Seattle - Vancouver - Vancouver Island Itinerary help
 

My partner and I will be taking our daughter to Seattle Univ. in mid-September and want to plan a trip to visit Vancouver and Vancouver Island. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the upcoming "empty nest" to focus on planning this much need vacation. We will have approx. 7 days after leaving Seattle. We like the outdoors, kayaking and hiking, also enjoy city life. I've heard great things about Tofino and gardens in Victoria. Please provide suggestions and recommendations for what to do, where to stay, where to eat, ferry, etc...Basically i'm asking for help with developing an itinerary. Thank you!!

Here are some ideas for you!

Tofino and Uclulet are wonderful spots to explore. Check out the Bat Star (I think!) cafe in Port Alberni, on your way to the West Coast. There is also that park with the old growth forest...the name escapes me at the moment, but it's right on the highway to the West Coast, so you really can't miss it.

Botannical Beach, which I believe is about 2 hrs North of Sooke, is fabulous if you like exploring intertidal zones. DO NOT step on any of the eelgrass. What looks solid is probably a giant hole filled with eelgrass and salt water. Great spot for little marine critters!

On the East Coast of the Island, check out Cowichan Bay for it's local food artisans. There is some pretty wonderful ice cream, cheese, wine, cider, you name it. Yum. There are also some caves out there...Horne Lake Caves, although they are further north than Cowichan.

If you get a chance to head over to the Sunshine Coast, it is worth the trip. Powell River has the oldest running movie theatre in Canada, and Lund has excellent cinnamon buns and great adventure tours - Nancy's for the buns and Terracentric Adventures for the tours. Lund is the gateway to Desolation Sound...a very cool place to kayak or boat.

The Lower Sunshine Coast has some wonderful artists if you are interested in that kind of thing. Also some good nature spots - check out the Skookumchuk Narrows or the Iris Griffiths Interpretation Centre.

Have a good one!

Seven days isn't much, a possible way to save time is to fly into Vancouver and out of Victoria.

You don't have time for the Sunshine Coast at all-Vancouver Island itself is 300 miles long and 50 wide and has countless opportunities to explore what you're after.

I'm off for a swim in English Bay now will try to post some links when I get back.

you could spend a couple of nights in Victoria and then drive north through Chemanius and end up in Parksville that evening. To drive straight through would be 2 hours, but I am suggesting to take the coastal road perhaps through Cowichan Bay. There are many places to stay in Parksville either on the beach downtown or near Rathtrevor National park. September is one of our nicest seasons for weather.
The next day you could head to Coombs, about 15 minutes from Parksville, and visit the Coombs Country Market where there are goats on the roof and great little shops. You can spend as little as 15 minutes here and still it would be worth it. Head towards Tofino from here, but first about another 20 minutes away from Coombs is MacMillan Park, Cathedral grove which was mentioned by SCJoanie. You can walk through old growth forest for 1/2 hour or more. From here Port Alberni is another 20 minutes and Bat Star is just on the other side of town and a cute little resteraunt again mentioned by SCJoanie. You could also visit Port Alberni and go down town to the waterfront called the Quay and have lunch there and watch the boats come in from fishing. It is at the foot of Argyle Street.
Tofino is a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive from here. Very sceanic but no towns, NO GAS STATIONS, and just trees and mountains and rivers. You may see bears too, I just saw one on the side of the road again a couple of days ago on this road. If you do see a bear, Please pull over. So many people just stop in the middle of the road waiting for an accident to happen. I would take my time on this road and pull over on some of the tourist stops.
Please make sure to have a reservation before you get to Tofino as there is limited accommodation. September is not too crowded but better safe than sorry. Once in Tofino there are many hikes, ocean beach walks, boat trips out to see wildlife and whales, hot springs cove. You can arrange kayak tours, sea plane tours, and boat tours too. Lots of great little shops for native art. A wonderful resteraunt downtown Tofino is 'Sobo'. A great place to stay is The Long Beach Lodge right on the ocean. If this is too much for your budget then either Ocean Village, Tin Wis (Best Western) or Middle Beach Lodge are also all on McKenzie Beach. You would want at minimum two nights here i would think. You can then take the ferry from Nanaimo back to Vancouver instead of driving all the way back to Victoria.
A good web site with maps and activities is
vancouverisland.com

Since you also mention city life....When I was a kid and we went up to Victoria, we thought the Empress Hotel was the most amazing thing in the world. We could never afford to stay there, so I have no personal experience with it. But maybe in this economy, it might be worth checking into.

BTW congrats on your daughter going to Seattle University. My friend's daughter just graduated from there.