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We're spending 3-days in Vancouver (or Vancouver Island/Victoria) in May, following the last leg of a Hawaiian cruise.
1) Should we try to stay on Vancouver Island/Victoria or in Vancouver?
2) ??What is the difference between Vancouver Island and Victoria?
3) What types of things are there to do on Vancouver Island/Victoria?
4) Should we rent a car in Vancouver and take it on the ferry to Victoria or stay on Victoria and rent a car there? -- (We'll be flying out of Vancouver International)
5) We've never been to either place and may not get back (retired) -- What are the "Must See's/Do's while we are there for 3-days?
Thanks very much for your help!
Float plane fly out of Vancouver into Victoria and/or stay overnight; three days is not enough time to enjoy what the island has. And don't waste your time renting a car and hanging in ferry lineups; it's actually more expensive than flying! It'll waste half your time.
Float planes lift right out of the inlet in Vancouver. If you're a government employee and good at spending other peoples' money you can helicopter on Helijet right by Crab Park. Go. Hotels here are cheap, cheap three nights for two.
Weather in Victoria is balmier and the winds have been quite warm for the last month. Everything you need to see this time of year is right downtown. Even with my bad knee I walked to Oak Bay, around Dallas Road and the golf course, all the way to Esquimalt along the walkway, and north to the biggest new church on the island, WalMart.
Surprised their isn't a church tour here; these cranky old Scots masons sure knew how to build!
Last edited by thedwightguy; 02-20-2011 at 03:09 PM..
Reason: finish idea
You can spend all of your time in Victoria and will only see part of what's available...It depends on what you enjoy. If you like the night life then Vancouver's the place to go....
1. Don't go to Victoria if you're just staying in the area for three days. You'll barely have enough time to tour Vancouver. Go skiing for at least a day. If you go to Victoria you'll spend at least 5 hours on the ferry and it's not just worth it to waste those precious time.
2. Victoria is a city in Vancouver Island.
3. There's a lot of surfing both it's a very minor city despite being the capital of BC.
4. Both can work.
5. I'd suggest you to ignore Vancouver Island. I'd try Vancouver food and skiing.
1. Don't go to Victoria if you're just staying in the area for three days. You'll barely have enough time to tour Vancouver. Go skiing for at least a day. If you go to Victoria you'll spend at least 5 hours on the ferry and it's not just worth it to waste those precious time.
2. Victoria is a city in Vancouver Island.
3. There's a lot of surfing both it's a very minor city despite being the capital of BC.
4. Both can work.
5. I'd suggest you to ignore Vancouver Island. I'd try Vancouver food and skiing.
5 hours on a ferry? The cruise ships land in Victoria...Where is this surfing you are talking about? You have obviously never visited my fair city which is the fifteenth largest in Canada...Minor indeed.
5 hours on a ferry? The cruise ships land in Victoria...Where is this surfing you are talking about? You have obviously never visited my fair city which is the fifteenth largest in Canada...Minor indeed.
Well it takes 2 hours to get to Van island from Vancouver and 2 hours to get back, and if you add the possible waits then it's easily 5 hours in total.
If the cruise ships land in Victoria then remove 2 hours then it becomes 3.
There's only 75,000 people in Victoria. Vancouver has 600,000 (just the city not the surrounding areas) and Toronto has 2.2M. 75,000 is nothing. The population of Bellingham (WA) is almost 70,000. If someon's visiting the US for the first time, would you tell them to go to Bellingham?
By the way... that's more like 63rd according to Wikipedia.
There's only 75,000 people in Victoria. Vancouver has 600,000 (just the city not the surrounding areas) and Toronto has 2.2M. 75,000 is nothing. The population of Bellingham (WA) is almost 70,000. If someon's visiting the US for the first time, would you tell them to go to Bellingham?
