My husband and I are planning a vacation to BC and we're struggling with how best to spend our time. While I'm eager to visit the cities, I really want to spend lots of time on Vancouver Island and in the mountains. So far, we're thinking the following:

Victoria - 3 nights
Port Alberni - 2 nights
Tofino - 4 nights
Victoria - 1 night
Vancouver - 4 nights
Whistler - 2 nights
Lilloet - 1 night
Hope - 1 night
Vancouver - 1 night

I'm not so sure we're getting the best bang for our buck and focusing on the right places. Should we head to the Okanagan? Should we go further into the Rockies? I'm a little weary about spending every day driving, and want to make sure we still get time to relax. Any suggestions would be most welcome!

I think the "best bang for your buck" is doing the things that YOU want to do. Probably the most common comment here on the forums for any destination is to caution travellers against trying to cram too much in to the time available. No matter what you decide you will have to pass up far more than you can fit in. There's always next time!

It's many years since I have been to most of the destinations on your itinerary, but it does look like a good plan to me. I will forewarn you that Whistler, IMHO, has a very commercial feel to it, but it is grand to be able to take the lift up the mountains and enjoy the cooler air and hiking.

Port Alberni is a rather unprepossessing place-certainly there's lots of nature on offer in the area around town but that applies to all of the Island-is there something in particular you wanted to see?

I've actually spent two nights there on fishing trips and felt it was one night too many.

Four nights total in Victoria makes no sense-one is plenty- the city is compact/walkable and you won't miss much by moving on.

Whistler as mentioned is somewhat underwhelming one night is plenty and if you do decide to head east into the mountains skip it altogether.

Have a close look @ northern Vancouver Island-that's where nature reigns supreme all kinds of wildlife both on land and in the water.

http://www.tourismni.com/

http://www.umista.ca/

http://www.stubbs-island.com/

http://www.telegraphcoveresort.com/

Note that I haven't addressed the whole issue of the Rockies-it's a long drive even to the starting point and a lot to see.

I grew up in Port Alberni and still spend a lot of time there, but also wondering why you want to go there for two nights. There are a million things to do there, if you know what you want to do and where to go. Let me know what made you choose it and I can help you with that.
Hiking? Fishing? The mcMillan museum? Not sure...

I don't know why you would drive back to Victoria from Tofino. You can catch the ferry from Nanamio to Vancouver and cut off a number of hours from your trip.

Which month are you travelling?

Thanks so much for your feedback! I figured Port Alberni was a good midpoint to check out MacMillan Provincial Park and some time at Qualicum Beach/Parksville. Plus they have a cheap hostel that would make it affordable.

On the question regarding the drive back to Victoria, it was really just because picking up a vehicle and dropping it off in another city is a lot more expensive. I hear you though, I really would love to eliminate it, but I'm having trouble shaking that part.

So what I'm hearing is, drop a night off of Victoria, stay in Qualicum/Parksville instead of Port Alberni, and then maybe head up to the northern part of the island before heading back south?

Which parts of the northern island would you recommend? My husband and I love to hike and kayak in particular.

Thank you very much in advance for all of your insight! It is greatly appreciated

Oh and we'll be going in July-August 2012 for three weeks.

Just want to support the OP in HER decision to go to Vancouver ISLAND for plenty enough TIME to justify the trip there and back.

I'm the king of dissuading those of the mind to go to the island for one or two days total, (usually at the expense of more time in Vancouver)... but somebody who has lots of ideas for the island, AND who 'knows' what she wants that way, should indeed indulge herself fully.

And even I know enough to spend more than 'one' night in Victoria.


(ponders a bit) I wonder if one needs two nights in Whistler, in August. It might be the one you can see comfortably in a day... sans skiing and the like.

I spent a night in Hope once... and it was adorable... while the path due north on #1 from Hope is certainly nice.

(sigh) Y'know, I don't know where you're from, but with a reasonable-ish 500 MILES from Whistler to Banff, you could trade some of those nights in Whistler, Lillooet, and Hope, for something more traditional.

Your place of origin is somewhat significant in making it clear whether mountains are second nature to you, or whether this is a MAJOR and distant trip, with questions about whether you'll ever get back to this area of the continent again.

You could even leave Vancouver... drive to see Whistler (for an afternoon)... then continue on that evening, before reaching Banff and surrounds the next day.

BC is 1 1/3 the size of Texas and there is a lot of it out/up there which can be enjoyed from a vehicle. The Canadian Rockies ARE worth the determined effort to reach them for even a couple of nights.

At any rate, you even have a night or two not included on your original list. With that, it isn't out of the question that you could make a circular trip via Kamloops-Banff-Jasper-Kamloops and back to the Vancouver area.

I suspect your Vancouver ISLAND segment will be leisurely enough so that you could handle the significant distances given sufficient nights to complete the journey.

Just ideas...

