Victoria - best time to travel and best way to get there from Seattle
 

So, I am limited in terms of time. I have a hotel voucher that needs to be used before March 1, 2012 (groupon deal) for 2 nights in Victoria. What is the best way to get to Victoria without spending too much money. I am not going to fly and we don't want to take the Clipper due to excessive motion sickness and other considerations. Port Angeles ferry? or Anacortes ferry to Sidney? Any advice? Thank you!

where are you coming from? are you planning to take your car?

coming from Seattle. car is not a must have.

I'm not sure what the most convenient route is, but we went from Port Angeles. I suffer from motion sickness, too and was assured it was generally an easy ferry. However, I worried about it anyway and took something. No problem. You do not need a car in Victoria for two days, in fact I think it would be a liability. You'll probably stay in or near the Inner Harbor and everything is accessible by foot or bus. Have a good time.

Second Port Angeles easy crossing my fav not expensive

We stayed in lots of Cute Little B&Bs there

Olympic NP is amazing there also where lots of

the Twilight movies are filmed if you are a fan.

Have also done car rental drive canadian ferries more hassle

Happy Planning..

Just a word of warning if you decide to take the Coho from Pt Angeles. The Coho is out of commission in February for maintenance for a week or two so if you are planning on traveling in February be sure to check ahead of time.

It is probably a mistake to say that "lots of the Twilight movies are filmed" in or anywhere near to Olympic National Park.

While indeed the setting is in Forks, WA for some of the scenarios, relatively little actual filming has taken place in Washington.

I thought Twilight was filmed in Canada or even Oregon.

If you are coming from Seattle, I would skip the Washington State ferries and drive up to Tsawwassen, just north of White Rock and the border, about 30 minutes north of Bellingham. Take the BC Ferries as a walk-on passenger and park your car at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. You can arrange a motorcoach ride from the ferry into downtown Victoria and back to Swartz Bay for the return ferry. The BC Ferries are new and modern compared to the Washington State ferries, faster trips, regular service schedule beyond twice per day.

Twilight was also filmed in Vancouver and its suburbs (Mission, Coquitlam, etc.) as well as Vancouver Island (Tofino area).

Thank you all for your replies. After much hand-wringing and research, I am realizing that the Clipper might be the most efficient way to go. In the alternative, we are still contemplating the Port Angeles ferry. The BC ferries seem very expensive and a motor coach is an additional leg of an already long trip. I appreciate your suggestion.

Do you think January or February will be too cold for Victoria? Is there enough to do for 3 days during winter months? Thanks!

I'd rather take a shorter route on the water at this time of the year so I would favour the Coho. Even it can be a rough ride at times but it's a reliable ferry service.
A visit to the Royal BC Museum can use up a good part of a day. In mid January until the end of March, Butchart Gardens opens its indoor 'Spring Prelude' garden so weather isn't an issue. They also have historical displays in the residence until mid March.

The last time I went to Victoria was in January, and to some surprise I was quite comfortable when walking from downtown up to Craigdarroch Castle just after dusk one night.

Though of course the weather could prove "too cold" on many or most visits during January or February.

It's too cold to go swimming or to walk around wearing summer dresses in January/February, but it's never too cold to go out and explore Victoria.

Take the Amtrak cascades train to Vancouver,takes 3.5 hours and a scenic route.may be a ferry to Victoria from there.

"Take the Amtrak cascades train to Vancouver" - but you've still got to get to Victoria. I was looking at doing that (in May) and with the bus add-on it takes all day. Even Amtrak suggests taking the ferry (2hrs 45 min) instead!

But now I'm confused. How many ferries between Seattle and Victoria are there? And do they dock in the Inner Harbor?

TinaNY is referring to staying on the mainland and driving to Vancouver. You can get a BC Ferry from there (there is a bus service that takes you right on the ferry to downtown inner harbour) http://www.pacificcoach.com/

The only ferry that takes you to the inner harbour from Seattle is the Clipper and you mentioned you didn't want to do that.

From Port Angeles the Coho does dock in the inner harbour
http://www.cohoferry.com/main/ But as I mentioned in an earlier post they do not operate Jan 23 - Feb 7 as they do their annual repairs.

traveller69 - thanks for the reply. I guess you didn't notice that I'm not the OP and will be traveling in May. Maybe I should start a new thread? Or do I deduce that if I don't have a car and I don't get seasick I should take the Clipper?

Thanks for your responses all. Traveller69, thank you for the dates that Coho is not operating. We are leaning towards taking the sydney ferry out of Anacortes for a variety of reasons. thursdaysd, I am sure May will be more enjoyable to travel to Victoria. There is snow on the ground right now in the Pacific Northwest.