farnin

Looking for help dividing 11 days among Seattle, Vancouver and Vancouver Island.
Thinking about 4 nights in Seattle, 3 in Vancouver and 3 on Vancouver Island. Should we stay in Victoria and do day trips? Or stay in 3 different places on the Island?
Should we have a car on the Island? Rent it there, or ferry one over from Vancouver?
Finally, what's the best way to get to our stops: ferry? seaplane? bus?

NWWanderer

Vancouver Island is about 300 miles long so doing day trips from Victoria at the very south end of the island isn't feasible except for day trips in that immediate vicinity. But it's also not practical to change locations every night. It really depends on your interests. If you're more outdoorsy than city people, then I'd skip Victoria and spend all 3 nights in Tofino on the far west coast. But it's too long of a drive to make it worth going for less than 3 nights, IMO, plus there's tons to do there.

Have you read other posts on this forum about the destinations you're considering? That might be a good starting point if not. I know there was a good thread recently about choosing Vancouver vs. Tofino for example.

Paytons_Grandma

I am also interested in the other threads about Vancouver. We will be there for 3 or 4 days the end of August.

SCJoanie

Another option would be doing the circle tour - a car & ferry trip that takes you from Vancouver, up the Sunshine Coast (the scenery gets more and more stunning the further north you go), and then over the Vancouver Island from Powell River, and then down island to Victoria. I would plan at least 3-4 nights for the whole trip.

Powell River is actually a really cool place. Lots of amazing artists, and it's not hard to reach some pretty isolated natural areas. Lund is a stop worth going to as well - there are some great tours out of Lund (Terracentric is a good company to look up), and there are some really yummy cinnamon buns at Nancy's Bakery.

When going down island, you can head west to Tofino & area. Or you can just head down to Victoria, but do take the seaside scenic route - there are some very funky places along there (definitely stop in Cowichan for some great local food artisans). There is also a wine route along the highway, too.

(And sorry if this post is repeated - my browser is not working so I can't actually see all the posts so far!)

taggie

What types of things do you like to see and do? That's the thing that'll determine recommendations for your time on Vancouver Island. Butchart Gardens, the harbour, some shopping, afternoon tea, the Royal BC museum - these are all typical activities in Victoria. Tofino is wonderful if you are outdoorsy and like walks on the beach, surfing, etc.

NorthwestMale

Whenever somebody announces plans to come to the northwest and tries to juggle Seattle, Vancouver, and Victoria, I keep wondering whyyyyyyyy they put themselves to all of the extra trouble of setting sail for an island location that is 57 miles away (from Vancouver) and to which the round trip seems to add an eternity to travel time.

Generally, IF you're traveling from far away, Vancouver and Seattle should be plenty enough unless you just have your heart set on some specific point on Vancouver Island.

I've lived roughly 80 miles from Victoria all my life, and I've been there twice, most recently in 1986.

Vancouver is widely seen as "the most livable city in North America" (routinely the only N.A. city in the world's top ten in that category) so why not spend more time exploring Vancouver and its "convenient" surroundings (like, say, Whistler, home to venues for next winter's Olympic Games).

People from the northwest (Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Alberta, etc.) who might hope to be able to cover all of Seattle and Vancouver over time, are best suited to taking the extra time and effort to go to Vancouver Island/Victoria.

Just a thought.