Lordy

Hi again everyone,
Thanks for your great help and suggestions.
Rhea and Parrotmom have been very helpful thanks again.
Eschew, I did get muddled up with what we are doing re car hire.
We want to go on the ferry from Vancouver, hire car in Victoria and return car and then get ferry to Seattle.
Does this make more sense?
Will we need to book we arrive or can we do this when we get to Vancouver?
I was getting confused with what we did last time ( except for the Seattle part )
Thanks again
Donna

marg

Re the suggestion that you hire in Vancouver and return in Seattle, we (fellow Aussies) wanted to pick up a hire car in US and return in Vancouver but were told that we couldn't hire in one country and return in another. We ended up hiring in Las Vegas and left the car at Seattle airport. If you drive from Vancouver to Seattle, there is a small town called Mount Vernon just north of Seattle - lots of factory outlet malls and a great place to spend your last dollars before heading home.
Do prebook your accommodation for Tofino - it is an absolutely lovely place.

Eschew

Hi Donna, prebook is a must. Renatl cars will be in demand. You should still look at getting a car in Vancouver and returning it in Victoria and see what is the extra cost. The BC ferries is not too freidnly for foot passengers with lots of luggage.

I have totally forgotten that there is sea plane that you can hire to fly from Vancouver to Victoria. Almost downtown to downtown. (It is harbour to harbour) You may want to look into it as well. I think there are Harbour Air and West Coast Air, about $150 per person. The trip to to the Vancouver ferry terminal and the ferry crossing and the trip from the Victoria ferry terminal to Vitoria downtown will cost you almost as much. By the way, there is 2 different ferry routes between Vancouver and Victoria.

For flyng harbour to harbour via sea plane, you leave Vancouver by the Westin Bayshore and arrives to Victoria near the Empress Hotel. Car rental company right by the Empress. There is no security to go through like a normal airport.

I will try to answer any other questions you might have. I will be in Vancouver for 2 days in mid-May so I may get more recent and up to date information (fare and schedule etc) but then, you can pull them from the internet anyway.

Lordy

Thanks Eschew for your advice. I am not keen on a float plane.
Last time, we went to VancouverIsland ( Victoria ) we went on a bus which went on the ferry from Vancouver. We thought we would do a similar thing again. We would hire the car in Victoria and return it there too. If it is going to be too hard, or expensive, we could hire from Vancouver and then drive to Victoria. We have not had a look at car hire prices just yet but will get around to it soon. Can we go from Victoria to Seattle?
I am a teacher and we are very busy at the moment so have not had a chance to do much research.
Thanks again for yourhelp
Donna

Eschew

Taking the bus is an excellent option although I have never done it that way myself. The price should be reasonable. Good luck, Donna, and be nice to the kids ...