My sis and I are planning a trip in spring, flying from Sacramento, CA to Seattle. We need to know how to physically get from the airport to a passenger ferry that will take us to Victoria. We have never been in these places before and the websites are VERY confusing when you don't know the relationships of places

After Victoria, we plan to head for Whistler... again, without a car, how would be take public transportation? Is there a train?

From Whistler, we will need to get back to Seattle to fly out.

ANY help you can give would be appreciated! I see so many ferry choices, but can't figure out how to get from the airport to one of them. Walking? Shuttle? Cab? Bus?

There are 3 ferry routes that you could take, leaving from:
- Port Angeles, WA (http://www.cohoferry.com/)
- Anacortes, WA (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/sche...?route=ana-sid)
- Tsawwassen, BC (http://www.bcferries.com/schedules/m...w-current.html)

You can take a bus from downtown Seattle to the first two. You could take a train to the last.

From Victoria, you have two options:
- Victoria to Tsawwassen
- Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay

The latter would get you in a better place to go to Whistler, but it is longish bus trip to Nanaimo first (http://www.bcferries.com/travel_plan...tions.html#bus).

If it were me, I'd take the Island Airporter Shuttle (http://www.islandairporter.com/) from SeaTac to Anacortes. Take the ferry through the San Juan Islands and on to Sidney. From there, it is a short bus ride into Victoria. From Victoria, take a bus to Nanaimo, then the ferry to Horseshoe Bay. There is a bus and/or shuttle from there to Whistler. Greyhound goes from Lions Bay (10 minutes from Horseshoe Bay by taxi) to Whistler. There used to be a train, but I don't think it runs anymore.

I assume you want to take the Clipper passenger ferry from Seattle to Victoria. But if you're going from the airport straight to Victoria, have you considered just flying? It seems like a lot of hassle to go from the airport to downtown Seattle just to take a long ferry ride which is not particularly scenic and is known to be a rough ride at times.

I agree with April--seems like flying would be an option to consider--I don't think it's all that much more expensive to take Horizon Air one way from Seatac than the Victoria Clipper, especially when you factor in the cost of a cab from Seatac to the Clipper pier downtown (about $35).

Getting from Victoria to Whistler won't be easy without a car--in addition to the other suggestions, you might consider taking the PCL bus between Victoria and Vancouver, and then looking into either a bus to Whistler (Perimeter is one company that offers bus service) or the train but that only goes once a day and only in summer (not sure when you're coming).

Then you'd have to get back to Vancouver from Whistler. There's bus or train service from Vancouver to Seattle (the train leaves Vancouver at 6 PM).

I'd consider renting a car rather than hassling with all that.

Thanks you all for this help! I guess I didn't realize Victoria had an airport, so I will definitely look into that! If we rent a car in Victoria, I am assuming we will take a car ferry to... Vancouver? And how long is the drive from Vancouver to Whistler? Maybe we could then leave the car in Vancouver and take the train to Whistler - I see there is the Whistler Mountaineer train <http://www.whistlermountaineer.com/p...fault.aspx> that looks like a nice way to go.

If you rent a car in Victoria and want to drive to Whistler you would drive to Nanaimo (approx 1 1/2hrs) and take the ferry to Horseshoe Bay. Then you are at the highway that takes you to Whistler so you don't have to go into the city. Sounds confusing I know. You could drive back to Vancouver, drop the car and take the shuttle to Seattle airport http://www.quickcoach.com/

Just another option for you.

Victoria's airport is about half an hour out of town. You can rent a car, take a taxi or the Akal bus from there. We've always found the Akal bus to be convenient. They stop off at most hotels.
http://www.victoriaairportshuttle.com/

I don't know that I would rent a car and take it across on the ferry when it's so easy just to take the bus from downtown Victoria to downtown Vancouver.

To complicate matters, you could also take a float plane from Victoria to Vancouver, harbour to harbour.

If your plan is to visit Vancouver, Whistler, and Victoria, why not fly into Vancouver? You could rent a car there and travel to Whistler and Victoria, then return the car to Vancouver and fly home. No changing planes, no finding shuttles, no chance of rough weather on the ferry ride from Seattle to Victoria.