wanttogo

I am in the dream stage of planning a trip to Vancouver City, Victoria and Tofino
next summer. We prefer not to drive all the way to Tofino but would like to rent a car while we are there. I cannot locate any car rental agencies in Tofino on the Web. Depending
on our schedule, we would probably fly to Tofino from Vancouver City or take the bus
from Victoria to get there. Does anyone have any info? Also, I know that there is a ferry to
Naimo (sp?) and a car rental agency in that town-how is the drive from there to Tofino?

I usually plan all of our trips myself but if anyone has the name of a good travel agent in
Vancouver or Victoria, I would appreciate the name. Thank you.

Pat

Meesthare

I was suprised to hear that there weren't any car rental agencies in Tofino, so I googled car rental Tofino BC and immediately Budget came up. They have an office there. That was the only one I looked at but there may well be others.

The drive from Victoria to Tofino is actually quite pleasant, but the bus is a good option too. Yes, there is a ferry to Nanaimo from North Vancouver, and I'm sure you could rent a car there too. You could check www.bcferries.com for ferry info. They might even have a link to car rental places on their website (I haven't checked). The drive from Nanaimo to Tofino is a little over 2 hours, maybe 2 and a half depending on traffic. Certainly not a difficult drive, especially in the summer when the weather is more reliable. You'd be driving across the island rather than along the coast, so it's perhaps not quite as scenic as the Malahat drive north of Victoria, but once you get to the west side of the island, it's gorgeous.

wanttogo

Thank you Meesthare. I don't understand why I could not locate Budget on my web search a couple weeks ago. This is a big help.

Pat

traveller69

The ferry to Nanaimo is from Horseshoe Bay (west Vancouver) not North Vancouver. There are car rental agencies in Nanaimo. Here is a link for the bus service from Departure Bay (Ferry Terminal in Nanaimo) to Tofino in case you would rather go by bus than drive.

traveller69

Sorry forgot the link http://www.tofinobus.com/

Meesthare

Oops, sorry, traveller - you're right, it's west Van, not north Van.

live42day

It is much more expensive to rent a car in Tofino, around $40 a day more than if you rent it in Nanaimo or Vancouver.
You can fly to Tofino from Vancouver if you like and rent a car for a couple of days there however. You could then take the bus as linked above to Victoria.
Or, you could take the ferry to Nanaimo, rent a car there so you are not paying the ferry fee for the car, drive to Tofino, 2 - 21/2 hours as stated and then drive back from Tofino to Victoria. They are constantly working on the road, I drove it yesterday and they are upgrading it as we speak.

It is a beautiful drive, just take your time and use the many pull outs for slower vechiles and and you will be fine.

wanttogo

Thanks live42day. I will think about doing that. Maybe we could return the car to Nanaimo and then take a bus to Victoria. I have a while to think this through.

Pat