Vancouver and Victoria Questions- how cute are they? Help!
 

Hi

A few questions for you fodorites. First My hubby and I go to Seattle in 2 weeks, for 3 nights. A friend said to spend 2 nights on Victoria and the rest seattle?, is this true and if so why?

Or we were thinking of going to Vancouver in July should we go to Victoria then? We will probably gp for 4 nights then. You see my hubby wanted to go somehwere a little cooler then our 100 west coast temps to cool off and we heard Canada was beautiful. Any suggestions would be great as we have not been there.

Last but not least has anyone heard of the Brentwood Lodge in Vic? Looked romantic and that sounds great to me.

Have never been to Seattle and look forward to the trip. Thanks for you time.

Vancouver isn't "cute" at all - its a big city. Parts of Victoria are quaint, I wouldn't say "cute". If you only have 4 nights in total, don't try and do all three cities. You need to decide which one you really want to see and just go there as four days does not give you enough time to travel to all three spots.

Ditto to what Cruiseryyc said.

I think Seattle deserves a minimum of 2 full days, and that's what you'll have if you spend 3 nights there in April.

I believe it takes 3 full days to do justice to Vancouver. Again, that's what you'll have if you spend 4 days there in July.

Many people do day trips to Victoria. It's true that it <b>can</b> be done, and you <b>can</b> see the highlights in a day. However, whether or not it <b>should</b> be done is another question. It really would be better to see Victoria over a couple of days.

The Destinations section of the Fodors website (near the top left hand corner of the screen) has excellent notes on all 3 cities.

Thank you. I also should clafiry myself. By no means would I even consider seeing all three cities at one trip that short. I just has friends that went to Seattle for 5 days and thought they shouldhave spent more time in Victoria.

Like I said we are considering going to Vancouver in July, and wondered what everyone thought of the city. Are there areas around Van that are just as fun as Van itself. How is the temp is July.

Thanks for your time.

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;Are there areas around Van that are just as fun as Van itself.&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

My answer would be yes, but it depends what your idea of fun is.

Vancouver itself is a cosmopolitan city with a relaxed west coast attitude, a huge variety of restaurants, etc. It has an enormous amount of space devoted to parks and wilderness areas within the city (or places that to all intents and purposes are within the city). Its position between the sea and mountains is lovely.

A couple of hours' drive away is the ski resort town of Whistler, which also is worth visiting in summer. You can treat Whistler as a day trip, or you can consider it as a destination in its own right.

You already know about Victoria on Vancouver Island.

There are some enchanting places on Vancouver Island, tiny towns from which you can go whale watching, etc. One of the most popular of them is Tofino, at the north end of Pacific Rim National Park, on the island's west coast. The old growth temperate rainforests are awesome, as are the beaches, the marine mammals, etc. But, if you go there at all, you really ought to go there for a minimum of 3 nights.

Check out Carmanah's (Robyn's) website about her home city:

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/1b080/dc80f/4/

Find Family Fun is another great website that has been created by a real life Vancouver family (and it's great for grown ups too):

http://www.findfamilyfun.com/

In their &quot;Walk Vancouver&quot; website, local residents David and Bill share walking itineraries and photos of Vancouver:

http://www.walkvancouver.com/

Average day time temperature is 70 deg F, but on occasion gets up into the high 80s F. Night time lows are in the high 50s F, but can dip as low as 40 deg F. Vancouver has rainy winters, but it gets an average of only 1.2&quot; of rain in July.

I love Vancouver. I would visit it in a heartbeat. Indeed I am planning to do so again quite soon.

Brentwood Bay Lodge is the newest of the three most elegant hotel/spas in the Victoria area. The other two are the Aerie Resort and Sooke Harbour House. None is actually in Victoria, though -- the driving time would range from around 15-20 minutes for Brentwood Bay to 30 or 40 minutes for the other two, depending on time of day. All qualify as exceptionally romantic, I can certainly attest, and all have first-class dining rooms.

