DRIVING from SEA to Victoria
 

We are headed up to Victoria from Seattle for a wedding next month. We'll need our car (wedding is not in Victoria, but Malahat).

I know the clipper provides service, but not for vehicles. What are my options for getting there with a car?

The ferry through Port Angeles, or the ferry out of Vancouver, BC.

You can google for more information on either of these.

You can take a ferry from Port Angeles or from Vancouver: www.cohoferry.com, www.bcferries.com

Or there's also a WA state ferry from Anacortes to Sidney via the San Juan Islands.

Going through Vancouver would be quite time-consuming. Going from Port Angeles would be the fastest.

Three functional ferry routes.

1. WA ferry to Bainbridge, drive to Port Angeles, Coho ferry to Victoria Inner Harbour. Around 5 hours total if everything goes like clockwork.

2. Drive to Anacortes, WA ferry to Sidney BC via San Juans. 6 hours if everything goes like clockwork and if you've booked space on the ferry. Requires very early AM departure from Seattle. If you miss the boat by far the worst option for "recovery."

3. Drive across the border (not into Vancouver) and take Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay ferry (BC ferries.) Most frequent sailings, about the same elapsed time as via Port Angeles. Possible delays at the border, but if delayed less disruptive due to frequency of sailings.

Meant to add - easiest and fastest of all is fly to Victoria or take the Clipper, and rent a car while you're there.

There are 2 ferries a day from Anacortes to Sidney through September 26--one at 8:15 AM, the other at 2 PM. So if you catch the later ferry that would not require leaving Seattle early.

Agree with Gardyloo that flying or taking the Clipper and renting a car there would be the easiest.

Thanks for the quick input.

Clipper or Kenmore Air sounds great in theory, but not practice for us. We're traveling with an infant and all the accoutrements associated with him. So trunk space is necessary (vs. baggage size limits).

I think crossing the border via car and BC ferry across may be the way for us. Frequent sailings = good.

Thanks so much!

We live just east of Seattle & we've never taken the Vancouver ferry to Victoria. The thought of waiting in line to cross the border, then waiting in line for the ferry, well......to be honest, the thought gives me a headache <G> Since we're in Snohomish Co. we've always taken the Anacortes ferry to Sydney. That ferry take reservations so there's no worries about missing it & having to wait longer. If we lived on the penninsula the Port Angeles ferry would make sense.

Just my 2 cents,
Serendipity42