Travel
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Road trip to Vancouver, BC
Hi Ladies,
We're planning a road trip to Vancouver, BC from PDX during Labor Day week. We have 10 solid days to use and I'm looking for suggestions as far as other stops (unless we need all those days in Vancouver). Is driving up to Vancouver then driving down and using a ferry to visit Victoria reasonable? I would appeciate any suggestions in that regard.
I'm also wondering which neighborhood(s) to stay in while there.
Thanks in advance.
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Re: Road trip to Vancouver, BC
From Vancouver you could take a ferry over to Vancouver Island, then drive to Victoria. From Victoria (Sidney), you could either take a ferry to Anacortes (WA State Ferries) or take a ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles (Black Ball Ferry Line) and then drive back down from there.
Assuming you don't encounter traffic, it should take you about 5.5-6 hours to drive to Vancouver. I am unsure how many days you want to spend in Vancouver, but I would recommend a minimum of three and two days in Victoria. If you end up taking the ferry route from Victoria to Port Angeles, then you could spend several days driving all the way around the Olympic Peninsula/National Park (Port Townsend, Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, Sol Duc Hot Springs, Cape Flattery, Shi Shi Beach, Rialto Beach, Hoh Rain Forest, Ruby Beach, Lake Quinault). You could also stop in the San Juans for a few days (Orcas Island is my favorite!) or even spend a few days in Seattle. There are a ton of possibilities and you have a good chunk of time!
As pp said, there are many options you could go with for your trip, ten days is a good amount of time to tour around! I too rec the Olympic Peninsula, gorgeous scenery, Hurricane Ridge is crazy! Another great place to visit is Tofino on Vancouver Island, it's totally beautiful, stunning actually. You could take the ferry from Seattle to Vancouver Island, hit up Tofino and Victoria, then ferry it over here to VanCity. You could also drive up to Whistler from here, 2 hours away on the Sea to Sky Highway, lots to do and see there too. As for as what area to stay in here, definitely in the downtown core, either on the waterfront, Robson Street, or near Yaletown - all great hoods, lol.
If you'd like my extensive rec list, or if I can help you with anything else, let me know!
Thanks for the recommendations! I think we're going to go counter-clockwise, drive through Seattle to Vancouver, stay for 5 nights then head to Tofino for 3 nights then head home. Any suggestions for Tofino? We found a place to rent via airbnb at the Electra building in Vancouver. I hear parking downtown is not fun, so the person we're rental from offered to let us park at her extra spot across the Granville bridge on 7th- which doesn't look to far and I don't anticipate that we'll need the car often (please tell me if I'm wrong).
Earlsbride- yes, I'd love your extensive list of recommendations.
Too far as in walking or the bus? That would be quite a walk from 7th to downtown, a good scenic walk though over the bridge
I don't have any recs for Tofino, haven't been there yet...
Here's my Vancouver rec list:
Vancouver Info
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, hiking (skating & sleigh rides in winter), 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).
Also, Food Trucks here are hugely popular and there are so many good ones, here's a link to check them out:
http://www.insidevancouver.ca/2012/04/03/meet-the-12-new-vancouver-food-carts-arriving-may-1/
Hope this helps!