Victoria, Vancouver BC, Seattle

You don't need a car for Vancouver or Victoria, unless you plan on driving around Vancouver Island while staying in Victoria. I've never taken the ferry between Victoria and Seattle so I can't comment if it would be a hassle to carry luggage on. I doubt though that you can rent a car in Seattle and drop it off in Vancouver or Victoria. Luggage will be a bit of a hassle no matter what you choose, but hopefully you can pack light. That's probably less of a hassle than going to Seattle first and having to return to retrieve your luggage.

Keep in mind as well that if travel is back to normal, there could be long lines at the border when you try to cross with a car. We waited about 2 hours once in July a few years ago to get through the border crossing.

No tour company required!
Take the Victoria Clipper from downtown Seattle to Victoria’s Inner Harbor.
https://www.clippervacations.com/seattle-victoria-ferry/

Walk across the street to the Hotel Grand Pacific
https://www.hotelgrandpacific.com/

They can help you sign up for an excursion to Butchart Gardens and downtown Victoria is very walkable.

Next take the bus to Vancouver. This will involve the bus going across on the BC ferry. For a scenic flight, fly to Vancouver and take the sky train downtown. Once again many day trip, excursion options available. Hotels near the cruise port will be expensive and busy this time of year so consider staying a little further out but along the light rail line.

If the train is running again by June, it is a scenic trip back to Seattle. If not there is a bus alternative.

Fly into Victoria then fly or take a direct ferry to Vancouver and a bus to Seattle that requires a transfer in Richmond BC (3h 45m).

You could do a nice loop from Seattle by taking the Victoria Clipper to Victoria, then the BC ferry from Vancouver Island to the mainland near Vancouver, then Amtrak service from Vancouver back to Seattle. Currently this is scheduled to be a bus rather than train, but that could change by June.

The drawback with this plan is that you will be carrying your luggage a lot. The BC ferry does not run from Victoria to Vancouver; it runs from Schwartz Bay north of Victoria to Tsawwassen south of Vancouver. See the routes on this map:

https://www.bcferries.com/web_image/h81/hcb/8805916246046.pdf

So you would need to use a bus or taxi to get to and from the ferry docks into the cities.

An alternative that would be easier with luggage, and which we have done, is to take a car on a slightly different loop. Drive Seattle to Vancouver, then BC ferry from Tsawwasswn to Schwartz Bay for Victoria, then take the Black Ball ferry “Coho” from downtown Victoria to Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula. Spend a 2 nights in Port Angeles at the Olympic Lodge or Lake Crescent Lodge to see Hurricane Ridge, the alpine area, and more if you like. Or spend one night in Port Angeles and one in the charming Victorian town of Port Townsend on your way back to Seattle. Nice accommodations, shops, and restaurants in this little town. You can do a whale-watching tour from Port Townsend with Puget Sound Express.

https://www.cohoferry.com/schedule-fares

You should make reservations for both ferries to take a vehicle.

If you want to “mix and match” the transport options, Avis in Seattle will rent you a car to drive one-way to Vancouver. But Amtrak might be less expensive ( if you buy tix early) and more relaxing.

Flying into Victoria from the East Coast would most likely require a change of planes, either in Vancouvernor Seattle. They would be better off flying into Vancouver for 2 nights there, taking the bus-ferry transfer to Victoria, then the Victoria Clipper back to Seattle. But then they would be carrying all their luggage the whole way, rather than leaving some behind in Seattle for the Canada visit.

And my family are going to be staying in Vancouver and NOT renting a car. How do we get from Hampton Inn Hotel
111 Robson Street, Vancouver to Stanley Park and Granville Island? We are 72 (not a great walker) to 9 years of age. We are not going to Victoria due to seasickness of one of the family, just staying in Vancouver. Help!

Debbie it might work best if you do your own post.

mgtopagent, have you considered just doing one city? Personally with only 4 nights I would pick Victoria. There is enough to see there in that time. Otherwise I think you will spend 3 out of 5 days traveling between cities.

Lisa, Thank you - was beginning to think the same thing....I prefer seeing one place in more depth...Hopefully will be visiting out that way at other times and could do Vancouver then as a separate visit. I am really anxious to see the gardens and I have a Frommers book with lots of things to do in Victoria.
Much appreciate.

For Victoria alone the Clipper from Seattle is your best option. Stay right on the Inner Harbor ( at the Empress) or close by. There is good bus service to Butchart Gardens.

