vancouver vs. seattle

[kkinch]

From Boston it is much cheaper to fly into Seattle instead of Vancouver. Since it is less than a 150 mile drive wouldn't it make $ense to take a bus or train to Vancouver? Thanks.

[ute_fan]

Depending on your airfare savings, it can definitely be worth it. From SLC to Seattle, our airfare would have been $450 pp, to Seattle it was $150 pp. Since there were 4 of us, the $1200 in airfare savings more than paid for the rental van (couldn't fit all the luggage in a car :o ), plus 2 nights hotel stay pre and post cruise. We still came out ahead by about $800.

 

Depending on your flight times, however, you may need to fly in the night before to ensure you get to Vancouver on time. We didn't want to risk missing the ship, so we flew in late Saturday, drove to Bellingham & spent the night, & drove the remaining 1 1/2 hours to Vancouver on Sunday morning.

 

The same thing coming back -- unless you can schedule a really late flight, you may need to spend the night in Seattle. It was 10:30 before we got off the ship, about 45 minutes to clear customers (busy day in the cruise terminal), another 30 minute wait to get to the rental car location downtown. We were leaving in the rental car by about 12:30, and you still have the drive back to Seattle, with possible delays at the border crossing.

[kkinch]

Thanks Utah!

[kkorman]

I have taken the Quick shuttle from SEA to VAN and vica versa 3 times this summer. It is still significantly cheaper than the airfare into Vancouver. Getting there may require you to stay a night in Seattle, but you can get back to SEA before 2 PM after debarking.

[Mikey & Laura]

Hi,

I researched the same thing - due to cheaper ticket prices and the fact that my cruise - NCL Star leaves from Seattle and returns to Vancouver. Here are some of the options.

 

 

CAR - If you are going to be spending some time around seattle then the best way might be to rent a car-, the drive is about 3 hrs plus the chance of a wait at the border but knowing that they've increased security lately, the chances of a wait are probable depending on when you plan on traveling, weekends being the worst. The I5 freeway is the fastest, most direct way to get between the cities... takes about 2 hours to drive from Seattle to the US-Canada border, then it's another hour before Vancouver.

 

Train - The next best scenic route. The Amtrak Cascade train route stays right by the water for most of the trip and is highly recommended as well as cost efficient (I just checked prices for a couple different days and found the range between $24 and $31). www . amtrakcascades . com

 

Bus - If you take Quick Shuttle, the bus bypasses the wait, but everyone in the bus has to get out to show their proof of citizenship (ie: passport, birth certificate, etc) which takes, maybe, half an hour. www. quickshuttle . com

 

Cruise- there is a boat but i dont remember all the detail - except that it is $99.00 - I just thought that after a week on a ship it would be nice to travel another way.

 

NCL Cruise - I also called NCL and they were offering a bus that goes back to seattle for $50 per person, but I dont know if it runs all week or just the day we get back.