It is a short walk to one of two major shopping centers close to our house. The other mall requires a short bus ride. Both malls have free indoor play areas for children. There are many parks and playgrounds to occupy children. We also live close to many parks with walking trails, playgrounds, running track etc. The train from Surrey Center takes 35 minutes to take passengers to downtown Vancouver. Once in Vancouver you can easily use bus transit to go to numerous beaches that offer spacious areas for families to spend the day. Spanish Banks is one of our favourites. With a car there are also other beaches that are about 30 minutes from our house. Another beach we love to visit is Centennial Beach which also has an enormous playground and walking trails, shaded picnic tables perfect for a family outing. It is about a 2 hour drive to Whistler where you can experience breathtaking views. Grouse Mountain is a popular tourist attraction and it is accessible by train and bus. It is a beautiful mountain with either a short gondola ride to the top or an amazingly steep hike that many people use for fitness training. We enjoy the central location of our house as, with a car, many options are open to us, from a zoo to an amusement park to hiking and camping areas.