DBW

We were thinking of going to Vancouver, Victoria, and Tofino from August 14th till the 22nd. Fly into Vancouver, arrival around 11am. Take ferry to Victoria and stay 2 nights. Rent a car and spend 3 nights in Tofino. Then drive back to Vancouver and spend three nights. Can it be done or should we rearrange the itinerary?

Thanks

NWWanderer

That's very do-able. You'll have a great time! Post again if you need suggestions for where to stay, etc.

DBW

Hi,

Please do provide suggestions for where to stay and eat. Do you prefer Tofino or Salt Spring Island?

Thanks

NWWanderer

Oh, Tofino, hands down! Salt Spring is a lovely island but there's no comparison.

My favorite place to stay in Tofino is the Middle Beach Lodge. Favorite restaurants (I understand my former favorite, Raincoast Cafe has closed): Sobo and the Pointe restaurant at the Wick.

live42day

check your drop off fee for the car if you are picking up in Victoria and dropping in vancouver so you dont have any surprises.

Yes NW Wanderer unfortunatley Raincoast has closed and they moved back to Vancouver so would love to know the name of the new resteraunt in Vancouver.

DBW you dont say if you are a couple or have kids with you. Other great places to stay on the same beach as Middle beach but may be a little less costly are Ocean Village Resort and Best Western Tin WIs. A fantastic hotel but more expensive is the Long Beach Lodge. If you are staying three nights in Tofino you may want to take some time to go into Ucluelet which is a half hour away. There is a trail called the Wild pacific trail which is wonderful. There is a brand new hotel on the trail called Black Rock and the lunch menu is very reasonable and great food with an amazing view. I would suggest lunch over dinner there.

here is a 20 minute video, you may want to just watch a portion of it, but it shows the trail and some of the sights you can expect to see in both Tofino and Ucluelet.
http://vimeo.com/4946485

DBW

Hi,

It would be me and my husband. We are in our late 20s early 30s and do not have any children. We are considering actually the Middle Beach Lodge. Just need to book flights first. I have a question about customs.

We need to take a connecting flight. Do we go through customs once our plane lands at our connection, or do we do it before we leave Canada? Is it hard to make a reservation this time of year?

How long is the trip from Vancouver to Victoria?

Thanks again

live42day

the drive from Vancouver downtown to the ferry to Victoria is around an 45 minutes to an hour, depending upon traffic. You have to be there 1/2 hour before. If you are taking the bus to the ferry they usually leave 1 1/2 hours before the ferry and then you drive right on and they will take you downtown Victoria. The ferry ride itself is around 1 1/2 hours and then the drive into Victoria is another half hour depending upon the time of day. so total, from Vancouver to Victoria is going to be 3 1/2 hours anyhow.
as for your connection, it depends upon where you are going to? and which airline? normally you go through customs when you leave Canada but your airline should be able to tell you.

traveller69

I would just like to add a couple of suggestions here. I would recommend taking the bus from the airport directly to downtown Victoria. If you are coming to Victoria and not spending any time in Vancouver it is much easier. You can rent a car in Victoria. Budget has an office right downtown in the inner harbour so is very convenient. You can then get the bus back to the airport and not have to worry about driving to and from the ferry etc. live42day mentions if you drive to the ferry you have to be there 1/2 hour ahead. At the time of year you are coming unless you have a reservation you never know how long the wait will be. So if you decide to rent a car be sure to make a reservation with BC Ferries - I think it is still $15 extra. But I really can't emphasise enough how much easier it would be for you to get the bus. Here is the website with schedules and fares.
www.pacificcoach.com. The only problem is timing of flight arrival and the bus schedule. Whatever you decide have a wonderful visit!!

live42day

good point traveller69. Yes I highly recommend a reservation which still is $15 extra. It was my understanding though that from the first email they were renting a car in Victoria, so not sure how they are getting to the ferry.
I think that there may be some holes in the information,
Maybe you can fill them in for us to help you better DBW

how much time are you spending in Vancouver first? and are you taking the bus to Victoria?

