Vancouver and Victoria

[mjwcruising]

We will be on a Cruisetour in Alaska in June 2008. We will be arriving in Vancouver post cruise on Friday June 27th. DH and I were thinking of spending Friday and Sunday in Vancouver, and Saturday in Victoria.

I have done a bit of research and came up with a possible itinerary. Does this sound doable? I would welcome any suggestions about the following plans. Should it be changed in any way for better time allotments at the different places.

Friday: Arrive by Cruiseship and take a celebrity transfer to Sutton Place Hotel

(I'm not sure what time this will be!) Get a all day transit pass for $8. PP and go to Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain. Possibly have dinner at Grouse Mountain in Altitudes Bistro.

Saturday: have either Pacific Coach or Landsea pick up at our hotel and take us to Victoria via the Ferry and back. (We are interested in seeing Butchart Gardens)

Sunday: Get an all ay transit pass for $8. PP and go to Gas Town, Granville Island, and Stanley Park.

Monday: Celebrity Transfer to Airport.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Mary

[pingsplace]

Hi,

 

Day trips to Victoria is doable; however, it is a very long day trip.

 

Hopefully the Coach picks you up real early so that you can get a head start. i.e. pick up at 7:00 am and catch the 8 a.m. ferry. The ferry ride is spectular, assuming the weather is good. In my opinion, the view is much nicer.

 

Once you get downtown Victoria, you will need to take the bus to Butchart gardens.

 

Another option, is to join a local tour to Victoria. They depart almost daily and is relatively inexpensive. They will hit all the tourist spots. They leave 6:30 a.m. and arrive back 10 p.m. Asian tour companies are the cheapest, approx. $50 per person.

 

Regardless what options you choose, you will not be back until late evening.

[itsanita]

We will be in Vancouver post cruise and are renting a van in Vancouver upon our arrival at the pier. Our plan was to spend the entire day & night in Vancouver and the next morning drive to the ferry and over to Victoria. We would then spend the day in Victoria and catch the ferry to Seattle in the late afternoon. I would assume we would then have to go thru customs when we arrive via ferry in Seattle. Would we have any problem doing this? Driving around Victoria with all our luggage in our van? Are their safety issues?

[pingsplace]

We will be in Vancouver post cruise and are renting a van in Vancouver upon our arrival at the pier. Our plan was to spend the entire day & night in Vancouver and the next morning drive to the ferry and over to Victoria. We would then spend the day in Victoria and catch the ferry to Seattle in the late afternoon. I would assume we would then have to go thru customs when we arrive via ferry in Seattle. Would we have any problem doing this? Driving around Victoria with all our luggage in our van? Are their safety issues?

 

 

You luggage should be safe if you keep it covered and don't leave any kinds of signs/advertising that you've got stuff. I have never had a break in my experience; however, I don't want to give any quarantees.

 

Depending on what you want to see in Victoria, you would probably want to reserve a late evening ferry, i.e. 6 p.m. or later. It's high season, so everything is going to be busy.

[itsanita]

Depending on what you want to see in Victoria, you would probably want to reserve a late evening ferry, i.e. 6 p.m. or later. It's high season, so everything is going to be busy.

 

We will be there Sept 13th. I guess I assumed that it would be pretty quiet that time of the year.

 

And I understand that there is not a CAR ferry that goes from Victoria to Seattle. So I guess we need to take a couple ferry rides to get back to Seattle with our van? Any suggestions as to the best routes?