Vancouver and Victoria
Mar 25th, 2007, 04:21 PM
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Vancouver and Victoria
Our group of six which includes our family of four (young adult children ages 18 and 20) and aunt and uncle are planning a week's trip to Vancouver, BC, Victoria, Friday Harbor and Seattle.
Below is our tentative itinerary, arriving in Seattle on July 3 and departing Seattle July 10. We will be flying in from Calif and Conn and renting a car there for the 6 of us.
:
Tues. July 3 Arrive Seattle noonish and drive to Vancouver, BC
Wed. July 4 Vancouver
Thurs. July 5 Spend day in Vancouver and catch a late afternoon/early evening ferry to Victoria Island
( ferries run about every hour til 10 pm)
Fri. July 6 Victoria Island
Sat July 7 Spend part of day in Victoria ; ferry to Friday Harbor, one of
the San Juan Islands, two ferries in the summmer - either noonish or early evening, i.e. 6:00 ish
Sun July 8 ferry to Seattle ( ferries run all day til 8 pm)
Mon July 9 Seattle
Tues July 10 depart Seattle
Is this itinerary too ambitious?
Half of us have been to these areas before so we are sharing some favorite parts of the area with the others. The only new place for hubby and me is Friday Harbor since the last time we stayed on Orcas.
Any ideas on hotel type lodging that tends to have larger rooms for our family of four.- we still stay in one room and are okay with that. Aunt and uncle will have their own room. We will not be selecting B & B's due to our larger party. I have been experiencing sticker shock as it seems that so many of the hotels are running $150 - 200 per night, definitely more costly than our last trip two years ago. I don't remember how much we paid at the Silver Cloud Lake Union two years ago but it wasn't $210 like the quote now. Any recommendations for any of our stops is much appreciated.
Below is our tentative itinerary, arriving in Seattle on July 3 and departing Seattle July 10. We will be flying in from Calif and Conn and renting a car there for the 6 of us.
:
Tues. July 3 Arrive Seattle noonish and drive to Vancouver, BC
Wed. July 4 Vancouver
Thurs. July 5 Spend day in Vancouver and catch a late afternoon/early evening ferry to Victoria Island
( ferries run about every hour til 10 pm)
Fri. July 6 Victoria Island
Sat July 7 Spend part of day in Victoria ; ferry to Friday Harbor, one of
the San Juan Islands, two ferries in the summmer - either noonish or early evening, i.e. 6:00 ish
Sun July 8 ferry to Seattle ( ferries run all day til 8 pm)
Mon July 9 Seattle
Tues July 10 depart Seattle
Is this itinerary too ambitious?
Half of us have been to these areas before so we are sharing some favorite parts of the area with the others. The only new place for hubby and me is Friday Harbor since the last time we stayed on Orcas.
Any ideas on hotel type lodging that tends to have larger rooms for our family of four.- we still stay in one room and are okay with that. Aunt and uncle will have their own room. We will not be selecting B & B's due to our larger party. I have been experiencing sticker shock as it seems that so many of the hotels are running $150 - 200 per night, definitely more costly than our last trip two years ago. I don't remember how much we paid at the Silver Cloud Lake Union two years ago but it wasn't $210 like the quote now. Any recommendations for any of our stops is much appreciated.
Mar 26th, 2007, 05:39 PM
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This seems very ambitious to me. It is definitely doable, but not very relaxing.
Just looking at travel times for a minute....drive Seattle-Vancouver will take 3-4 hours, maybe even longer if the line-up at the border is long. Even with ferry resvns, the trip to Victoria will take you 3 hours, and then going back to the San Juans you cross that border again so allow for extra time there.....
Also, I could be wrong about this but I don't think you can take a rental car over the US/Canada border. Have you checked that out?
If it were me, I would do either San Juan Island or Victoria. Friday Harbour is wonderful and you can take a shuttle to Roche Harbour.
Sorry, I can't help you with accommodation.
Good luck!