DBW

Hi All,

First and foremost, thanks for all the tips. This really helps. Second, we'll be departing from NJ to Vancouver with a stop over somewhere. I have to book the flight and depends on the availability with frequent flier miles. Will be taking Delta. Tentatively, the plan is to fly into Vancouver and head straight to Victoria. After two nights in Victoria, rent a car and spend 3 nights in Tofino. Then drive back to Vancouver, drop off the rental car and spend 3 nights. Finally fly home from Vancouver. Do you think I should change the itinerary at all? When we leave Vancouver to go back to the states, do we go through immigration and customs in Canada, when we stop at our connection in the States, or the end destination in New Jersey? Thanks again for all your help.

live42day

okay then I would see about flying straight to Victoria if you can connect. I have found that on air miles you may not even need any extra miles if they are a partner airline. You would most likely connect through Seattle to Victoria.If that is the case you can pick up your car at the Victoria airport or downtown a couple of days later .Or as an alternative as mentioned above by Traveller 69 take the bus from the Vancouver airport right to the ferry and then Victoria. No point in going downtown Vancouver to turn around and go back the same direction to the ferry.

live42day

as I mentioned in an earlier post, most likely you will go through customs when you leave Vancouver.

NWWanderer

There's usually a significant drop fee ($150 or so) if you pick up the car in, say, Victoria and drop it anywhere else. So picking the car up in Vancouver and dropping it back there may be less expensive, even if you take the car on the ferry and pay the reservation fee. It's worth doing the math.

traveller69

If you can I would follow live42days advice about flying directly into Victoria. You said you are flying on Delta and Horizon/Alaska is a partner. I know that I use exactly the same Alaska miles to fly to the States if I fly out of Victoria or Vancouver so check on that - would save you a lot of hassle and expense. As far as customs and immigration goes you would definitely clear that in Vancouver but if can fly out of Victoria you would do that when you land in the States at your first point of entry. The only change I would make to the itinerary is if you can't fly into Victoria try to get a flight that will give you enough time to clear customs/immigration in Vancouver and connect with the bus. You should allow an hour to do that depending on if you are checking baggage or have carry on. You can get through very quickly if it is just your plane but if you arrive when another large plane arrives it can be quite a wait. Ask away on any other questions we will be happy to answer anything.

DBW

Hi,

I was checking for available flights from Newark to Victoria and it appears to be an 11-13 hour flight with multiple stops. The earliest arrival is 3:10pm. Should we perhaps go to Vancouver first, Tofino, and finally Victoria. On the day of departure, maybe we should take the ferry back to Vancouver?

Thanks

live42day

that sounds like a good plan. Then you could rent the car in Van and drop off there at the end without the fee.
Rent the car in Vancouver, take the Horseshoe bay ferry to Nanaimo,( if you look on a map Nanaimo is mid island and Tofino is a 2 1/2 hour drive from here with stops) drive to Tofino, drive to Victoria, take the ferry back to Van from Victoria and fly home from Vancouver.

go to www.vancouverisland.com for some maps and info.

traveller69

I agree with live42day but would suggest a slightly different option regarding the ferry. The Tsawwassen terminal is a lot closer to the airport than driving all the way through town to Horseshoe Bay. You can get the mid island ferry there which will take you to Nanaimo (Duke Point) Here is the website for the schedule. http://www.bcferries.com/schedules/m...p-current.html
Keep asking - we are here!!

live42day

you are so smart!! great idea.

DBW

Good Morning,

Thanks for all the helpful advice. How many hours prior to departure do you need to be at the airport (Canadian side)? When we get the rental car, do we need to return it to the same place in Vancouver or could we drop it off at the airport without incurring a fee? We are thinking of using Enterprise.

Thanks

Diana

live42day

check with the car rental company but usually there is not a fee if it is in the same city.
I would be at the airport two hours ahead