Sorry but I disagree with Vic The island has many wonderful sites. Two days in Victoria is the minimum IMO.

You can overnight in Qualicum or Parksville if you like. There are many more hotels in Parksville than Qualium and lots on the beach.
BeachClub in Parksville is especially nice and on the waterfront. Alot of the hotels/resorts on Rathtreavor beach are actually in the trees and you dont get an ocean view.
If you are on a budget there are many nice motels on the beach as well in Parksville town.

From Parksville you could drive to Tofino and stop at Coombs Market for abit, then if you like to hike you can stop at LIttle Qualicum Falls, an hour should do it
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/exp...ualicum_falls/
Then McMillian Park, (Cathedral Grove)
Stop in Port Alberni for lunch.
Tofino is around an hour and 1/2 from Port Alberni.

Make sure you book your hotels as this time of year is very busy, especially Tofino. You cant just show up in the summer and get a room

While there take a day trip to Ucluelet to walk on the Wild Pacific Trail and maybe visit the little Aquarium there which is wonderful.

Just another thing for you. You were looking at the Hostel in Port so asuming that you are on a budget.
There is the Parksville Beach Resort, which is very tired, however it has a great location right beside the Beach Club and you can get a room for $135 a night.

http://www.parksvillebeachmotel.com/rooms/philpott.htm
The VIP motel is not on the beach but a cute little place close to Rathtreavor for $110 a night.
http://www.vipmotel.com/rooms-rates

Let me know if you want help with budget accomodation in Tofino, although it is not easy to do there are a couple.

Another great place to hike and see the mountains is Mt. Washington.
http://www.mountwashington.ca/things...d-camping.html
Lots of hiking and you can take the chair lift to the top for an amazing view and then hike down.

It is 40 minutes from Parksville, on a different road from the one to Tofino. Tofino is on the West Coast and Mt. Washington (closest town is Courtenay) is on the East Coast.

Thank you for all of your helpful points! My husband and I are from Toronto, so no, we definitely DO NOT get to see many mountains around these parts. And unfortunately we are on a pretty tight budget, hence the need to find great deals along the way. I've now successfully booked our island portion of the trip (thank goodness), and am now focused on the mainland portion of the trip (2 full weeks left to plan).

I love the idea of heading up to the Rockies, but I was a bit weary about the drive. I think once on the mainland we may try going from Vancouver (stay 3 nights?) then up to Pemberton, Lillooet, Kamloops, Kelowna and Pentiction over 7 nights. Any suggestions on which towns to focus on in those areas? And yes, we love wine tours as well as outdoor activities.

Thanks again!

Thanks for the added clarity as to where you're from.

With regard to budget, you might utilize Priceline.com for your Vancouver hotel room, and perhaps you could finesse your way into needing just TWO separate weeks of car rentals. Leaving yourself either on foot or public transport for some/most of your "Vancouver" stay.

(the trip from Vancouver airport to downtown is quite easy via Skytrain, as is the bus from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria, which takes about 4 hours)

Clarity: Were you to rent a car for a blanket "3 week" window, you'd run the risk of incurring sometimes-staggering overnight PARKING charges, OR, trading those for having to stay in an outlying area, and then driving IN when sightseeing, only to have to pay for parking then.

IF by chance you'd consider first flying into Vanc., and then taking ground transport to Victoria, and putting off your car rental until then... then booking a car for a week on the island, then returning that car back in Victoria, before taking (a bus, most likely) back to Vancouver... (and then arranging another rental there)... you'd cut costs.

Perhaps you already have that planned - I can't tell.

At any rate, downtown Vancouver is pretty good for Priceline.com... in that it is fairly compact, and you're never 'too far away' from anywhere. You're far better off going at (Priceline for downtown Vanc.) withOUT needing to fear the staggering costs of (mandatory-ish) valet parking.

If you get stuck for just ONE of those nights, with a rental car, you can play the feed-the-meter game on a nearby street, but that gets old in a hurry.

If you strategize, you just may cut enough corners to happily afford a 4-star hotel in downtown Vancouver (via Priceline).

Just in case:

Vancouver to Banff: 846 KM

Banff to Jasper: 290 KM

Jasper to Vancouver: 795 KM

I'm sure it will all come together with regard to how you want to spend your time on the mainland.

Hope you can cut cost corners without cutting into your vacation enjoyment.

Just a thought, but since you guys are on a tight budget you might want to check out Squamish instead of Whistler. It's 30 minutes outside of Vancouver and you could hike the chief if you wanted some outdoorsy type of adventure. Or spend the day exploring whistler and stay a night in Squamish for half the cost of what you'd find in Whistler. It's a nice stop between Vancouver and Whistler, but it's small. It's a nice option to have. We loved all the outdoor options that Squamish had to offer and really enjoyed checking out the hikes. There will be lots of beautiful mountain views for you to enjoy!