planning vacation in US Northwest/Vancouver/Victoria

[Atomb]

so as the header says, my wife and i are planning a trip to use up a couple of free flights i have on southwest airlines...considering we fly out of buffalo, i thought we should get the most 'bang for the reward' and fly to the Seattle/San Fran area.So far, the plan is to fly into seattle, spend a day or so there. Take a ferry up to Victoria, spend a day there...then ferry to Vancouver to visit friends for a day or 2. Then back down to Seattle to rent a car and drive down the coast to San Jose where we will fly from to get back to Buffalo.Can anybody give me some suggestions/links to sites that will make my planning easier? Ideas of places to 'must see'? I've been trying to plan this trip for the last few weeks and it's a little overwhelming when you've never been to the area! Then i remembered that i could ask you all here!fire away!

[Sputnik]

When you're in Victoria go Whale Watching! Its seriously the best time I've had on a vacation!

[Atomb]

Thanks for the tip, Silver. I'll check a non-airport location. However, renting from SEA to SJC (seattle and san jose airports respectively) for 6 days via budget/avis the mid-size was mid $300USD and the convertible from Hertz was mid $400USD. There didn't seem to be much of a price increase for the one-way (i do this type of rental for work occasionally and haven't noticed any or any major increases before).i think whale watching would be cool....we are thinking about postponing the drive down the coast and instead spending all our time between Victoria/Vancouver/Seattle doing various things (including spending more time with friends in Vancouver)....that may be the final outcome.

[AKLGT]

well, there are great things to do in the Pacific NW and west coast. in seattle, make sure you atleast go to the space needle. san fran... ALCATRAZ! not a whole lot in Vancouver other than concerts, so don't know what to tell you on that. have a great time!

[Sputnik]

Vancouver has Stanley park and some great beaches. The scenery in Vancouver is simply breathtaking (IMO). I want to go back. You could also go up Grouse Mountain as well.

[Atomb]

well, after some consideration (and the fact that another couple/friends of ours had to cancel on the drive down to San Fran) we are pretty sure that our trip will cover Seattle/Victoria/Vancouver for 11 days.I've been to Vancouver a few times and know about the area (and that's where our friends live). What i don't know about is Victoria and Seattle.Seattle: Best area to stay in a hotel that would put us within walking distance (if possible) of some interesting sites/good nightlife/nice restaurants.Victoria: Same as above but also sites that we can get to nearby also...our friends know a bit about Victoria so they are setting up a few things (mountain bike tours, etc.).So I guess Seattle is the unknown in the equation....first off, which hotel would you recommend?Convertables are DEFINITELY a lot! but i bet that has to do with torn roofs and demand.

[jwalcik]

if you're heading to vancouver, you have to spend an afternoon in stanley park. i was there for a week a couple of years ago and spent nearly two full days exploring. http://notwithstanding.org/vancouver/index.html pictures from stanley park start halfway down the first page, and continue on to page 3.

[iinan]

in Victoria be sure to visit the provincial museum and buchart gardensI have been to Victoria many times, I would suggest you take the foot ferry from the u.s to Canada, its about a 30 min trip, you see some whales, and almost everything in Victoria is within walking distance of the pier, except buchart gardens, but they have buses that will take you there. As far as seattle, space needle is kinda cool and then there is the music experience museum (I cant for the life of me remember the name of that place). And maybe catch a m's game. Also there is a dinner train that leaves from renton that takes you on a scenic tour of mt. rainier and then to a winery and they have like a murder mystery that you take part in and magic shows on the train ride back.. I hear its very cool..

[Sputnik]

Yeah Butchart Gardens is beautiful if you can stand all the tourists stopping every 2 feet and taking another photo. I've stayed at the Empress and the Delta Hotel in Victoria. I liked the Delta better. Little further away but still easy walking distance. Beacon Hill Park is also quite nice and if you walk all the way through it to the coast, its gorgeous and you can take a picture of "Mile 0" of the Trans Canada Highway!

[Atomb]

thanks for the info! this is great!ok:Stanley park is a definite. I was there about 5 years ago and only scratched the surface of the park (didin't even walk across the suspended bridge!..what was the name?)iinan: what is the foot ferry? i've searched the web and the only ferry i can find from seattle to victoria is the victoria clipper. can you post a link to any info? i'll look again in the meantime.sputnik: thanks for the delta reference. a VERY good friend of ours works for Delta so I'll talk to her and she has set us up nicely in Deltas in the past so we'll have to get her to set us up again!the train ride to mt.rainer sounds neat ...any links to that would be great. again, i'll search also....the space needle we'll most likely head to also, but being born and raised in Toronto, i've stared at this all my life http://www.cntower.ca/portal/i'm putting together a list from all your suggestions so keep them coming!

[Sputnik]

If you like Italian food there is a fantastic restaurant in Victoria. We went there twice. I'll try to find the name of it (I know where it is but can't remember the name) if you want.

[Atomb]

give me directions and i'll try and find it...unless you remember the name before August!

[Sputnik]

Found it! Its Il Terrazzo: http://www.ilterrazzo.com/If you stay at the Delta you just walk across the bridge and its very near there.

[Atomb]

well we did it.spent a weekend camping in manning park, BC. Then a couple days in Vancouver. Then took a float plane to Victoria (pilot let me sit in the co-pilot seat and wear the headphones!), spent 5 days in Victoria and then took the ferry to Seattle where we spent 2 days before flying back.We stayed at the Delta in Victoria (thanks for the GREAT recommendation Sputnik!) A good friend of ours is transferring to that hotel this month so she got us a friends/family deal. i've come to think it is the best located hotel in the harbour....the rocks just infront of the hotel are great to sit on and enjoy the day!We didn't go to il terazzo but found a great italian place called pagliacci's which was SO cool and had great food.Did the whale watching thing and saw a couple dozen killer whales come right up to the boat. It was a great trip and my wife and i are trying to figure out how to find me a job in Victoria so we can move there (her company already has a location there that she could get to!).I'll try and get some pictures up someday soon.If any of you live in Victoria (i don't think i've seen anybody on here...there ARE vibes there though) i am very jealous!

[Sputnik]

Thanks for the update!! I'm glad you enjoyed the Delta. I loved it there. And yeah its location is perfect... better than the Empress. Empress may have the history (and a suite for the Queen), but I don't really like "old" places. I SO want to go back for another visit. Whale watching rocks. One swam under our zodiac. Did you go in a boat or a zodiac?

[Atomb]

we were in a zodiac...red ones (forget the name of the company... seasafari?)we had one swim right under us too! the LARGE dark shadow is pretty freaky eh? it surfaced about 10-12 feet from us then went under!I agree about the Empress. There was a hotel on the other side of the bay (from the Delta) that was all white with balconys, but it was too far fro the harbour to be social enough.I highly recommend Victoria as a good vacation spot. We're already planning a return trip!

[Sputnik]

Yeah after reading your write up I said to the boyfriend "I want to go back!"