In Seattle for work: should I visit Vancouver or stay in town during the weekend?

[Hemlock140]

Make sure you have a passport with you. Leave really early and beat the rush at the border, we always find coming back to be longer, at least 1/2 hour but on Sunday evening double that. I'd really recommend Victoria for such a short visit, rather than Vancouver. You can take the Clipper Ferry at Pier 69, and they have package deals with hotels. It's far more interesting than Vancouver unless you have at least a couple of days or just want to hit the clubs.

[MondoTime]

You should definitely go to Vancouver... and would be wise to head north in/near the wee hours of Saturday morning (border before 10am at the very latest) and then stay very late, in central Vancouver, on Sunday evening, to allow border traffic to be reduced to a dull roar before you pass through.

FYI - the border crossings into the U.S. are far worse/slower than the ones going into Canada. (I would leave central Vancouver no earlier than 8pm on Sunday evening, and would more ideally stick around there until 9:30pm before heading south (30-ish minutes to the border, and less than 2 hours of driving from the border to central Seattle (110 miles between the border and central Seattle))

Central Vancouver is just grand, and is extremely walkable, so find a way to park, leave your stuff, and then just walk around. Chinatown on a Saturday afternoon is often quite the hustle and bustle of interesting society. Robson street for shopping and a festive atmosphere.

Stay out late, too, on your Saturday night in Vancouver... Granville street is a 'festive' night time spot, and normal people are walking the streets all night long in Vancouver like in few other places of its size.

Should be a great experience, even for that small window of time.

[HandsUpThumbsDown]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Make sure you have a passport with you. Leave really early and beat the rush at the border, we always find coming back to be longer, at least 1/2 hour but on Sunday evening double that. I'd really recommend Victoria for such a short visit, rather than Vancouver. You can take the Clipper Ferry at Pier 69, and they have package deals with hotels. It's far more interesting than Vancouver unless you have at least a couple of days or just want to hit the clubs.

Yeah, Victoria is great. It has a reputation of being a place where old people sip tea but I'm not old and had a great time there.

[Backstrom]

Originally Posted by BATCAT

The train is a nice way to visit Vancouver- a relaxing ride, and passing through the border is generally quite fast.

I've never taken Amtrak to Vancouver, but I've heard the train crawls once it crosses the broder.

BoltBus is also another option. I think it might stop once in Bellingham, but other than that, it'll get to Vancouver pretty quickly. And it's not rife with degenerates, like Greyhound is (though they're ironically owned by the same company).

At any rate, I highly recommend a visit to Vancouver. I have a lot of Vancouver envy as a native Seattleite. If you drive, you should park at the River Rock Casino P&R for $2 and take SkyTrain into the city. It's not fun driving around Vancouver. Granville Island and Lonsdale Quay (north Vancouver, just take the SeaBus over) have great markets. Shopping is on Robson. You can also rent a bike for $5/hour near Stanley Park. If it's sunny out, pedaling around False Creek is also very refreshing.

Chinatown and No. 3 Road in Richmond also have the Asian experience, if you're into that. But a lot of merchants' English is limited, so be prepared to point and use hand gestures.

[BATCAT]

Originally Posted by Backstrom

I've never taken Amtrak to Vancouver, but I've heard the train crawls once it crosses the broder.

I don't remember how fast the train goes right after the border, but the crossing overall is very fast in my experience; just long enough for a border agent to board and check passports. The overall train ride is about four hours, so it's slower than driving would be assuming a fast border crossing the border and little traffic. (not safe assumptions)

My way of looking at it is if driving took 3 1/2 hours, 30 minutes of that in slow traffic and another 30 crossing the border... and the train took 4 1/2 hours, all of it spent in a comfortable chair, reading, watching movies, maybe having a beer, then the train still "wins" even if driving is technically faster.