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Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle
Hi,
We are doing a road trip to Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle in june.
Vancouver, BC we are staying downtown on west hasting, we will be there for 4 days/3 nights- fri to mon. So far we are going to go to Granville, Stanley park (aquarium as well) and a day on robinson.
Food and attractions suggestions are welcome.
Victoria, BC we are staying downtown on belleville, we will be here for 4 days/3 nights as well - mon to thu. So far the only thing we are for sure doing is butchart gardens. I would like to go to a beach if possible.
Food and attraction suggestions are welcome!
Seattle, Wa we are staying downtown on madison, we will be here for 5 days/4 nights, thu - mon. We decided to buy the city pass here. The attractions here include:
Space Needle
Seattle Aquarium
Argosy Cruises Seattle Harbor Tour
Pacific Science Center
EMP Museum
Woodland Park Zoo
ORThe Museum of Flight
We are going to go the seattle aquarium, woodland zoo and harbor tour. We are going to check out Pike place as well.
Food and attraction suggestions are welcome as well 
Im excited, I have never been and since we decided to drive, I think it open up more options to do stuff.
Thanks!
Re: Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle
Since you will have a car, I recommend that you drive out from Seattle to Woodinville and spend some time at the wineries. I also like to take my out of town guests to Snoqualmie Falls which most people are very impressed with!
I also recommend taking at least one ferry ride; the easiest is from Seattle is to Bainbridge Island.
Within Seattle other options including walking around the Pioneer Square neighborhood, visiting the Seattle Public Library (awesome architecture), and going to the top of the Smith Tower for an awesome view of the city. The Olympic Sculpture Park is also fun and free to visit.
I love both the Woodland Park Zoo and the Museum of Flight so if you can do both I would highly recommend it!
If you want an awesome view of Seattle go to the Queen Anne neighborhood and visit Kerry Park. I also really enjoy Gas Works Park.
In terms of food and restaurants I have a ton of recommendations; let me know your price point and the types of cuisine you like.
I have a detailed blog entry on my visit to Victoria and the southern part of Vancouver Island which you can find here.
Thanks for your response, We thought about going out to a winery but we didnt know where to even start looking at one. There is so many in and around these areas. I am looking at the woodinville website now.
We will be on 2 ferries already, from van to vic and back a few days later.
We will check out the Pioneer Square.
Excellent we will try and get to both the zoo and flight museum.
I heard about Kerry park we will attempt to get there.
Food, Keeping it under $20-$25 a person would be ideal. I am not a fan of seafood or sushi but the BF is so if there is somewhere that serves seafood and other stuff that would be fine. Otherwise anything else is open for suggestions.
I looked through your travel blog, many great ideas! Thanks!
So here are some of my favorite places to eat in your price range:
- Michou (deli in Pike Place)
- Beecher's (amazing mac n cheese in Pike Place)
- Pike Place Chowder (Pike Place; I know you said you don't like seafood but please try to get your BF to try either the regular chowder or salmon chowder. It's amazing!)
- Piroshky Piroshky (incredible Russian pastry place in Pike Place selling both sweet and savory pastries. Please do yourself a favor and stop in here!)
- Maximilien (French place in Pike Place that overlooks the water; pricey for dinner but more affordable prices at lunch)
- Cafe Campagne (my favorite French place in Pike Place; good for breakfast and lunch)
- Le Panier (very good French bakery in Pike Place)
- Matt's in the Market (Pike Place; this would fit your budget at lunch. The restaurant overlooks the Pike Place Market so try to request a seat at the window!)
- Le Pichet (cute French place above Pike Place)
- Purple Cafe and Wine Bar (downtown; great for lunch or dinner. They have another location in Woodinville, so if you do wine tasting you can eat here afterwards)
- Saley (crepe place in Capitol Hill)
- Paseo (amazing sandwich place with locations in Ballard and Fremont)
- Pagliacci Pizza (decent priced pizza place with locations all over Seattle)
- Serious Pie (another great pizza place with locations downtown and in Westlake)
- Dahlia Lounge (Downtown; lunches here are affordable but dinner is more pricey. The donuts served here for dessert are incredible!)
- Bakery Nouveau (my favorite bakery in Seattle; located further away in West Seattle but if you happen to make it here please try one of the twice baked chocolate crossiants; they are to die for!)
- Toulouse Petit (Cajun/Creole/French place in Queen Anne)
Hope that helps!Here's my rec list for Vancouver:
ACTIVITIES
Stanley Park, a must - rent bikes or walk around the seawall (http://vancouver.ca/PARKS/parks/Stanley/)
Vancouver Aquarium (www.vanaqua.org)
Granville Island Public Market, fun, lots of vendors, a foodie?s heaven (www.granvilleisland.com)
Grouse Mountain, tram ride, ziplining, skating, sleigh rides, etc. (www.grousemountain.com)
Capilano Suspension Bridge (www.capbridge.com)
Robson Street, most popular street downtown; shopping, eating, people watching
Yaletown, upscale shops and restaurants
Gastown, historic area with cobblestone streets, souvenir and antique shops
Granville Street, very lively with cool cafes and shops, lots of action at night with the bars and clubs
Metrotown, Metropolis mega-mall in Burnaby
Beaches, most popular are English Bay (downtown), Kits and Jericho (West End) and Ambleside (North Shore)
Gardens, the two most popular are Van Dusen Botanical Gardens, and the outdoor arboretum/indoor Bloedel Floral Conservatory at Queen Elizabeth Park
FOOD
Cheap-er eats:
Sophie?s Cosmic Caf? (www.sophiescosmiccafe.com)
- huge awesome breakfasts, everyone loves this place
The Elbow Room Cafe (www.theelbowroomcafe.com)
- cheap fabulous food, wacky waiters
Vera's Burger Shack (www.verasburgershack.com)
- great burgers!
