Vancouver to Seattle, Possibly Victoria

Old Jul 20th, 2017, 02:17 PM
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Vancouver to Seattle, Possibly Victoria

Hello Fellow Fodors! My trip has arrived (3 days away). My wife and I are flying from Chicago to Vancouver on Monday 7/24 and will be there for 3 nights before we head to Seattle for 4 nights. A couple things I need some opinions/information

1) We are exploring the possibility of taking a day trip to Victoria from Downtown Vancouver. Looking for recommendations on transportation and reasonable prices. Of course, time is of essence as well.

2) Best way to get from Vancouver to Seattle. I've heard from bus, train and ferry. Looking for recommendations on mode of transport and prices. I've looked into Bolt Bus and their prices are fairly cheap and times are pretty flexible (downside is border crossing)

Of note, we will have to smaller carry-on's (back packs) and a checked bag (suitcase).

We may be pressing it with Victoria but would like to see if it's possible, knowing that we will be in Vancouver for 3 full days. We obviously want to enjoy the best of Vancouver.

Looking forward to your responses!
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Old Jul 21st, 2017, 05:21 AM
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Well, you could take the bus to Victoria and the ferry on to Seattle. Wouldn't work if you want to go to Butchart Gardens.
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Old Jul 21st, 2017, 10:51 AM
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Victoria's further than most first-time visitors imagine and it's a very different kind of city than either Vancouver or Seattle. It's small, charming, walkable, and is a huge hit with American tourists, but it does take 3-4 hours to get there one way from downtown Vancouver.

The BC Connector bus will take you from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria. It's 3-4 hours. It includes the hour-long drive from downtown Vancouver through suburbs and freeways and farmland to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. Then, there's the wait for the ferry, then the time it takes for all the 200+ cars/buses/trucks to board the ferry. Then you and all passengers from those cars/buses/trucks get out of the car decks and take the stairs/elevator up to the main passenger decks for the 90-minute ferry ride. You can eat a meal at a restaurant or hang out inside in the lounges or on the outside decks, look in the gift shop, etc. Then when you get close to Swartz Bay, there's an alert for everyone to return to their cars, so you'll join the hundreds of passengers downstairs, find your bus, board the bus, and the bus will drive off the ferry and then down the freeway from Swartz Bay past farmland, suburbia, etc. until you eventually arrive in downtown Victoria. This is one way to get there.

Another way is to go by the V2V passenger-only deluxe boat. They also take about 3-4 hours along the water the entire way. This just launched a few months ago and I have yet to do it, but it'll be pricier.

The most efficient (and fun) way to get there is to go by Harbour Air, the local seaplane company. They take you from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria in a 35-minute scenic flight.

There's also Helijet if you want to splurge and go by helicopter.

Three full days is the minimum amount of time you need to see Vancouver, in my opinion. While downtown Vancouver is tiny, scenic, walkable, and easily seen in a short amount of time, Vancouver is so much more than its tiny walkable downtown. I personally feel that you should only start considering day trips out of Vancouver after you've spent three days in Vancouver. Even with three days, you'll still be picking and choosing and missing out on things.

You'll need one day to visit Granville Island and Stanley Park. That's it. The morning is best at Granville Island where you can pick up some snacks and picnic ingredients for the day. Then you can take a water taxi across to downtown and stroll the seawall to English Bay and Stanley Park. Or walk up Denman Street and rent bikes to ride around Stanley Park. If you're inspired, you can visit the Vancouver Aquarium. Stanley Park is huge. You can esaily spend the entire day just there. Most first-time visitors have no idea and see only a fraction of it. Then, when you're ready in the late afternoon or early evening, leave Stanley Park and walk down Robson Street (shops, restaurants, etc.) and dine in Gastown (great cocktail bars and restaurants, historic but a bit gritty) or Yaletown (more high end, affluent with bustling patios) or eat/drink somewhere you find appealing. Then, catch the late sunset on the beach if you can. Vancouverites spend their summers along the waterfront at all possible - this is where the city thrives by evening.

