2010 Winter Olympics
Canada · Americas
About 2010 Winter Olympics
It should be read together with the articles of the host cities.
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The games began February 12, 2010 and the closing ceremonies were held on February 28. Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games were organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC).
The 2010 Winter Olympics were the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Canada was home to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
2010 Winter Olympics travel guide
Getting there
Vancouver will be the main entry point for Olympic visitors with air, road and rail links. For further information, please see the Vancouver article. If driving across the border from the United States, there are four border crossings in the area that are described in more detail on the Lower Mainland page. If you plan on driving into British Columbia from the United States during the 2010 Olympics be prepared for extremely long border delays (2-3 hour waits).
Getting around
All the various ways of getting around Vancouver are described in the Vancouver article. This section describes specific transportation issues relating to the Olympics. Don't expect to get around Vancouver quickly while the Olympics are on. The sheer volume of visitors combined with road restrictions are very likely going to slow down vehicle traffic and public transit. Buses and trains will run more frequently during the Olympics to compensate, but plan ahead and give yourself lots of time to make it to your destination. If going to an Olympic venue, it is highly recommended to use the Translink public transit system. In fact, it's almost mandatory. No Olympic venues have public parking available and some venues, like Whistler and Cypress Mountain, will have limited car access. Olympic venues are generally located close to SkyTrain stations and bus stops and some venues will have express shuttles connecting to specific SkyTrain stations.
Olympic Bus Network Shuttle buses, called the Olympic Bus Network, will run from various pick-up spots in Vancouver, Burnaby and North Vancouver to Cypress Mountain and Whistler. Seats are round-trip and must be booked in advance with tickets for sale on-line from Nov 24, 2009. Round-trip tickets, not including taxes or admin fees, will cost:
Cypress Mountain - $12 if purchased by Jan 3, 2010; $24 if purchased after Whistler - $25 if purchased by Jan 3, 2010; $50 if purchased after Not all venues have the same pick-up spots, so please be aware of where you need to go to board your bus. Departure spots for the venues are:
Cypress Mountain - Lonsdale Quay and Capilano University in North Vancouver, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby Whistler Creekside - Langara College (100 W 49th Ave) in Vancouver Whistler Olympic Park - BCIT (3700 Willingdon Ave) in Burnaby Whistler Sliding Centre - BCIT in Burnaby and Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver All departure spots have easy access to public transit. With the exception of Lonsdale Qu
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.