Vancouver-Victoria: Skytain > Bus > Ferry > Bus

For anyone arriving in Vancouver on the Canadian.....an interesting side trip is Victoria on Vancouver Island.....where palm trees are growing around the Inner Harbour even in December.



Its 120 km from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria and it can all be done quite easily on frequent public transit along with a ferry ride. Take a Skytrain from Waterfront Station. They run every 3 to 4 minutes.....changing at Bridgeport to a #620 bus (at least every hour) to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. Total distance in 35 km and the fare is $4. The Skytrains are automated and driverless so everyone gets as good view out the wide front window.

BC Ferries sail every 2 hours to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island and the fare is $16. Crossing time is 1 hr 35 min for the 55 km.

Then take the BC/Victoria Regional Transit Double-Decker downtown from Swartz Bay. $2.50 for the 35 km, running about every half-hour with a good view from the front seat up-top.

As always, great pics and info that brings back wonderful memories of when I lived in Vancouver in Beautiful British Columbia!

Thanks for sharing!

For a little more, you can take the Pacific Coach bus that leaves from Pacific Central Station (where the Canadian and the Cascades arrive). This bus actually goes directly on the ferry, and delivers you to the bus station behind the Empress hotel. You can book this bus through their website or amtrak.com (codes VAC to VBC) but alas, you don't get AGR points.

Once you're in Victoria, you can take the Victoria Clipper ferry to Seattle (codes VIF to SVF) but you don't get AGR points for that, either. It can sometimes be cheaper to book the ferry directly through the Victoria Clipper website, so check the prices.

CHamilton said:

For a little more, you can take the Pacific Coach bus that leaves from Pacific Central Station (where the Canadian and the Cascades arrive). This bus actually goes directly on the ferry, and delivers you to the bus station behind the Empress hotel.....

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I looked at that option but expensive: $62 including ferry...... where I my total fare was $22.50. Might have saved a half/hour downtown to downtown The bus would be an advantage if you had a lot of luggage.

In Canada, even the buses say "Sorry."

NS VIA Fan said:

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