Looking out toward the waters of the Georgia Strait, Vancouver occupies one of the most beautiful settings of any world city. The coastal mountains form a majestic backdrop for the glass towers and copper-topped skyscrapers of the city. It was Captain James Cook who claimed the area for the British when he stepped ashore at Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, in 1778. Until then the area had been inhabited for more than 10,000 years by the First Nations peoples, whose cultural heritage is celebrated in two of Canada’s best museums: the UBC Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver and Victoria’s Royal BC Museum. Established as a city after a fire destroyed the fledgling town of Granville in 1886, Vancouver offers historic districts, lush gardens, and wilderness parks within its environs. A short ferry ride away, Vancouver Island’s world-famous Pacific Rim National Park is a major whale-watching center.