I am getting the opportunity to travel from Texas to Seattle and over to spend a week with family in Victoria. I do not know the area at all and would love any tips on the excursion! I know my daughter would love to see some whales so that is something I want to look into for sure. If anyone would like to comment on what we should definitely do or not do it would be very much appreciated! This would be sometime in July 2008. I am open to any travel arrangements from renting a car to drive to a town to take the ferry ... just really want the best experience for the money I guess. Thanks for any advice!

We went out on a jetboat ride in Victoria and saw quite a few killer whales. I don't recall the name of the company we went with though.

I think going between Seattle to Victoria on "The Victoria Clipper" is a great way to do it. (No guarantee of seeing whales though, you need to investigate further -or hopefully someone else here will chime in- as there are specific seasons and places only that it is likely to see whales, and I don't know that information.)

In Victoria take a float plane tour. We did this in the afternoon after visiting Butchart Gardens, and it was amazing to see the gardens from the air. The float plane ride was a highlight for us and well worth the money.

Or you can take a float plane from Seattle to Victoria - very fun -
Kenmare Air - check internet specials -place lands in the harbor in Victoria

This is all great info! Only problem with float plane is we won't have passports and can't get them in time so we have to travel by sea. But this is what I need, lots of different ideas and advice! Any bad experiences would help too, or cost awareness of anything. What about in Seattle, is there any must do things? I guess the needle would be one is there any advice on that .. coupons or becareful for scam type things? Thanks so much for your replies!!

Ok I think we will do the Clipper because it sounds the easiest and less of a hassle. Thanks!

Now, next "need help item"! What about a hotel close to the area where we get on The Clipper at (walking distance would be great!) and a hotel that would shuttle from the airport. Any ideas?

It wasn't entirely clear from your last post but I'm assuming you mean a hotel in Seattle as opposed to Victoria? The closest ones to the Clipper are the Edgewater and the Marriott Waterfront but both are on the expensive side. You could stay anywhere downtown and just be a short cab ride away. What's your budget and what type of hotel do you prefer?

I can't think of any downtown hotels that provide a free airport shuttle (if that's what you're asking)--you would either take a cab or there's an Airporter bus that costs about $11 per person and stops at a number of the hotels downtown.

Oh sorry, yes we will stay one night in Seattle. I don't mind paying up to about $140 a night or so. Course since I don't know that area I may be way low on prices too?? I guess my first question really would be is where is a good safe place that you would stay with your family and I saw that shuttle you are talking about that goes from the airport to several hotels. It sounds like a pretty good deal. I could rent a car but since we will only need it for about half a day I would rather not deal with it. Thanks!!

Hotel probably about a 3 star or better if possible.

The hotels in that price range are places like: Sixth Avenue Inn, 8th Avenue Inn, Days Inn, Best Western Loyal. They are pretty basic motels but clean and safe.

Any of the regular downtown Seattle hotels are priced around $200 up, unfortunately.

You can use the Greyline Airporter shuttle, as mentioned above. I am not aware of any downtown Seattle hotels that offer a free airport shuttle. But if you are 3 people together, than a taxi from the airport will be about the same cost (~$30).

p.s. I have never heard of any tourist scams you need to be aware of here in Seattle.

I'm not sure that in July you could get even the basic motels Suze mentioned for $140. But if you're not particular about which hotel you stay in, you might consider bidding on a downtown hotel on Priceline--I've heard of winning bids in that range for hotels like the Sheraton and Westin. But do your homework first if you're not an experienced Priceline user (look at sites like biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com).

And no, you don't need a car.

Yeah I was looking at hotwire, never done priceline but I will look into it and do some studying like you said. So basically if I am in that downtown area then I would be pretty safe right.

I just didn't want to get there and pay for taxi's if there was some type of shuttle systems that were decent/safe that we could use instead if it wouldn't be a horrible experience. I don't mind paying for the taxi's though. Just looking for the price-cuts and short-cuts if there are any but not at safety expense! Thanks!!

I do not think you need to worry so much about safety especially in SeaTac airport and downtown Seattle, and traveling by bus, shuttle, or taxi. I have never heard of any problems with tourist safety in these areas.

Suze (in Seattle)