GiuliaPiraino

We are planning a trip to Vancouver and want to take a side trip at some point to see Victoria. In total we have 10 days. Is this enough time to enjoy most of the sites in Vancouver AND take a trip to Victoria? Thanks!

qwovadis

Was plenty of time for me.Stayed at the PanPacific in Vancouver and toured out ferry over to Victoria back into the US via Port Townsend had a wonderful time 9 days total. virtualtourist.com good info booking.com for lodgings.
Found it cheaper to fly into SEA cheapoair.com and carrentals.com did a round robin. Olympic NP of "Twilight" fame amazing also there.

Happy Trails!

Daniel_Williams

Yes! This would be quite a relaxed 10 days with those two only (which may be precisely what you want), but you'll even have time for Vancouver, Victoria and something else if you like. (ideas: Tofino, Seattle, Whistler) Have fun!

live42day

That would be a great pace.

GiuliaPiraino

I would love to add a 3rd place. My husband is kind of down on Seattle, is there not much to do there? What's the main draw to the city?

annetti

Seattle is a lovely city, lots of pretty water views, but I would take my time just enjoying Vancouver and Victoria at a relaxed pace as live42day above suggests. You will lose a good part of a day traveling to Seattle.

There's plenty to do in both cities. I spent far more time than you in Vancouver and Victoria, a total of 15 weeks doing 3 home exchanges and never got bored. If you scroll down on my name, you will find my trip reports on both cities and can get an idea of all the things one can do in these beautiful cities. Have a good trip.

GiuliaPiraino

Thank you annetti, I'm looking forward to reading your trip reports! It looks like we need to fly into Seattle, to save a little money on the tickets. The train is 4 hours to Vancouver and is supposed to be mostly scenic, can anyone confirm this? I was thinking maybe stay 2 days in Seattle then scoot out. That would give us 8 days to do Vancouver and Victoria. Or should we just skip Seattle all together?

annetti

No - don't skip Seattle if you are already going to be there. That would be a shame; imho, it's a wonderful city, though two days would not do it justice , certainly visit it.

GiuliaPiraino

Where is the best neighborhood to stay if we are going to rent an apartment? We will have an 18 month old with us, so we will take an apartment for a week in Vancouver and spend 3 days in Victoria. I think maybe we'll just pay the extra and fly straight into Vancouver. We'd like to be within easy access to the action, but I would love to have a water view. Stanley park looks interesting and might be great for my daughter, is this a good neighborhood?

annetti

The transit is great in Vancouver and it will be easy to get around, but I will let the Vancouverites direct you to neighborhoods. We stayed in the West End which was about 20 minutes away from downtown, probably too far for you with a sm child. I believe we bought a month bus pass, but I imagine there's a weekly pass, too or at least you can buy packs of 10 at a reduced price at markets and 7/11s.

Stanley Park is very pleasant and you are close to Granville Market, a great place for an inexpensive meal.

live42day

What time of year will you be here? That could make a differnece.

NorthwestMale

Hi,

I live in Seattle and in m-m-m-m-MOST cases I feel that people don't allocate their time ideally when wanting to include Victoria.

In your case, I think you DO have plenty enough time for both Vancouver and Victoria, and I have a vibe that to include 'Seattle' at all would cut too much into your time in Canada.

IF you have little or no interest in '((some of) the rest of) (huge) Vancouver ISLAND, then "3 days" is suitable for Victoria. If instead you want to drive to the north and see more of Vancouver Island, I would take 4 days there, mostly for the time-consuming trip between Victoria and the mainland.

I would seldom endorse taking precious time away from Vancouver to make a token appearance in Seattle, particularly when carting an 18-month-old all over the place.

You can get much more comfortable in Vancouver with the baby and not have the added aggravation of another long drive, and the international border too.

If it were merely two adults going to and fro in Vancouver, then 6-ish days there would be plenty, but with a baby the 6 days affords you a margin of error (or sickness).

If you run out of things to do in Vancouver, you could take a day trip to Whistler, BC...

Also, be sure to look into going up to Grouse Mountain (you drive a short way outside of central Vancouver, to the foot of a mountain, from which you take a Gondola car 3000 feet up the side of the mountain) (It can by 'wintery' at the top at times - so dress appropriately!) (also, it costs about $40 per adult to go up there!)

See Seattle another time...