Day two - a cultural day visiting the Museum of Anthropology, UBC Botcanital Garden, Beaty Biodiversity Museum, or the VanDusen Botanical Garden or the Vancouver Art Gallery or Queen Elizabeth Park, etc. Or maybe a craft beer crawl in East Vancouver or a meander through some of the quirky, hip neighbourhoods outside of downtown like Commercial Drive, Mount Pleasant (Main Street), Kitsilano's W 4th, South Granville, etc. Or maybe you just want to relax at a local beach. Or do a foodie tour, etc. Really depends what you're interested in.

Day three - nature/wilderness/scenery day up on the North Shore. Lynn Canyon is free, a big park in the rainforest with waterfalls, a free suspension bridge, easy hiking trails with a few stairs that climb up and down the canyons. Or you can pay $40 for something similar at Capilano Suspension Bridge. Or you can go up to Grouse Mountain or go for a walk through old growth rainforest at Lighthouse Park. Or pick up the shuttle to the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish, a 45 minute drive away and can easily take up a whole afternoon. Or just go whale watching out of Vancouver, that'll take up most of the day.

So whether you want to go to Victoria or not, really, you'll not be doing justice to either Vancouver or Victoria, but only you can tell whether the desire to see Victoria overrides your desire to properly experience Vancouver.

There's no ferry from Vancouver to Seattle - only train or bus. The train's schedule is limited but the route is beautiful, otherwise Bolt Bus is your best option.
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Old Jul 21st, 2017, 03:22 PM
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Hmm ... your time may be too short to squeeze in Victoria, as others have mentioned.
But if you want to squeeze in Victoria, I'd do so enroute between Vancouver and Seattle.

Others above have explained the bus/ferry/bus trip from Vancouver to Victoria. The ferry is great ... winding between the Gulf Islands.

From Victoria you could take the 2x per day (3x per day depending when you go) high speed passenger only ferry ... it takes about 3 hrs. from the harbor in the center of Victoria to Seattle's downtown waterfront: http://www.clippervacations.com/seattle-victoria-ferry/

If you did that I'd spend 3 nights in Vancouver, 1 in Victoria, and 3 in Seattle. It'd be a nice way of getting in some time on the water.
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Old Jul 21st, 2017, 03:50 PM
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If you decide to skip Victoria you have a number of choices from Vancouver to Seattle

Amtrak - 2 trains per day, ~4.5 hrs, reservations required - some sell out - part of the trip is along the shore of puget sound - http://www.amtrakcascades.com/

or buses (it's an inland trip on I-5, not as scenic as the train):

Greyhound: ~3 buses per day, ~4.5 hours, standard buses, https://www.greyhound.com/en/ecommerce/schedule

Bolt bus: ~5 buses per day, https://www.boltbus.com/

Quick Shuttle: ~5-6 buses per day, ~4.5-5 hrs, they pick up at various hotels and the airport, http://www.quickcoach.com/
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Old Jul 21st, 2017, 04:03 PM
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Excellent suggestion! Doing Victoria after three days in Vancouver followed by three days in Seattle is how I'd make this work too.
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Old Jul 22nd, 2017, 05:21 AM
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These are all great recommendations! Thank you all! We are staying at the Days Inn downtown Vancouver and AirBnB for 4 nights in Seattle. Love the Vancouver, Victoria to Seattle recommendation but with having the AirBnB On Thursday, don't know if it is possible. Might have to suck it up and skip Victoria which I feel like we'll regret. An extra day would have been perfect.
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Old Jul 23rd, 2017, 09:08 PM
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Where should we go for great Chinese food? We arrive tomorrow, Monday.
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Old Jul 24th, 2017, 07:16 AM
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Not Chinatown.

Look up Dinesty, Peaceful, Dynasty Seafood and go
to what appeals to you the most. Or go to Richmond's Jade Seafood or Shanghai River.
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Old Jul 30th, 2017, 01:11 PM
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It seems like you might be getting home from the trip today or tomorrow.