Just looking at travel times for a minute....drive Seattle-Vancouver will take 3-4 hours, maybe even longer if the line-up at the border is long. Even with ferry resvns, the trip to Victoria will take you 3 hours, and then going back to the San Juans you cross that border again so allow for extra time there.....
Also, I could be wrong about this but I don't think you can take a rental car over the US/Canada border. Have you checked that out?
If it were me, I would do either San Juan Island or Victoria. Friday Harbour is wonderful and you can take a shuttle to Roche Harbour.
Sorry, I can't help you with accommodation.
Good luck!
Apr 6th, 2007, 01:21 PM
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Kibby - First, no problem with rental cars taken into Canada. Just be sure you get a Canadian insurance coverage card from your insurance company. You might be asked for it at the border (though I've never been asked).
And I agree that you cut your trip too fine. By the time you get out of SEATAC in your rental, it'll be past 1
o and the drive to Vancouver will take upwards of 3 hours, depending on traffic since you'll be hitting rush hour on the Vancouver end of things.
On July 5 you'll find yourself harried in touring the city if you want to catch an afternoon ferry, particularly since you'll probably need to arrive an hour or so ahead of departure. Be sure to read the rules on the BC ferry site. The ferries are real busy in mid-summer, and it's possible to lose your advanced reservation if you don't arrive timely. BTW -you MUST get advanced ferry reservations going and coming or you'll end up in the long "first-come first-served" non reservation lines). The last time I took the Ferry over to Vancouver Island I had advanced online reservations and while waiting to board struck up a conversation with a lady without advanced reservations. She told me she and her kids had been waiting over 4 hours for a spot on a ferry, and still hadn't been given the go-ahead by the time I drove onbaord.
Perhaps you might consider whether you'd prefer to stay 3 days or so on Vancouver Island, or on one of the San Juan Islands. Doing both, while possible, will require you rush it. I've been there and done that myself, only to regret it. So, re-look at your itinerary and consider tweaking it a bit.
And I agree that you cut your trip too fine. By the time you get out of SEATAC in your rental, it'll be past 1
o and the drive to Vancouver will take upwards of 3 hours, depending on traffic since you'll be hitting rush hour on the Vancouver end of things. On July 5 you'll find yourself harried in touring the city if you want to catch an afternoon ferry, particularly since you'll probably need to arrive an hour or so ahead of departure. Be sure to read the rules on the BC ferry site. The ferries are real busy in mid-summer, and it's possible to lose your advanced reservation if you don't arrive timely. BTW -you MUST get advanced ferry reservations going and coming or you'll end up in the long "first-come first-served" non reservation lines). The last time I took the Ferry over to Vancouver Island I had advanced online reservations and while waiting to board struck up a conversation with a lady without advanced reservations. She told me she and her kids had been waiting over 4 hours for a spot on a ferry, and still hadn't been given the go-ahead by the time I drove onbaord.
Perhaps you might consider whether you'd prefer to stay 3 days or so on Vancouver Island, or on one of the San Juan Islands. Doing both, while possible, will require you rush it. I've been there and done that myself, only to regret it. So, re-look at your itinerary and consider tweaking it a bit.
Apr 19th, 2007, 04:54 PM
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thats a lot of road/ferry time..you should book ahead for the ferry to vancouver island. i think i would try to downsize the travel itenerary and enjoy more of the local stuff..depending on what you like to do..on vancouver island..tofino/uculet is wonderful..as is victoria..a small jump over to salt spring island on the saturday..could be a nice alternative to the san juans..you can leave from victoria..its a half hour ferry ride..then a 20 minute drive to ganges..where they have a wonderful market every saturday morning..to about 2pm..enjoy your trip..
Apr 20th, 2007, 07:59 AM
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Wow, this is ambitious, if you want a bit more relaxation i would drop one of the sn juan islands, but i guess you can play that as you go along, see how everyone is doing. for tips on accomodations visit
http://www.travel--guide.org/Vancouver
http://www.travel--guide.org/Vancouver
