Surrey (British Columbia)
Table of Contents: Culture and History / Districts / Travel to Surrey (British Columbia), visa requirements By SkyTrain By car / Surrey (British Columbia) attractions and sightseeing / Learn / City tours / Golf / Work / Shopping, Surrey (British Columbia) souvenirs / Good restaurants and cheap meals / Budget / Mid-range / Splurge / Surrey (British Columbia) nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs. / Hotels, youth hostels, lodging / Budget 2 / Mid-Range / Splurge 2 / Stay safe More from Greater Vancouver: Burnaby-1, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Surrey (British Columbia), Vancouver, White Rock More from Lower Mainland: Greater Vancouver, Sea to Sky, Sunshine Coast (British Columbia) More from British Columbia: Cariboo-Chilcotin, Dawson Creek, Kootenays, Lower Mainland, North Coast (British Columbia), Okanagan-Similkameen, Peace River, Thompson-Shuswap, Vancouver Island, Whistler More from Canada: Atlantic Provinces, British Columbia, North (Canada), Ontario, Prairies (Canada), Quebec, Rocky Mountains (Canada) More from North America: Canada, Caribbean, Cascade Mountains, Central America, Great Lakes, Greenland, Mexico, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, United States of America, Waterton Glacier International Peace Park |
Surrey [1] is a suburb of Vancouver. It is the largest city in land area in the Lower Mainland region and the second largest city in population after Vancouver proper.
Culture and History
Surrey is the tenth largest city in Canada and the second largest in British Columbia, Surrey offers visitors a rich blend of diverse landscapes, abundant parks, rich cultural opportunities and superb recreational choices.
This city offers you beautiful urban forests, pristine beaches, championship golf courses and a whole host of eco and agri-tourism opportunities? With over 6,000 acres of parkland, there is plenty of opportunity to enjoy Surrey's natural beauty.
Strategically located on the United States border to the South and the Fraser River to the North, Surrey is part of the Gateway to the Pacific, making it a preferred destination for business meetings and conferences in today's dynamic business world. Surrey has numerous shopping opportunities for the discerning shopper, with everything from quaint specialty shops to Central City and Guildford Town Centre.
Districts
For simplicity the Surrey area is separated into a number of districts. Most of the attractions associated with Surrey are in these districts. These don't correspond to the legal divisions of the city, but instead a convenient way of sub-dividing Surrey for travellers.
- Whalley -
- Newton –
- Cloverdale –Cloverdale is historic centre of Surrey and is known for its small town charm. If you love antiques, then you have come to the right place. The traditional Cloverdale Town Centre is well known for being the “Antique Capital of BC”, famous for its antiques and collectibles.
- Cresent Beach –is one of the sunniest beaches in the Greater Vancouver region. Popular activities at Crescent Beach include swimming, kayaking, crabbing, fishing, and boating. There are shops nearby and restaurants with ocean views.
- Barnston Island – Barnston Island sits in the Fraser River along the Surrey section of the river. Although the island is unincorporated and not officially part of any municipality, mailing addresses on the island use Surrey as the city name. Barnston's a small island, (only about 2-3 square miles) and you get to it by taking a 5 minute ferry ride across Parson's Channel to the island. The ferry ride is free. The ferry is a barge operated by a small tug which serves Barnston Island. The ferry holds only about 7 vehicles per sailing, and, you have to back on the ferry on the return trip . Very unique and a fun experience. Barnston Island is flat with not much on there but farms. It takes about an hour to bike around the whole island.
- White Rock – technically not part of Surrey, but a quaint beachside community completely surrounded by Surrey.
Travel to Surrey (British Columbia), visa requirements
By SkyTrain
Take an Expo Line train from any downtown Vancouver Skytrain station, all the stations on the other side of the Skybridge are in Surrey. The end of the line is at the King George station which is about a 45min trip from Waterfront station in Vancouver.
By car
Both of Greater Vancouver's two major freeways (HWY499 & HWY401) run directly through Surrey, it also has two secondary highways. Highway 91 links the HWY499 with the suburb of Burnaby, and the Pacific highway links HWY401 with the USA/Canada border. King George highway is actually a major street which runs from South Surrey to North Surrey.
Surrey (British Columbia) attractions and sightseeing
- Bear Creek Park
- Surrey Art Gallery
Learn
- Kwantlen University College offers trades training and full degree programs in traditional academic areas through 3 separate campuses in the city. This school operates primarily as a traditional community college with many students transferring to nearby Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia.
