Wekiva

My wife and I are pulling together a quick anniversary trip and want to get away from Orlando. We are looking at flying into Vancouver and then flying out of Seattle. The issue is where to pick up the rental car. After we leave Vancouver we want to drive over to the coast of Washington and not simply take a train straight to Seattle.

I am sure there are a lot of cost and issues with renting in Canada and returning in the US (if it can even be done)...so I'm trying to avoid that. My thought was to take a train out of Vancouver, over the Canada/US border and then get off to rent a car. There seem to be quite a few rental car agencies in Bellingham that would work well for the next leg of our journey (down to Burlington and then west on Hwy 20).

So...what is the best (and/or least expensive) way to get over the boarder on a train. Is Amtrak the only option? I do see they have a 6:40am train from Vancouver to Bellingham that takes 2 hours. The next train is 5:45 pm. I'd prefer something a bit later in the morning if possible...I am on vacation after all!

Thanks

ltt

i'm a little confused by your post...it sounds like you goal is just to get to Washington state and rent a car. if that's the case, why are you flying into Vancouver? yes, Amtrak is one of the simpliest ways to get there from Vancouver. I don't know of any rental companies that allow you to pick up in one country and drop off in another.

ron

See http://quickcoach.com/schedule.htm for buses to Bellingham airport.

Wekiva

Our goal for the trip is a brief tour of Vancouver and Seattle. The car is needed so that during our drive between the two we can see some sights along the way.

The bus option might be just the thing. It looks like it would allow for a much more flexible schedule.

eliztravels2

We drove from Vancouver to somewhere south of Seattle a few years back. It was one of the most tedious, congested , unscenic drives I have ever done. Sadly we have very few passenger trains in Canada now, so if you don't fly, bus would be your best bet.

Wekiva

Eliz - that's why I want to get off the beaten path and out to the coast. The drive on 101 out to Forks Washington should be a lot less congested.

Southam

Some of the flights out of Vancouver use low-flying propeller aircraft which can, when the weather is pleasant, offer stunning views of the ocean straits on one side and mountains on the other.

tomfuller

I have crossed the border many times between Vancouver and Seattle. All of my crossings have been on the Amtrak operated buses. Amtrak currently runs 2 trains and 2 buses each day.
The bus trip quite often takes less time than the train.
Renting the car in the US either in Bellingham or Seattle returning where you rented it makes the most sense.
Bellingham does have an airport served by Allegiant airline among others. Allegiant has flights to/from Oakland, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Honolulu to Bellingham.

sludick

Wekiva, just wanted to mention, in the event you do decide to rent a car in Seattle -

The airport car rental has been moved offsite, so you will need to take the shuttle to/from. (It used to be so much more convenient...) The taxes seem to be high at that airport also. On the plus side, the Light Rail to downtown is running and I understand is easy and pretty quick. So for our upcoming trip, we are renting at one of the Budget downtown locations at quite a savings.

Wekiva

Thanks everyone for your input on this trip. We've decided to scale the trip back and possibly go to Quebec City instead. But we do intend to do the Vancouver/Seattle trip at some point so this is still useful. Thanks again.