call a CruiseExperts.com agent today and we’ll help you get started planning. Call 1-888-804-CRUIse(2784) or visit our website at www.CruiseExperts.com.

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Photo credit goes to Jared Crawford for the featured picture.

Linda Brandt

Linda Brandt joined the team at CruiseExperts.com in November 2011. She has been working with the marketing team in many capacities. Her new role is to pass on the expertise of the agency to help travelers understand the world of cruising through blogging. She studied journalism and writing in college and was a writer for The Campus newspaper for two years at the College of the Sequoias. She is also currently working on her Bachelor’s degree.