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Train from Seattle to Vancouver


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DH and I will be taking a cruise leaving from Vancouver but we are more interested in spending a couple of days in Seattle first. Is the Amtrak an easy and On Time option for transport to VAC?

Edited by misha1
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Yes.

 

Longer version: there have been consistent 30min - 1 hr delays this year due to track upgrades but those will all be done long before next cruise season starts (I think they're done now, or at least *should* be!)

 

Not-what-you-asked-but-irresponsible-not-to-offer-unsolicited-advice-on: while Seattle's a great city and well worth a visit, Vancouver is better! So unless you've already spent plenty of time here before and none in Seattle by all means fly into SEA if it saves you $$, but get your butts up here ASAP after you do;-)

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Yes.

 

Longer version: there have been consistent 30min - 1 hr delays this year due to track upgrades but those will all be done long before next cruise season starts (I think they're done now, or at least *should* be!)

 

Not-what-you-asked-but-irresponsible-not-to-offer-unsolicited-advice-on: while Seattle's a great city and well worth a visit, Vancouver is better! So unless you've already spent plenty of time here before and none in Seattle by all means fly into SEA if it saves you $$, but get your butts up here ASAP after you do;-)

 

We have spent time in Vancouver and will again on this sailing as we are doing a back to back. We really enjoy the vibe in Seattle though. Thanks for the answer on the train question. We have an Amtrak here that actually goes to Seattle (the Empire Builder) and sometimes can be as late as 7-10 hours. I did not want to risk that on a sailing day. Just a quick question...what would we want to do in Vancouver? We did the Ho Ho bus last time...it was ok. Granville Island is something that sounds interesting.

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We have spent time in Vancouver and will again on this sailing as we are doing a back to back. We really enjoy the vibe in Seattle though. Thanks for the answer on the train question. We have an Amtrak here that actually goes to Seattle (the Empire Builder) and sometimes can be as late as 7-10 hours. I did not want to risk that on a sailing day. Just a quick question...what would we want to do in Vancouver? We did the Ho Ho bus last time...it was ok. Granville Island is something that sounds interesting.

I love the HOHO concept for a basic grounding of what's where, good landmarks to look out for, and if you're lucky with the driver/guide a bit of historic & current events info.

 

Granville Island is in theory visited by all the HOHOs, but unless you took advantage of the free ferry ticket to get there you'd have had to do a bit of walking - since you're familiar with Seattle, if you enjoy spending time at Pike Place Market you'll probably enjoy GI. The public market portion is nowhere near as big as PPM, but the other surrounding buildings contain more artisans and small merchants as well as more varied options, e.g.:

over half-a-dozen theatre companies with multiple venues running various shows all year round;

dedicated busking zones at which all performers are vetted so you can get some pretty impressive stuff happening (try to eat a picnic lunch or have a coffee in the Public Market Courtyard as that's area with the best performers, running c. 45min shows with so a seat is a good idea);

totem pole carving;

Sake and craft ales can be sampled (at both GIB and Dockside);

restaurants from the casual to the classy (I'd recommend Edible Canada as one of the best places in town to try a variety of local, seasonal produce);

and plenty of quirky shops making/selling all kinds of weird crap as well the usual gamut of tourist trinkets - fancy your own Quidditch broom (scroll to the bottom - they can't use the actual JKR terminology, but these are the ones used by many local players...)?

 

For other places I'd need to have a little more idea what your traveling party enjoys & doesn't. A good place to start is BCHappygal's list of local things to do - just peruse a few threads on the Canada board if Search doesn't do it for you and you'll find her.

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WOW! Thanks so much..I need to do a little more research it appears. I remember Vancouver as huge and overwhelming...but that was 8 years ago and I have become a little more travel savvy...perhaps it will not be as daunting for us. One of the most spectacular photos we took was a view of the sky line of Vancouver from Stanley Park...the sky scrapers reflected in the water were beautiful. We will be alone (DH and I) and, although we do not like to do alot of walking, we are certainly capable. We love wine and food and Pike Place Market. We love to explore regional crafts and eats. I appreciate the info. Other suggestions certainly welcome.

