4 day itinerary for Vancouver Needed
 

Hi fellow travelers - we have 4 days to spend in BC - arriving into Vancouver on the 1st July. We will have a car - what is the most scenic route you would suggest for the best SCENIC driving. We will need to drive back to Seattle, so that needs to be factored. We know this is just an appetizer - but want to make the best of limited time. THANK YOU to anyone who can suggest some options.

I assume you don’t want to spend your whole four days in the car.

Regretfully, I think you may need to leave Vancouver Island out. Certainly, it would be a stretch to go to Tofino/Long Beach.

I would suggest one excursion out of Vancouver. Take the “Sea-to-Sky Highway” North from Vancouver to Whistler and overnight in Whistler. And on your eventual trip South from Vancouver to Seattle, take the scenic “Chuckanut Drive” just South of Bellingham.

However, if you’re ambitious, rather than return to Vancouver from Whistler, you could take the ferry from Horseshoe Bay (just North of Vancouver) to Nanaimo then drive South to Victoria via the short but scenic “Malahat Drive”. After a night in Victoria, you have three options. You could take a BC ferry back to Vancouver and drive South to Seattle. You could take a Washington State ferry to Anacortes then South to Seattle. Or you could take the M.V. Coho from Victoria to Port Angeles then drive down to Seattle. In any event, you should reserve all your ferries well in advance.

East along highway 1 to Hope, North through the Fraser Canyon overnight in Lilooet.

The continue West along Highway 99 over the mountains to Pemberton and South to Whistler then onto Vancouver.

You could take 2 days or 3 depending, it's a gorgeous trip with all kinds of different scenery.

http://drivebc.ca/

I agree with littlemountain's suggestion to:

"Take the “Sea-to-Sky Highway” North from Vancouver to Whistler and overnight in Whistler. And on your eventual trip South from Vancouver to Seattle, take the scenic “Chuckanut Drive” just South of Bellingham."

What are your plans when you are in Vancouver? Do you intend to stay for a few days??

I agree with Salmon and Camelbak...that drive is gorgeous, but I would mention that if you like driving enough to have a whole day in the car with a couple stops, and you get an early start on the day, you could drive the loop without a sleepover.

Another nice drive is the drive to Mount Baker from the Canadian border near Abbotsford. You drive in the forest for a while and then climb into alpine meadows. If you wanted a longish day, you could leave Vancouver, drive to Baker, and then on the way back, head towards Bellingham where you could pick up Chuckanut Drive. It's a little circuitous but it's pretty.

Finally, and not to deter you from visiting BC, but if you are starting and finishing in Seattle, you could drive a loop of the Olympic Peninsula and have spectacular scenery. You would see mountains, the Hoh Rain Forest, as well as very exposed parts of the coast (akin to Tofino) like at Kalaloch.

Like Camelbak, I assume that you've budgeted time for Vancouver?

Thank you so much to everyone who weighed into the discussion and for all the great advice.

July 1st is a holiday in Canada. There will be a lot of traffic heading into Vancouver for the Canada Day celebrations at Canada Place, plus it is the end of a long weekend for us, so expect the border line-ups to be long. Also, be carefull when you cross the border to get back to Seattle, you will have long lineups starting early in the morning through the evening as it is the weekend.
I'd personally do the Whistler route and stop at Shannon Falls and Brandywine Falls.