- Simon Fraser University Surrey is located in the new Central City building and operates as a satellite campus to SFU Burnaby. Most classes offered here are part of the Faculty of Business.
City tours
Golf
There are many golf courses in Surrey. Several PGA tournaments have in the past been hosted in Surrey and parts of the movie Happy Gilmore was shot here.
- Morgan Creek
- Peace Portal
- North View
- Nico Wynd
- Guildford Golf and County Club
- Coyote Creek
Work
Shopping, Surrey (British Columbia) souvenirs
Surrey has several major shopping malls.
Good restaurants and cheap meals
Budget
Surrey has a number of national and international fast food franchises, including:
- Burger King
- Churches Chicken (A fried chicken franchise much like KFC)
- Dairy Queen
- KFC
- Mcdonalds
- Mr. Sub (A Canadian submarine sandwich franchise)
- Nando's Flame Grilled Chicken
- Subway
- Taco Bell
- Tim Horton's
- Whitespot Triple O's (a "fast food" version of the popular Whitespot restaurant chain)
In addition, Surrey has a number of East Indian Restaurants which offer popular Indian dishes such as Butter Chicken, Tandoori Chicken, and Samosa's. Meals are authentic Indian cuisine and can be had for $5-10. There are also a number of Chinese restaurants, although the food here is largely "Westernized". Japanese food is equally prevalent and there are a number of reasonably priced sushi restaurants throughout the area. Finally, Pizza is popular in and interestingly enough, many owner operated pizza restaurants are operated by people of East Indian descent, making the taste quite distinct from the national franchises. These owner operated pizza restaurants are often very competitive in price.
Mid-range
Surrey has a number of mid-range national family restaurant franchises, including:
- ABC Country Restaurant (A chain of traditional family restaurants)
- Boston Pizza
- Earls
- Moxies (Restaurants feature low lighting and slightly higher end cuisine)
- The Pantry
- Red Robin
- Whitespot (A chain of old fashioned drive-ins where food was once delivered on trays through patrons car windows. The chain has recently attempted to go upscale and many outlets no longer provide car service.)
Additionally, Surrey has a number of neighborhood pubs where food can be found reasonably cheap; Usually $5-8 for a burger & fries and around $10 for an entree. It is worth noting that BC has very high taxes on liquor, so although the food is reasonably priced at pubs, alcoholic beverages can be quite expensive with a jug of beer costing between $12 and $18 and highballs upwards of $5 each.
Splurge
Despite it's size and cultural diversity, Surrey lacks any real fine cuisine. The closest one will find is franchises of the popular steak restaurant, "The Keg". If it is fine cuisine one desires, one is better served by traveling to nearby Vancouver.
Surrey (British Columbia) nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs.
Surrey has a number of neighborhood pubs and one night club known as The Mirage. Though The Mirage is fairly upscale and those looking for a vibrant nightlife are advised to look to nearby Vancouver which has a number of popular bars and night clubs on its Granville strip.
Hotels, youth hostels, lodging
Budget
Mid-Range
Splurge
Stay safe
Surrey suffers from an image problem - though it is important to note that it has a lower crime rate than many other cities in British Columbia. One is advised to stay away from the Whalley area at night as poverty and homelessness are prevalent in this area. Interestingly enough, Surrey is attempting to rebuild the area and has even attempted to rid the area of the "Whalley" name as it carries with it negative connotations. The area is now often called "Gateway" or "Surrey Centre" and there are many new residential and business buildings in various stages of completion in the area. In this regard, the area is in a stage of transition, as although new million dollar developments are sprouting up, homelessness and drug dealing can be found within the same city blocks in some cases.
More from Greater Vancouver: Burnaby-1, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Surrey (British Columbia), Vancouver, White Rock More from Lower Mainland: Greater Vancouver, Sea to Sky, Sunshine Coast (British Columbia) More from British Columbia: Cariboo-Chilcotin, Dawson Creek, Kootenays, Lower Mainland, North Coast (British Columbia), Okanagan-Similkameen, Peace River, Thompson-Shuswap, Vancouver Island, Whistler More from Canada: Atlantic Provinces, British Columbia, North (Canada), Ontario, Prairies (Canada), Quebec, Rocky Mountains (Canada) More from North America: Canada, Caribbean, Cascade Mountains, Central America, Great Lakes, Greenland, Mexico, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, United States of America, Waterton Glacier International Peace Park |
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