By the way... that's more like 63rd according to Wikipedia.
in most cases it is better to consider the Metro area- so Vancouver really has over 2 million, and Victoria "Metro" (yeah quotation on purpose) has over 300,000....and Victoria is whole lot more interesting than Bellingham, WA
We're spending 3-days in Vancouver (or Vancouver Island/Victoria) in May, following the last leg of a Hawaiian cruise.
1) Should we try to stay on Vancouver Island/Victoria or in Vancouver?
2) ??What is the difference between Vancouver Island and Victoria?
3) What types of things are there to do on Vancouver Island/Victoria?
4) Should we rent a car in Vancouver and take it on the ferry to Victoria or stay on Victoria and rent a car there? -- (We'll be flying out of Vancouver International)
5) We've never been to either place and may not get back (retired) -- What are the "Must See's/Do's while we are there for 3-days?
Thanks very much for your help!
jghorton, will your cruise involve Victoria?
Victoria is a compact island city with a charming downtown that is by the harbor and is easily covered within a day. There is the Butchard Gardens which is a major tourist attraction that can be accessed probably by some shuttle bus. Victoria is an ideal cruise-ship stop in that it is very compact yet interesting enough to see within a day...more than that may be relatively boring unless you are into recreational activities.
Vancouver is on the mainland, and is much more cosmopolitan and of course a bigger city than Victoria. You can go to Stanley Park, walk around the pretty vibrant downtown, go to Granville Island. 2 days is plenty in Vancouver...May is a good time to visit the Pacific NW.
The ferry situation is such that it is quite time consuming. But it is certainly possible to just stay in Vancouver and on one early morning catch a ferry to Victoria, spend the day there and then head back to Vancouver at night.
I can tell you this, Both places are beautiful and 3 days is not enough time to visit them both. I would stay in Van if I were you. I have been to Van many times but I still remember the first time I was there. I took a tour bus that goes to all the cool places in Van and you can get on and off with the one ticket. Grey Lines, I think. Anyway that is a very good way to get a very good overview of the city and also mark out what you would want to do for your 2 remaining days. In May, I just love the UBC campus. The Japanese garden there is one of my very favorite gardens anywhere. The museum on the campus is also just amazing. The best in the world for west coast native culture. The flowers in Vancouver in May are just outstanding and I never get tired of just walking around and taking in their anmazing beauty. Granville Island is also a very interesting place to visit. I have spent many a day just walking around there eating amazing food and buying one of a kind arts and crafts from all over the world. I have spent half a day just getting on the sky train and riding the route it follows, getting off here and there to check out interesting places. Vancouver it's self is only 50 sq. mi. in size so doing things in the city does not require a lot of travel. I always like to check out the huge trees in BC. There are some amazing ones in North Van but I don't know how you would get there without a car. There is just so much to do and see that your 3 days will be gone in a flash.
Well it takes 2 hours to get to Van island from Vancouver and 2 hours to get back, and if you add the possible waits then it's easily 5 hours in total.
If the cruise ships land in Victoria then remove 2 hours then it becomes 3.
There's only 75,000 people in Victoria. Vancouver has 600,000 (just the city not the surrounding areas) and Toronto has 2.2M. 75,000 is nothing. The population of Bellingham (WA) is almost 70,000. If someon's visiting the US for the first time, would you tell them to go to Bellingham?
By the way... that's more like 63rd according to Wikipedia.
As I said you have never been here and I live here, so you really don't know what you are talking about...The Cruise ships land in downtown Victoria, so if they want to visit they have arrived.... If they want to visit Vancouver there are several seaplane services that fly downtown to downtown. They could also take the helijet service...Both short trips.
Greater Victoria IS the 15th largest in Canada, is divided into various communities, (Victoria, Saanich, Esquimalt etc) but is really all one city...You can confirm this on Google Earth... The metropolitan area of Greater Victoria has a population of about 330,080......Tofino is nowhere near Victoria, but many hours drive from here. The only surfing done in Victoria is kite surfing off Beacon Hill park.
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