Traveling to Victoria B.C. how should I get there?

Question

I'm visiting Victoria B.C. from Seattle in mid August; What is the best way to get there? I'm wanting to drive my car to a ferrie terminal and park it there overnight while I'm there. Can you do this? If so what ferrie terminal would I want to catch the ferrie at? Any other idea's you suggest? Also how far is the ferrie terminal in victoria from the downtown area?

Answer 1

Park your car where?  Victoria or Seattle?  If you're wanting to leave your car in Seattle then take the Victoria Clipper service.  It will take you to downtown Victoria  If you want to bring your car to Victoria, you can either drive to Port Angeles Wa, and catch the Coho ferry to downtown Victoria or drive into British Columbia and take the Ferry from Tsawwassan (south of Vancouver) to Swartz Bay, north of Victoria then drive into Victoria.  The downside of taking the Coho from Port Angeles is that it only runs twice daily.  The Tsawwassan ferry runs every hour.  Sailing time for either is about 95 minutes.  The Swartz Bay terminal is about half an hour to 40 minutes from downtown.  

There's one additonal option, the Annacortis (sp?) ferry from just outside Bellingham to Sidney, BC just north of Victoria.  Its schedule is also limited however.

Answer 2

You've got several choices.

1) You can take the Coho a privately owned ferry from Port Angeles and park your car there.  It docks right in the harbor in Victoria.

http://www.cohoferry.com/

Getting to Port Angeles:

Port Angeles is on the Olympic Peninsula across Puget Sound from Seattle. You can either get there by driving around about through Tacoma and crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (toll bridge) which is about 150 miles and takes about 3.5 hours.  You can also get to Port Angeles from Seattle by taking either the Bainbridge Island Ferry or go to Edmonds and take the Kingston Ferry which will take 2.5 - 3 hours.

2)  You can take the Washington State Ferry from Anacortes.  

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/info_des...

Getting to Anacortes:

The Anacortes ferry dock is about 100 miles (about 2 hours) north of Seattle traveling north on I-5 and then to state route 20.  

The Washington State ferry lands in Sidney, BC which is a few miles outside of Victoria so you'll need to get transportation (bus or taxi) into town.

3)  BC Ferry from Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay

http://www.bcferries.com/schedules/mainl...

About a 3.5 hour drive from Seattle.

For this one you'd need to drive to Vancouver, BC and the ferry lands in Swartz Bay - also requires a taxi or bus into Victoria

4) Victoria Clipper - passenger only service between Seattle and Victoria.  Docks right at the harbor in Victoria.

http://www.clippervacations.com/ferry/

If you're looking for a place to stay overnight in Victoria, here's a website to compare prices:

http://www.res99.com/nexres/search/power...

Answer 3

Driving is your best option.

Answer 4

You should just stick with driving, and park at another parking garage. I don;t really know, because i have never been to Victoria! but best of luck!

Answer 5

The website for Seattle ferries is

http://www.ferrytravel.com/seattle.htm

the ferries from seattle run right into inner harbour downtown Victoria.  There are maps and such at their website http://www.victoria.ca/visitors/about.sh...

If downtown is the only area you are visiting you can get by without a car. Its very safe to walk about and most atractions/shopping are in that area.

If you plan to go anywhere else apart from downtown on the Island having your car would be good as things are quite spread out.  One place if you have time is Buchart Gardens about 20 miles north of the city downtown.  There are buses there from downtown.  Breathtaking and worthwhile if you are into gardens, plants and flowers.