wineauxs2italy

We are going to the upper west coast (San Francisco to Vancouver) June28th-July 16th. Is it best to fly to Frisco and drive to Seattle and then ferry to Vancouver? I've read of the possible long waits crossing the border. Since we are renting a car in US, is it best to ferry across and rent another car in Canada or keep the one from US? Any tips are welcome. We don't have any special itinerary.

sunbum1944

There is no ferry from Seattle to Vancouver- unless you mean Vancouver Island which is totally different.

happytrailstoyou

Yes, long waits are likely at the border and a bridge on I-5 north of Seattle failed yesterday creating another headache in driving between Seattle and Vancouver.

There is a ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, which is on Vancouver Island. There are ferries between Vancouver Island to Vancouver.

Another option is to drive to Seattle and take the train from Seattle to Vancouver.

Check with your car rental company to learn if they allow their cars to go into Canada. Some do not.

HTtY

tomfuller

What is it that you want to see in northern California other than I-5? Fly to Portland or Seattle and if you want to go to Vancouver (the city), either take the Amtrak train or bus.These cities are quite walkable and there is no need to drive a rental car in the cities.
If you do drive into Canada, you will have no long wait it get into Canada. The problem is the long wait to get back into the US at Blaine WA. You might do better going east from Vancouver and then crossing at a lesser used crossing.

Orcas

Do not take the bus or drive between Seattle and Vancouver. Traffic will be horrendous with the bridge out on I-5. If you take Amtrak, be sure it's the train and not a bus, as Amtrak also runs busses. There are few alternatives to I-5 and traffic will be a nightmare until they get this fixed.

easytraveler

What is it that you want to do and see? Have you been to any of these places before and you want to revisit them or are they totally new to you?

What is your budget?

Are you planning a one-way car rental?

It's really difficult to recommend an itinerary that's suitable for your interests without a few more details.

Katzgar

you will want to take Amtrak from seattle to vancouver. look at gmaps to see that seattle and Vancouver are on the same piece of dirt so no ferry involved.

wineauxs2italy

Thanks to those with positive replies. We have been to San Francisco. We were trying to decide where to start our trip and not have to back track. We have not been to Portland, Seattle, or the Vancouver area. We do want to drive the coast and spend time in Seattle and or Portland. We do however want to go to Vancouver area and drive to Whistler. I realize that is a lot, so I am asking for the best posssible information. Taking a train is an option. If we start in Frisco (San) that is, it will be oneway car rental. We will fly home from Seattle after visiting Vancouver. Our tickets are with Southwest. As far as my budget, we are not trying to keep it on the cheap side, but somewhere in the middle. We would like to stay on the upper coast for a few nights. We have 2 1/2 weeks. We do not have a specific itinerary. We are open. We will not be going on long hikes, however, we do want to do some short ones.

wineauxs2italy

p.s. The reason there are 2 sites is because i did not think this one went through. Sorry for double info.