beverly56

I am staying for a week one hour north of Seattle the first week of August. Will I be able to drive to Vancouver for a day trip? If you have any suggestions for don't miss sightseeing or restaurants there please let me know. Thanks.

leuk2

It's about 2 1/2- 3 hour drive from Seattle to Vancouver. The problem is how long it will take to cross the border. It could easily take 1+ hours each way. Probably depends on the day of the week and thye time of day. The Amtrak train is another option. I don't know how long it takes though.

taggie

Hmmm. I must drive a LOT faster than leuk2 - haha! The drive between Seattle and Vancouver takes me about 2 hours with the border wait on top of that. It really does depend on the time of day as to how long the wait will be. It could take 2 hours, it could take 5 minutes.

I often go to Seattle on a day trip (for shopping, or a ball game) so you could easily come to Vancouver for the day.

The problem with Amtrak is that not all of the transport options are on the train... some of it could be by bus. And at any rate, the train usually takes longer than it takes to drive.

What are your interests - outdoor pursuits like hiking? Or shopping and museums?

RainyDay09

beverly56, you could go to Vancouver for a day, but you will feel rushed and will not get to see everything. I would spend the night, if you could. I live in Seattle and we have done day trips to Vancouver, starting really early in the morning (5-6 am) to beat the border traffic and coming home late. The border is unpredictable and you may end up sitting at the border coming back to the US for an hour or more, which adds to the overall impression of the day. An overnight trip is much easier and would leave you with a better understanding of the city, IMHO, if you can fit it into your schedule. Vancouver is a must-see city and August will be a perfect month for it.

NWWanderer

Agree that it's better to do an overnight if at all possible. I live in Seattle and it usually takes me between 3 and 3.5 hours downtown to downtown, including wait time at the border (just drove home yesterday for example and it took 3.5 hours because the traffic getting out of downtown Vancouver was bad, but thankfully the wait at the border was only 15 minutes).

I've done it as a day trip (went up for the Olympics for the day) but it's very tiring and you won't get to see much of the city.

NorthwestMale

Geez, OK, "one hour north of Seattle"... I'm going to interpret that as "Mt. Vernon".

SO... expect maybe a 45-minute trip to the border, then a usually-brief (go EARLY if need be) wait to get into Canada (for those with required documentation)... and then a 30-minute trip into central Vancouver. Plan 90 minutes from Mt. Vernon and leave it at that.

I'd like to know where you're from, so I could have a better sense of whether Vancouver or anything about it would be a great contrast for you.

Although Vancouver has awesome surroundings... someone there for just a day trip should proooooooooooooobably concentrate on just the downtown/Stanley Park area. The diversity of the local population assures that to just wander and observe and eat when you become most inspired is a suitable move for dining.

With such a small window of time, and so very much there and centrally located, you really don't need much of a strict itinerary.

I DO recommend erring on the side of leaving for (Mt. Vernon again) LATE in the evening so you don't waste time needlessly sitting in the loooooooooooooong lines waiting to get into the U.S.

Also, tailor your journey so as to avoid the weekend rush traffic at the borders.

Enjoy!