Hon's Wun-Tun House (www.hons.ca)
- huge menu & cheap yummy chinese food
Stepho's Greek Taverna (1124 Davie Street)
- great food, huge portions, usually a line-up
Mid-range, very popular:
Milestones (www.milestonesrestaurants.com)
- good westcoast food (my fave!)
Joey's (www.joeysmedgrill.com)
- another fave of mine...
Cactus Club Cafe (www.cactusclubcafe.com)
- a cool place, good food and atmosphere
Vijs (www.vijs.ca)
- hugely popular, elegant & delicious Indian food, made the top 50 list of Canadian restaurants
Upscale:
CinCin Ristorante (www.cincin.net)
- nice Tuscan restaurant, on Robson
Lupo (www.luporestaurant.ca)
- very nice place, good Italian
Blue Water Cafe (www.bluewatercafe.net)
- excellent food, cool place (fave celebrity hangout)
Gotham Steakhouse (www.gothamsteakhouse.com)
- very good high-end steakhouse
Kirin (www.kirinrestaurants.com)
- best upscale Chinese
Tojo's (www.tojos.com)
- best upscale Japanese
Desserts:
True Confections (www.trueconfections.ca)
Sweet Obsessions (www.sweetobsession.ca)
Also Cafe Crepe (1032 Robson) makes all kinds of awesome crepes, love this place.
Lounges/Bars:
For drinks, go to Milestone's, Joey's or Cactus Club (all on the previous list), they have separate lounge/bar sections, and are really cool places. For a really snazzy happening place, go to the Opus Bar (www.opusbar.ca).
Let me know if you have any quetions, HTH!
And here's my rec list for Seattle -
Things to do/see:
- Pike Place Market (a must)
- Original Starbucks (across from Pike Place)
- Pioneer Square (art galleries, bookstores, shops & cafes)
- Pacific Place & Westlake Centre (downtown shopping)
- Underground Tour (www.undergroundtour.com)
- Experience Music Project (www.empsfm.org)
- Argosy Cruises (www.argosycruises.com)
- Seattle Aquarium
- Woodland Park Zoo
If you have a car, go to Alki Beach, walk along the seawall and grab something to eat or drink at one of the cafes/restaurants or coffee shops along there:
www.gonorthwest.com/Washington/seattle/viewpoints/alki-beach.htm
One of our fave places is Green Lake, walk or bike around it or rent a paddle boat: www.cityofseattle.net/parks/park_detail.asp?ID=307
For shopping outside of downtown, I love U-village, I could hang out there all day with all the great shops and places to eat: www.uvillage.com
Food & Drinks:
Our two fave restaurants for dinner downtown are The Brooklyn, best steaks ever (www.thebrooklyn.com) and Elliott's Oyster House, excellent seafood, the crab cakes are to die for! (www.elliottsoysterhouse.com). We love this little Mexican place for lunch called El Puerco Lloron, so delish & cheap - love their salsa station! (www.elpuercolloron.com). Wild Ginger (asian food) gets rave reviews (www.wildginger.net). A cool place to go for dinner/drinks is The Pink Door (www.thepinkdoor.net).
For wine lovers: If you have a car, head out to Woodinville Wine Country, that's the place to go (www.woodinvillewinecountry.com).
For coffee connoisseurs, Vivace Espresso Bar (www.espressovivace.com/retail.html) is a must - rated the best, DH & I are addicted! I like the location on Broadway which is a really cool area, lots of unique shops and great people watching.
Side trips:
Snoqualmie Falls, just 30 min east of Seattle, is breathtaking. You can have lunch or dinner/drinks at the Salish Lodge while your there. Take a ferrry over to Port Townsend, Friday Harbor, Bainbridge Island, or the San Juan Islands - all cool places to check out for the day. You can go to Mount Rainer to do some sightseeing/hiking, such beautiful scenery. Also Mount St. Helens where the volcano was, super cool and interesting. Or, go over to the Olympic Peninsula, check out Hurricane Ridge, the rainforests, lakes and waterfalls.
Have fun!
Thanks for all the great suggestions!
Reading all these just makes me more excited to go!
We just got back from an Alaskan cruise and we stayed in Seattle the day before the cruise and Victoria was our last stop before going back to Seattle.
We didn't have much time in Seattle but we did the Space Needle and had lunch in the revolving Sky City Restaurant-overpriced food but admission to the observation deck is included and we got to bypass the long lines waiting to go to the top since we had a reservation. We stayed at the Hyatt at Olive 8 and ate at their restaurant (Urbane) for dinner-best caesar salad in the world! Pricy again but the food was worth it in my opionion.
In Victoria we took a "Highlights of Victoria" tour which was ok but then we took a tour of the Craigdarroch Castle which was interesting. We passed by the Empress Hotel which offers "high tea" and a great view of downtown Victoria.
Have a great time!
I forgot to give recs for Victoria....here's a few:
- horse drawn carriage tour around the inner harbour
- High Tea at the Fairmont hotel
- Butchart Gardens (www.butchartgardens.com) is a must.
- Royal BC museum (www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca)
- Butterfly Gardens (www.butterflygardens.com)
- Have breakfast at John's Place (www.johnsplace.ca), it's awesome, especially the eggs benny, the best ever! Be prepared for a lineup though.