Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - VANCOUVER/ SEATTLE ROAD TRIP

My son and his girlfriend are currently travelling the world, and we are going to meet them in Vancouver later this month. We (Me, wife and my other son) fly into Vancouver on 18 March and have 4 nights in downtown Vancouver, before meeting them at Vancouver Airport on the morning of 22 March and collecting a hire car. We then have until Saturday 1 April with them until we are due to fly home to the UK. I have looked at driving into the Rockies including Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Whistler etc, but have realised that this will involve a considerable amount of driving, unless we were flying home from Calgary, and will leave us with very little time in each location. Also it is probably not the best time of the year to do this trip?

Consequently, I have pretty much decided to abandon the Rockies, apart from a short trip to Whistler, and leave them for another trip in the future. This leaves the question of how best to use the time that we have available, which is 22 March until 1 April, starting and finishing at Vancouver Intl Airport.

It appears that there is plenty to see and do, including Whistler, Vancouver Island, Victoria, Seattle, Olympic NP, Mount Rainier NP, etc. I am just seeking inspiration as to what would be a suitable route and where is worth visiting/spending time at?

There will therefore be 5 of us, and as it is likely that I will be picking up the tab, I would like to keep to a sensible budget!