Vancouver skytrain

We will be taking late sept cruise from Vancouver and have two kids who love trains. They are already watching videos and have mapped route from airport to cruiseport. We are arriving day before and will shuttle back to airport the morning of the cruise.

Question is what is most economical choice of fares. We will have two days in Vancouver after the cruise, and 2 adults and 2 kids (we have minimal luggage).

Any suggestions we don't mind public transport being fairly rural it is fun and educational to figure out routes. Thanks in advance.

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We will be taking late sept cruise from Vancouver and have two kids who love trains. They are already watching videos and have mapped route from airport to cruiseport. We are arriving day before and will shuttle back to airport the morning of the cruise.

 

Question is what is most economical choice of fares. We will have two days in Vancouver after the cruise, and 2 adults and 2 kids (we have minimal luggage).

 

Any suggestions we don't mind public transport being fairly rural it is fun and educational to figure out routes. Thanks in advance.

 

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Google the West Coast Railway Heritage Park

Question is what is most economical choice of fares....

Have you been to the TransLink website? Fare information is all there. You might consider a day pass and depending on the kids ages, they may be free or eligible for the "concession fare".

https://www.translink.ca/Fares-and-Passes/DayPass.aspx

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Other info needed to calculate the best fare choice is how many trips you plan to take on any given day (Day Passes generally only start saving after the 4th ride) and how many total trips among your 3 & a bit days in Vancouver (1 before cruise, embarkation morning, 2 days post-cruise if I'm parsing correctly).

If you plan enough trips in total then 'buying' a Compass Card would save money as each ride is discounted (e.g. within the same zone is $2.10 instead of $2.85 for an adult fare), plus this also avoids the hassle of exact change on buses and the different tickets for buses in case you were going to use them at all. There's an up-front $6 charge for a card, but you can return them for a refund - and the $6 also gives you a 'negative fare bank' allowing you to go below $0 balance on one trip, i.e. you never need to miss a trip because you forgot to reload it. So depending on your tolerance for the hassle of returning the card, or being able to strategically take it below $0 on your last ride, the actual cost for the Compass card itself can be minimal or even zero.

Your comment about shuttling back to airport on cruise day sounds like you plan on using an airport hotel - if so, this means you should plan on taking transit at least twice daily as the cost of a cab into town and back quickly destroys any saving on hotel rates! Personally I'd recommend the YWCA Hotel downtown - not just cheaper than any airport hotel, but with 2+2 people you're ideally placed to book 2 rooms with a shared bathroom between them (which cost even less than the regular en suite rooms). Even the most ardent train fan will get bored with SkyTrain on multiple rides, so being more conveniently located for touring on foot shouldn't upset them - and will save you at least an hour a day in travel time.

Edit - while I'm sure train loving kids (and adults!) would enjoy the railway heritage park, you need a rental car to get there. It's up past Squamish - beautiful drive up the Sea to Sky Highway if you did consider a rental, with waterfalls and scenic viewpoints a-plenty, plus the Britannia Mine museum has a little train that goes into the mine as well as gold-panning and other fun educational stuff.

Lots of good info here for our next time in Vancouver.

Allan

For train lovers....

• check out the Stanley Park miniature train
  
• go to the Sphagetti factory for lunch/dinner and get a table in the caboose. Perhaps the conductor will service you.
  
• on a weekday afternoon get on the West Coast express for a ride out to Coquitlam station, then ride the Evergreen and Expo Line to get back into the city.
  
• yes you can ride the Canada Line to the airport for the 25 minute ride. Get up front to be the engineer.... if you haven't heard, Skytrain is all automated.... for over 30 years.
  
• not sure if they are operating.... but Burnaby's confederation park has an affordable train ride.
  
  
• some of Vancouver's Hop On shuttles are operating on a streetcar exterior
  

If u do decide to get daypasses you can also ride the seabus across the harbour and back with the same pass. Nice way to see the Vancouver skyline.

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Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I appreciate the ideas our vacation has gone a e bit train centric which will keep the little ones enthralled. Thanks so much.

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