The drive from Seattle to Whistler was pretty uneventful aside from consuming the best burger of the entire trip at a random roadside diner and striking a seemingly over-inquisitive customers officer.
The Hilton Whistler was expansive, luxurious (as you’d expect from this brand) and right in Whistler Village. It was a rip-off to park the car though – required and $30 to park yourself or $34 for valet.
Image from TripAdvisor
We had dinner at La Brasserie in Whistler Village and a wander around the lit village at night.
The next day we were up early to make the most of our day in Whistler, eating massive plates of pancakes at Blacks at the base of the mountain.
We purchased hiking passes and took the gondola up Whistler (about three times the height of your standard New Zealand mountain).
After following a short track around the alpine lakes we got another gondola across to Blackcomber before taking the chairlift down. The views were stunning and there were crazy people hiking up the mountain below us.
I then went slightly nuts in a Lululemon store before we drove back to Vancouver Airport to fly home.
Laura and Caitlin told us Whistler needs to be visited in both Summer and Winter. I can sadly tick only one box: the pictures I’ve seen of a snow covered Whistler look like something from a Northern Hemisphere Christmas Card.