BC_Robyn

The West End is actually downtown, although it's the western end of downtown right next to Stanley Park, the sea wall, the English Bay beach, grassy parks, leafy residential side streets, small mom & pop restaurants and grocery stores on the main streets. It would be an ideal location for an extended stay with a child, in my opinion. I honestly feel that there's no real need to be right in the heart of downtown with all the office towers and hotels - the West End's much more pleasant. Plus, the downtown core (this includes the West End, Coal Harbour, Gastown, Yaletown) is really tiny - you can walk east-west in 40 minutes and north-south in 20.

Another option is to find an apartment in Yaletown, which is i n the south-east of downtown along False Creek. Lots of modern condos in this area within walking distance to the False Creek seawall, water taxis to Granville Island, grocery stores, as well as transit hubs.

GiuliaPiraino

Thank you for all the information, this is so helpful. We will be going in mid may and we wont have a car, is this a problem??? I like the sound of the west end, sounds like an ideal location for us with a child in tow. Is the transit from Vancouver to Victoria possible without a car? I've heard a lot of mention of Whistler, is it mostly a ski town or is there more to see and do there? THanks again!

GiuliaPiraino

How does this one look for location?? http://www.vrbo.com/237029

immimi

,,,location looks great to me! You have every amenity close
by plus the beach and Stanley Park. Easy transportation links
if you want to go further afield.

annetti - IIRC, you were in good ol'Dunbar on Vancouver's
westside. And your trip reports should be required reading
by Guilia!

annetti

immimi - What a sweet thought! You're right about Dunbar. How the memory fades about street names and exact locations. I can picture the Dunbar Depot now. Thank you.

Guilia: We loved Vancouver -- I'm sure you will enjoy it, too.

GiuliaPiraino

I'm now wondering logistically what would be the best way to see Victoria. We will take the Pacific Coach from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria via ferry, it appears to be a 3 hour journey. We have 10 days and I want to spend 7 nights in an apartment in Vancouver. Just not sure how to fit Victoria in. Maybe we can go to Victoria on the 8th day, stay 3 nights and then come back to Vancouver and stay the last night in an airport hotel? Or should we skip Victoria all together and just spend a very leisurely 10 days in Vancouver? I'm just thinking we have an 18 month old with us, probably a tough journey to Victoria but I dont' want to miss out. Hmmmm.....

NorthwestMale

Fair questions (you added)

Care to share the reasons why the 'apartment' is necessary??

Will you be cooking/eating in, for example??


I saw the "$920 a week" quoted for the apartment example you cited.

In mid-may (WATCH OUT FOR THE CDN HOLIDAY WEEKEND of May 19-21, for higher rates) (might book something soon)

IF inclined to opt instead for a 4-star hotel room through Priceline.com you should expect to land a room for a base rate of perhaps $85 per night, making the total bill about $700 (including taxes and fees) for SEVEN nights.

Central Vancouver is relatively small, and mostly flat, so it is a particularly good spot for taking your chances on using Priceline to land a discounted room.

(of course this wouldn't work if indeed you are intent upon having kitchen facilities, or the like, in your 'apartment' setting)

Furthermore, given the flexibility afforded by a hotel room, you could opt for 6 nights in Vancouver and 3 in Victoria instead of being handcuffed by the "per-week" rates with the apartment you offered as an example.

Without a car, 6 nights in Vancouver could still be quite ideal... as you can find interesting parts in all directions and be inspired to walk quite a bit in a mostly-flat city.

Even the "Grouse Mountain" skyride I mentioned above can be accessed by city bus. (though I endorse being there at a time when you straddle sunset, to see both day and night views... and the last bus for town leaves early)

BY THE WAY, central Vancouver is among the safer "walking" cities I've ever seen. "Normal" people tend to be walking around all night long (not the SAME normal people - just various 'normal' people at all hours).

I still feel that 6-ish nights in Vancouver and 3 nights in Victoria would be comfortable... with or without a car. (MAYBE on one day in Victoria, you rent a car for a day and drive a bit north on the island???)

As for where to fly into... I'd compare the costs and additional aggravation involved when deciding between Seattle or Vancouver. The aggravation factor should win-out when you have a small child involved. (as might NOT crossing an international border)

FYI - quickcoach.com seems to have shuttle bus service between SeaTac airport (seattle) and central Vancouver for $86 round trip, per adult.

live42day

another option is to fly harbor to harbor. You can leave downtown Vancouver on a float plane and arrive into Victoria harbor. You child under 2 is free and the cost is around $150 each adult each way but saves you lots of time and the flight on a nice day is fantastic over all the smaller islands. It takes around 20 minutes each way.
It is done with Harbour Air, or on Helijet, a helicopter, for around the same price.
I dont know if you budget allows that however.