Traveling from Seattle to Parksville BC.
Apr 25th, 2015, 02:56 AM
#1
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Traveling from Seattle to Parksville BC.
We will be taking our car from Seattle to Parksville in May. Would it be better to take a ferry from Seattle to Victoria and drive to Parksville from Victoria or drive from Seattle to Vancouver and take a ferry to Parksville from there?
Apr 25th, 2015, 06:00 AM
#3
There is no car ferry between Seattle and Victoria. Your choices:
Cross Puget Sound (ferry) to the Olympic Peninsula, ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria.
Drive north to Anacortes WA, take WA ferry through the San Juan Islands to Sidney BC, half an hour from Victoria.
Cross the border and take the BC ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay (also half an hour from downtown.)
Take the BC ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo/Departure Bay, very close to Parksville.
Drive through Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay and then BC ferry to Nanaimo.
The choice depends on what you want. The San Juan and Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay boats are the most scenic (weave through the islands) the Tsawwassen-Nanaimo boat probably the fastest overall, depending on the wait at the border (that boat is not very frequent either), and driving through Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay gives you the most traffic.
If time isn't crucial, I'd go with the Anacortes route as it offers the least hassle with regard to border formalities.
BTW is this in addition to the Oceanside trip?
Cross Puget Sound (ferry) to the Olympic Peninsula, ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria.
Drive north to Anacortes WA, take WA ferry through the San Juan Islands to Sidney BC, half an hour from Victoria.
Cross the border and take the BC ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay (also half an hour from downtown.)
Take the BC ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo/Departure Bay, very close to Parksville.
Drive through Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay and then BC ferry to Nanaimo.
The choice depends on what you want. The San Juan and Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay boats are the most scenic (weave through the islands) the Tsawwassen-Nanaimo boat probably the fastest overall, depending on the wait at the border (that boat is not very frequent either), and driving through Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay gives you the most traffic.
If time isn't crucial, I'd go with the Anacortes route as it offers the least hassle with regard to border formalities.
BTW is this in addition to the Oceanside trip?
Apr 25th, 2015, 08:59 AM
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I'd choose anything BUT driving through Vancouver, because that would be an unnecessary hassle, and traffic through downtown seems to move at a crawl.
I've done both Port Angeles and Tsawwassen. I preferred Port Angeles ferry terminal as the whole process seemed to go faster. And I feel like the drive was more interesting than I5/Canada 1, but that may have been my imagination
I've done both Port Angeles and Tsawwassen. I preferred Port Angeles ferry terminal as the whole process seemed to go faster. And I feel like the drive was more interesting than I5/Canada 1, but that may have been my imagination
Apr 25th, 2015, 10:34 AM
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Go via ferry from Anacortes to Sydney or Port Angeles to Victoria. I prefer the Anacortes ferry. Reserve you ferry space today.
If you haven't been to Victoria, plan to send some time there. It's a delightful city.
HTtY
If you haven't been to Victoria, plan to send some time there. It's a delightful city.
HTtY
