Ferry

[lulabug]

:) Does anyone know if there is a ferry from Victoria to Vancouver? We will be

 

sailing on the summit May 20th from Vancouver??

[tetleytea]

There's two ferries. Go to:

 

http://www.bcferries.com

 

One caveat, though: both ferry terminals are far away from the ships. What I did was take Vancouver's public transportation over there, for something like $2 Canadian/pp. Another thing is, the closest terminal on the Victoria side is really in Sidney. That's like 15 min north of Butchart Gardens. The other terminal is in Nanaimo, which is a fun drive in and of itself. I personally did the Nanaimo.

[lulabug]

There's two ferries. Go to:

 

www.bcferries.com

 

One caveat, though: both ferry terminals are far away from the ships. What I did was take Vancouver's public transportation over there, for something like $2 Canadian/pp. Another thing is, the closest terminal on the Victoria side is really in Sidney. That's like 15 min north of Butchart Gardens. The other terminal is in Nanaimo, which is a fun drive in and of itself. I personally did the Nanaimo.

 

 

Thanks again for your help!!

[tetleytea]

Here's some more info. The Vancouver public transit system:

 

http://www.translink.bc.ca/

 

To make a long story short, you'd probably want to walk from the cruise ship terminal to the nearest Skytrain station. From Skytrain, to some bus stop. And the bus would take you to Tswassen(sp?) where the ferry terminal is. Or do the same in reverse if you're going from the ferry to the cruise terminal.

 

The cool side of this approach is, you get to meet the locals. Tourists don't tend to do it this way. The hard side is, there's no "bus station". You just have to find the right bus stop (AND the right bus!!) on the side of the street. But you only have to pay once for the Skytrain+bus. They give you a transfer token.

[Budget Queen]

The most convenient from Vancouver is Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay, not Sidney. But it is difficult and time consuming to get to Tsawwassen IF you do not have a car, or take a bus "tour", with Pacific Coach lines. I always take a car over, plenty to see and do on Vancouver Island and this is never a day trip for me. If you want a day trip, better use of time may be to fly.

[tetleytea]

Isnt' Swartz Bay and Sidney the same thing?

[Budget Queen]

Isnt' Swartz Bay and Sidney the same thing?

 

 

NOPE, look at a map.

 

http://tourismvictoria.com/Content/EN/1053.asp

 

2 different ferries- BC ferry and Wa. State ferry

[Landlubber54]

Hard to tell what your itinerary is. To do a trip from Vancouver to Victoria any justice, you will need a full day. Canada Place is on the north side of Vancouver. Tsawassen is several miles south of Vancouver. And Swartz Bay is several miles north of Victoria once you are on Vancouver Island. Public transportation might work but, if you can afford it, renting a car might work better for you.

 

Have a great trip.

[tetleytea]

I will say, the public transportation is significantly easier if you take the Nanaimo ferry instead. That's up in North Vancouver, not Tswassen(?) Of course, that may carry one minor drawback--you're in Nanaimo, not Victoria. :o I'd recommend this route if you were stopping by Tofino, and/or you had enough time to explore the island. What I did was rent a car in Nanaimo and drive it down to Victoria, just for fun.

 

That ferry ride is a fun cruise in and of itself, I tell you.

[grouchy]

the ferry is 2 hours long both ways and the trip to the ferry dock is about 45 minutes. You can take a bus tour and that is 11 hours long.

[BCHappyGal]

Unless you have time to stay overnight in Victoria I would plan on visiting there on another trip as the time to go from Vancouver to Victoria via the BC Ferry System from the Canada Place dock would be about 3.5 hours each way on a really good day - busy days you often have to wait for the next ferry as often the ferries fill up to capacity and on busy summer weekends it is not unusual to have a 2 or 3 sailing wait. The ferries sail every hour on the hour.

[Steve H]

You could save alot of hassle by taking the floatplane from Van. harbour to Victorias inner harbour. Check this out at Harbour Air .ca. I am not sure of the cost but might be a better plan.