I agree with both of Lola's suggested plans. If you want the three cities, fly into Vancouver, then bus (via the ferry) or fly to Victoria, then Victoria Clipper to Seattle. If you want to save Vancouver for another time, then fly into Seattle, take the Clipper to Victoria and back. They have packages that include a hotel, I'd suggest at least two nights there, three would be better.

No need for a car in the Canadian cities, whether you need one in Seattle depends on locations and family arrangements. You could rent one for a day to visit Mt. Rainier, or take one of these tours. (I've never taken one, and there may be others not on this website.) With Rainier the weather is key. If it's cloudy, all you'll see is a lot of very big trees. But late June weather is usually pretty good. You might want to be flexible, for example reserving a car or tour that you can cancel the day of or before.

I don't know what to suggest about heavy luggage except maybe send some stuff ahead to your son so it will be there when you need it. Whatever the family function is, you should know that people dress pretty informally out here, maybe you can get away with less than you think. (But bring something for possible rain, good advice any time.)

Given the very short time frame of your trip, I would highly recommend using the quickest and most efficient transportation links so that you minimize wasted time. Three nights each in Vancouver and Victoria would be ideal, but if you don't have that much time then I suppose two nights each will have to suffice. If possible, leave most of your luggage at your son's house and just pack light carry-on size luggage for the side trip.

Be sure to check the entry requirements for Canada. At the present time, I believe you must be fully vaccinated and you'll also have to download the ArriveCan app to your phones and enter the appropriate information. As of April 1st, the mandatory pre-arrival Covid tests are being eliminated, however they may still do random tests.

Something like this may work.....

• Fly direct from Seattle to Victoria harbour - https://www.kenmoreair.com/destinations/victoria-inner-harbour/ (about 45 minutes).
• You should be able to walk to the Fairmont Empress hotel from the terminal.
• You shouldn't have to rent a car there, as the hotel will be able to arrange excursions. I believe one of the whale watching trips departs from the inner harbour.
• When you're ready to depart, fly direct from Victoria inner harbour to Vancouver harbour - https://www.harbourair.com/ (about 35 minutes). Take a taxi from the terminal to your hotel (it's not far). I often stay at the Sutton Place, but the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Hotel Georgia, Wedgewood Hotel and many others are in the same vicinity.
• Again, your hotel should be able to make arrangements for tours so you shouldn't have to rent a car.
• When you're ready to return to Seattle, take the Canada Line Skytrain from Vancouver City Centre station (you should be able to walk to the station from your hotel) to Vancouver International airport for the short (~1 hour) flight to Seattle. Numerous airlines operate on that route. I typically use Air Canada or Alaska Air. As I recall, you will go through U.S. CBP clearance at YVR.

You may find these helpful in planning your trip....

• https://www.hellobc.com/
• https://www.destinationvancouver.com/
• https://vancouverisland.travel/

Happy travels!

I would also agree with a previous poster that we don't dress up much here on the West Coast, so you could pack lighter!
We dress for weather and comfort here...while still looking good!

Thank you all very much for helpful info so far. Yes, realized the casual thing from my "kids" - they are 40 so not really kids...they are uber casual. It is not so much clothes but other "stuff". The more I read, the more I am thinking we should do three days each in Victoria and Vancouver... We can table the Seattle sightseeing depending on what the rest of my family does who will also be visiting. We have already done some Seattle sightseeing on previous trip and hope to be able to visit at future times. When we tour, we never like to rush around.... we prefer to stay a bit longer and not spend time travelling to and fro. We want to experiece both the ferry and the sea plane... so prob will do one of each based upon comments of ppl on this thread and elsewhere.

Ken has provided good info about flying between all these cities, especially seaplanes from harbor to harbor. I love flights like these, they can be very scenic and fun, though expensive. No question they're the fastest way to get between cities since you don't have to get out to airports. I'd still suggest flying into Vancouver, then seaplane to Victoria, then either seaplane or Clipper to Seattle. The Clipper takes longer but is also very scenic and enjoyable.

Since you want to experience both seaplane and ferry, reversing my original suggestion (as Dick also mentioned) should work well. Fly into Vancouver, take the Skytrain to downtown, then Harbour Air to Victoria and finally the Clipper back to Seattle.

We did several days in Vancouver prior to our Alaska cruise and loved it. No need for a car. We took tours in the area, one to where the Winter Olympics was held, another to Victoria and Bouchert Gardens (wonderful).
Also, we did a four day Canadian Rockies bus tour with Key West Tours to Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff that was fantastic.

Seattle was nice, but not sure I would want to go there today.
We did enjoy the Boeing Factory.