Vancouver/Victoria - or both?
 

Hello - I have four nights to spend in Vancouver/Victoria before we start our trip into the Rockies (this July).
My travel agent is recommending 4 nights in the Rosedale on Robson. Does anybody know this hotel? It gets good reviews but I'm not sure if the location is ok? Another hotel we looked at is the Renaissance Harbourside. Any views?
Also - I wondered if we should do 2 nights in Victoria but the travel agent said to stay on mainland Vancouver and go over to see Victoria on day trips. I've seen on this forum that it takes 4 hours to get to Victoria from Vancouver so that has me worried! Unless we took a ferry over and seaplane back?
Any opinions on whether we should do 2 nights in each?
Many thanks in advance.

I've never been to the Rosedale, but it looks like it is in a good location for getting around Vancouver easily. Nice an central.

The ferry ride to Victoria is about an hour and 35 minutes. It's the drive and waiting time that makes it a bit longer.

Personally, I believe gone are the days of taking day-trips to Victoria. You would spend most of your day in travel time, AND you really need more time to see it properly and enjoy your stay. I would recommend at least one over-night.

Thank you for your advice. We think we'll do 3 nights in Vancouver and 1 in Victoria as suggested.

3 and 1 sounds good. the ferry ride over to victoria is really beautiful so you'll enjoy the trip.

I will add my vote to the 3 + 1 solution.

Thanks - oh and Judy, I love your website! I've added it to my Favourites for when I start my serious research about the Rockies!

I tried to call up Judy's website-- copied it exactly (and checked several times). Safari keeps telling me it can't find it. ??

Thank you, rosieh.

Sorry you're having problems accessing the site, poss. Here's the URL again. Perhaps if you copy and paste it into your navigation bar it'll work. I hope so.

http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...kiesTravelTips

I copied and pasted from one of Judy's posts and the link worked fine...

Another interesting option would be to take the ferry one way to Victoria and to fly back on one of the floatplanes (Harbour Air or West Coast Air). The cost to fly one way is around $100-$120 Canadian and you can have a bird's eye view of the ferries and the route you took to Victoria. The flight takes about 35 minutes and is well worth the price.

The Rosedale is a nice hotel - every room is a small suite with a kitchen area. It is a bit of a walk to the main downtown (10 minutes or so) but there are some nice restaurants nearby as well.

You could also take a floatplane over to Victoria for the day. You will miss the beautiful scenery while taking the ferry, but the ferry terminal isn't close to the city so you will need to either take a bus or catch a taxi.

Also thinking about a floatplane--taking off from Lake Union in Seattle and landing in Victoria Inner Harbor.
Does anyone know how close that landing is to the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel-across the street from the Renaissance?

Whoops-I didn't mean Marriott Pinnacle(that's in Vancouver-getting confused) I mean Hotel Pacific.

rosieh. The Rosedale on Robson is a good hotel. Good Value for the money, right on Robson a great shopping area, albeit pricey, and even better people watching. I would recommend taking the ferry if the weather is nice because the scenery is spectacular. You can take a bus from downtown Vancouver onto the ferry and then to downtown Victoria. Or one way bus One way floatplane. The float plane lands right in the center harbour of victoria in front of the empress and the grand pacific {for laurelee's info} the plane back to Vancouver lands in the inner harbour and docks by the Bayshore hotel.

Hi...any reviews on Ramada or Listel located on Robson. Are both equally favorably located for getting around?

Also, when going from Seattle to Victoria, which port do you leave?

When going from Victoria to Vancouver, which port do you arrive?

Is this a workable plan...one night at the Ramada(downtown),
Victoria via Clipper for 1 night, Traveller's Inn or Chateau Victoria, Pacific Coast bus to Vancouver for two nights at Listel or Ramada?