Accommodation in downtown Victoria is quite a mixed bag. From your attracton to the Brentwood Bay Lodge I would gather your budget is not too severe. Many of the modern hotels in Victoria are rather bland. Some have water views, others don't, some (obviously) charge a premium for rooms with views.

The Fairmont Empress Hotel is a venerable old hotel with a perfectly centered waterfront location in the Inner Harbour. Be warned, though, the entry level rooms are cramped and plain. If you were to splurge for an Entree Gold Waterfront room, though, you would probably be quite content.

Of the modern hotels in the Inner Harbour area, my favorite medium-sized property is the Magnolia Hotel. It has no water views, however, although it is situated beautifully in the old part of town. In the larger hotel category, provided one has a water view, the new Marriott Inner Harbour is quite nice.

A 10-minute walk along the waterfront from the Inner Harbour is the Laurel Point Inn, one of several hotels lined along the water in an otherwise largely residential neighbourhood. Get a studio suite at this large but relaxed and airy place.

If you would prefer something in more of the Tudor vein, consider Prior House, A Haterleigh Heritage Inn or Abigail's Hotel. All are discussed and recommended in the Karen Brown guide and in many other &quot;most romantic&quot; type publications.

Little mountain, you didn't mention the Grand Pacific Hotel---any reason?
Just wondering.....coming there this summmer and I'm always second guessing my hotels-wanting just the right one.

Judy
Thanks for the Vancouver website! It is wonderful. I have bookmarked it and will be spending much time studying it as we will be in Vancouver for the first time in May for two days. Thanks again.

Lauralee -- no disrespect intended to the Grand Pacific Hotel -- as you will have noted elsewhere, it is very favourably viewed by a large number of former guests, and it is very well located. In response to the OP, though, I had my &quot;romantic&quot; thinking cap on, and the Grand Pacific wasn't the first property that sprung to mind in that context. No worries, though!

Laurelee, my personal issues about the Grand Pacific aside (hate the size of the addition), I don't think you'll be unhappy with your choice. The location is ideal. Walk out the front door, turn left and there's is a lovely harbourside path to walk along. To the right, the 'parliament' buildings are next door with the museum just past that, and downtown is just a block up Government Street. It isn't a long walk to the ocean and Beacon Hill Park either. So, I would put your worries aside on your hotel choice.

Thanks...I appreciate it!

Thank you the web sites are awesome. Just a question do Victoria by ferry is 3 hours to and 3 hours back and it is 4 hours to from Vancouver? AM I right or just to crazy from all fo my kids. We think we may just make it a day trip from Seattle. Any particular sites there besides the Space Needle we should see?
Thanks you are all so helpful and knowledgible.

It takes about one hour to drive from downtown Vancouver to the USA-Canada, and then another 2 hours to drive from the border to downtown Seattle. The wait at the border can be anywhere from 5 minutes to over an hour, depending on the day and time. (ie: It's busier on holidays and weekends, and practally always empty late night/early morning).

To get to Victoria from Vancouver, you'd have to drive 45 minutes south to Tsawwassen to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. Once on the ferry, the ferry ride itself takes an hour and a half. It lands in Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island, and then it's about a 30-40 minute drive into downtown Victoria.

So... basically, it's a 3 hour drive between Vancouver and Seattle, or a 3 hour ferry ride and drive between Vancouver and Victoria (minimum).

I don't know how long it takes to get between downtown Seattle and downtown Victoria.

I have not been to Vancouver, but I took a day trip over to Victoria on ferry from Seattle last fall. Was my first trip to both.

I loved Seattle (be sure to get to Bainbridge Island) and I saw enough of Victoria that I want to go back. Butchart Gardens is phenomenal. I thought I might do Vancouver (when I travel and run into people from Vancouver they are always so nice) and Victoria (more than a day trip).

I have my Seattle photos on Webshots. Includes some of Victoria.

http://community.webshots.com/user/cchottel1