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WOW! Thanks so much..I need to do a little more research it appears. I remember Vancouver as huge and overwhelming...but that was 8 years ago and I have become a little more travel savvy...perhaps it will not be as daunting for us. One of the most spectacular photos we took was a view of the sky line of Vancouver from Stanley Park...the sky scrapers reflected in the water were beautiful. We will be alone (DH and I) and, although we do not like to do alot of walking, we are certainly capable. We love wine and food and Pike Place Market. We love to explore regional crafts and eats. I appreciate the info. Other suggestions certainly welcome.

The good news is there's really very little walking *required* in Vancouver - even the Seawall has dedicated bike lanes, and cycling is an excellent way to see all of our downtown areas.

 

For even less calorie-burning, our public transit goes basically everywhere the HOHOs do and far more, at a fraction of the cost (less than $10 a day at most). It's a combined system so you can cruise over to North Vancouver on the Seabus, take a regular bus up to Grouse Mountain, and the Skytrain out to Richmond Night Market without needing to muck around with tickets for different agencies (the one exception is False Creek, where a couple of independent fleets of cute little ferries ply the waters).

 

All your Likes certainly point to Granville Island being a high value site for you to visit - between shopping, eating, and a little wandering around budget half a day. Depending how much time you have in town, and when it occurs, you might enjoy our Food Cart scene (summer Sundays there's a 'Fest' next to the Seawall on the south side of False Creek, near the old Athlete's Village but you can do your own minitasting by wandering a few blocks of downtown core at lunchtime - this site tracks cart locations, links to their websites with menus etc.)

 

Plenty of local restos offer a wide selection of local BC wines by the glass - one place we particularly enjoy is The Wine Bar, a spinoff of local staple Provence's Marinaside location. You can look at the swanky yachts outside, samples wines served literally by the ounce (no excuse not to try LOTS that way!) and nibble on a variety of very tasty and well-priced French tapas-type dishes - since it opened I've never actually set foot back in the main Provence resto, as TWB offers a much better value experience for me.

 

Locavore food is pretty much the norm for any mid- to high-end eaterie around Vancouver - you won't have any trouble finding regional grub. There's even an Aboriginal restaurant, Salmon'n'Bannock - a little out of the way for the normal Cruiser staying right downtown, but easily reached by transit or even on foot from Granville Island (NB: steeeeeeeeeep hill though!)

 

There'll be even more skyscrapers than 8 years ago, but the key sightlines remain unchanged (it's part of local building bylaws to keep 'view corridors' in place). The whole Athlete's Village area will be new to you and worth checking out - there's even a new 'island' built out into false creek that's already attracting a lot of local wildlife - as finally enough folks moved in to make it a real neighbourhood, with several shops & restos opened. Three different craft alehouses to choose from, one with possibly the best patio in the city (Tap & Barrel) though the food & house-brewed ales in Steel Toad make it our fave of the three (the third, Craft, we simply don't bother with as it offers nothing the other two don't do better and cheaper IMO).

 

The walk or cycle along the Seawall from GI to the Village now has several large art installations you might enjoy via the Biennale exhibition - the best of the bunch I think is the recent adorning of the Ocean Concrete silos with huge figures by Os Gemeos (look at the piece called Giants on the link above) but local kids seem to like 'love your beans' more, I can't recall not seeing someone clambering over them any time I've passed.

 

If you do make it over to the south side of the False Creek, you might find our local brewing explosion of interest - there's a triangle of popular new breweries with tasting rooms attached all within a few blocks centred on Main & 7th (and if Red Truck finally open their ludicrously-delayed resto, a fourth just a little south). All easily reached by the 19 bus that goes all the way to Stanley Park...

 

That's probably enough to chew on for now - ask for more info if you want it!

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