Please give us a trip report, or at least a short summary of your impressions and those things you liked best or would recommend doing differently
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Old Oct 21st, 2017, 09:46 AM
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Hello All! Sorry, it's been a couple months since we came back from our trip. It was a fantastic trip. Thank you all for your recommendations. We ended up staying at the Days Inn, Downtown Vancouver. Honestly, it was in a great spot. Not the best hotel, but really no complaints other than the elevator not working during our stay. Actually worked out as they credited us one night.

We walked pretty much the entire time in Vancouver. Yes, tons of walking, but you're able to discover more in my opinion. We went to Granville Island the first day. It was pretty cool. Stopped for a beer at Granville Brewery then walked back across the bridge and headed to the beach. A good crowd. Didn't stay for sundown however as we were exhausted. Came back down Robson street. That was one of our favorite spots.

Following day, we passed by Chinatown(sketchy area with a world of drug addicts) and spent some time in Gastown. Another one of our favorite areas.

On our second to last night, we walked from our hotel in downtown to Stanley Park and proceeded to walk the entire perimeter of Stanley Park. We actually cut through the last part to go see the hollow tree. Also were able to pass through the party beach. That was quite the scene. Pretty awesome with live music.

Our last day, we took a free bus to Capilano Suspension Bridge, then walked from there the Cleveland Dam. The view of the snowy mountain was beautiful. Extremely glad we went to the dam. From the Dam we walked to Grouse Mountain. Didn't really discover Grouse Mountain, but looked pretty cool. Took the free shuttle back to Canada Place downtown.

Foodwise, Vancouver has great food. For breakfast, Jam Café on Beatty was delicious! There's a line out the door (waited about 45 min), but was well worth it. By Gastown, we went Meat and Bread. Holy cow was this place amazing. The Porchetta sandwich was to die for. We also had the meatball sandwich which was very tasty as well. Also by Gastown, we went to Steamworks Brewing Company. Had a great burger and my wife had a pizza which she enjoyed very much. Server was awesome and the IPA was great(award winner). For Chinese, we went to Chongqing in Robson Street. Super good Ginger beef and Mongolian Beef. We also went to the Japadog Food Truck. That was a real good dog. There really wasn't any food that we didn't like. And the beer was awesome, especially at Steamworks.

We took the Bolt Bus from Vancouver to Seattle. It was perfect. Went through customs no problem and super cheap. About $25 per person. Stayed at an AirBnB in Fremont Seattle, but should have stayed in Ballard. Better looking town (actual site of the wedding we went to). Downtown was cool, but didn't do much there. Did go to Pike's Market. Liked that vibe quite a bit. Love markets.

In Ballard, we went to a Mexican restaurant called Asadero. One word, AMAZING!!! Super authentic. I'm Mexican, so my wife and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Went to an amazing bakery in Capitol Hill called Bakery Nouveau. Wow, those twice baked Almond Crossaints. My buddy and his wife are coming to Chicago in November. I've already requested a box of them.

Our favorite day in Seattle was the day after the wedding. We didn't know what to do so we decided to go downtown again. When we got there, we pulled an audible(my bro, his gf, my wife and I) and decided to rent a car for a day trip to Snoqualmie Falls. Beautiful!! Took a hike down to the rocks and hung out there for a while. Putting our feet in the water was one of the best feelings ever with all that beautiful nature around us. Went to a No Boat Brewing company after for a nice cold IPA, then headed back to our AirBnB.

All in all it was a fantastic trip and were able to see everything we wanted. Even got a great view of Mt Rainier from our wedding crew boat cruise we took the day before the wedding.

Want to thank all of you once again for contributing to our trip with your recommendations. Looking to go to Quebec City Canada for Christmas, so I'll be posting shortly.

Cheers fellow Fodors!!!
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Old Oct 21st, 2017, 10:10 AM
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So glad to hear you enjoyed your trip! I agree with you about the food, we always eat well when we travel to PNW.

Looking forward to hearing about your Christmas in Quebec trip.
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Old Oct 25th, 2017, 01:27 PM
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That was an amazing trip indeed! Can't wait to hear about your Christmas trip!
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