Driving from Seattle to Vancouver

[DLgeeks]

For the Alaska cruisers out there has anyone done the trip between Seattle and Vancouver by car?

We will be flying into Vancouver direct a couple of days before the cruise, but will be heading down to visit family in the Seattle area afterward for a bit. Originally I was looking at flying down since it's a short hop, but it looks like driving may be a cheaper and possible quicker way to go. We're a family of four so the 4 plane tickets vs 1 car (that we'd be renting in Seattle on the other end if we flew) would make a difference.

Just wondering how the drive is, and how easy the boarder crossing process is? Is a 3-4 hr drive time on a Monday (late morning to early afternoon) realistic?

The train seems like a neat alternative, but with two little ones to entertain I like the flexibility that a car would give.

 

[CM Dad]

For the Alaska cruisers out there has anyone done the trip between Seattle and Vancouver by car?

We will be flying into Vancouver direct a couple of days before the cruise, but will be heading down to visit family in the Seattle area afterward for a bit. Originally I was looking at flying down since it's a short hop, but it looks like driving may be a cheaper and possible quicker way to go. We're a family of four so the 4 plane tickets vs 1 car (that we'd be renting in Seattle on the other end if we flew) would make a difference.

Just wondering how the drive is, and how easy the boarder crossing process is? Is a 3-4 hr drive time on a Monday (late morning to early afternoon) realistic?

The train seems like a neat alternative, but with two little ones to entertain I like the flexibility that a car would give.

My wife and I did the train both ways. You like the flexibility that a car would give you, but if you take the train, the little ones woulnd not need to be in a car seat the whole time. They could get up and move around.

 

[southerngirl528]

I'm with CM Dad. My DS lives in Seattle so when we cruised to Alaska a couple of years ago, we all took the Cascades train to Seattle. We had a barely 3 & 5 y.o. in the party. The train was awesome for them. AND us. To me the big down side to the train is that there is ONLY an early morning and an evening train. So you would want to sightsee around Vancouver and then grab the train.

Just did the Hawaii to Vancouver sailing a few weeks back and because we had very limited time, i did buy plane tickets for DD & myself to give us more time with my DS and DIL. Had we had more time, I would have very much enjoyed doing the train again. I have not driven but that certainly does seem the most economical option.

 

[bumbershoot]

It's funny how a 50 minute flight becomes 4 hours when you include the whole arriving 3 hours before an international flight thing. Terrific flight, though.

The train is actually quite awesome for kids, because they can move around. Of course, that means YOU get to move around with them. You go along the water for quite a good amount of time, which is just lovely. Since you're talking about a cruise, you're talking summer, and the views are lovely. We were just in Vancouver last month, and the 5pm train isn't as nice in October, because you're just looking out into the blackness for most of the trip.

If you stop multiple times because of the kids, you're losing that 3-4 hour estimate for driving.

The crossing can take awhile, but we've never had it be awful. Make sure they understand that you might be stopped for a little bit.

If you get any Kindereggs while in Vancouver, for gosh sakes eat them before you get to the border. They are literally illegal in the US b/c the US bans food with toys in it. DS, who is 11, asked me "but what about cereal with a prize in it?" (which he has heard about, but, poor kid, has never eaten) He has a great point. Kinderegg is a big hard plastic egg that NO ONE could swallow, with a toy inside of that WELL sealed thing, covered in a crispy shell with chocolate over it. I think the US legislators who made it illegal had zero clue about what they were talking about. Anyway, you don't want to be fined. So if you get them, eat them before crossing the border. They don't seem to care about the toys inside.

If you or your spouse were big Psych fans, I'd rent the car and then force the family to stop in White Rock on the way to the border. They filmed there quite a bit.

 

[xlxo]

Just wondering how the drive is, and how easy the boarder crossing process is? Is a 3-4 hr drive time on a Monday (late morning to early afternoon) realistic?

to clarify.... which sailing date? Long weekends can get ugly!

 

[DLgeeks]

We're on the June 13-20th sailing so no long weekends to deal with. The train seems like a nice idea in theory, but it wouldn't be all that helpful time-wise due to their limited departure schedule and the fact that we'd still need to figure out a rental car once we got to Seattle, and we'll still be dealing with car seats at that point. I like the idea of being able to just pick up a car at the port, load up and go at our own pace. As opposed to schlepping 4 people and luggage through multiple modes of transport.

Anywhere else interesting to stop along the way? We don't have any set time we need to be anywhere so I'm all for taking in the sites along the way!

 

[MUN]

Last year we flew into Seattle and drove between Seattle and Vancouver. The drive was easy and traffic wasn't too bad. Crossing into the US was more time consuming than Canada. Our cruise was about the same time as yours. The hardest part was finding the rental car agency in downtown Seattle.

 

[xlxo]

Anywhere else interesting to stop along the way? We don't have any set time we need to be anywhere so I'm all for taking in the sites along the way!

Hmm.... a few diversions along the way....

• Future of Flight is the first thing that comes to mind North of Seattle. There's also the Museam of Flight, but that's South of Seattle.
  http://www.futureofflight.org/
• Seattle Premium Outlets is a popular pitstop
• for cruisers in April.... La Connor for the Tulip Festival
• Bellis Fair for more shopping
• Ferndale gas stations is a worthy stop while heading North in Vancouver to avoid taxes.
• Storybrooke/Steveston as you approach Vancouver
• Vanduzen Gardens or Queen Elizabeth Park when in Vancouver
• Fly Over Canada once you are in Vancouver

Once in Vancouver.... are you keeping the car overnight? Consider hotels in nearby Richmond for free or cheaper parking rates compared to downtown Vancouver. The Richmond Raddison is my fav haunt.

For those with multi night stays with a car....

• Whistler and/or Victoria for a day trip in Canada?
• Leavenworth is 2hrs East of Seattle.
  http://www.leavenworth.org/attractions
• Mt St Helens is a good stop 3.5 hrs South of Seattle.

 

[lunaland]

I live about 45 minutes north of Seattle. I have taken many day trips to Vancouver, driving up in the AM, spending the day in Vancouver and driving back in the PM. Its an easy drive and especially going one way should be just fine. I love trains, but the convenience of a car is a much better idea, IMO.

 

[KristiMc]

We did two one-way rentals. We rented through Alamo which has a location inside the terminal. It was very easy. I liked the idea of the train but the schedules didn't work with our timeframe.

 

[tyarbrough]

We plan on driving for June 6, 2016.

Has anyone booked with National to drive to Vancouver and back to Seattle-Tacoma? I booked a one-way to Vancouver, but I'm unable to book a one-way back to Seattle through their website.

 

[bumbershoot]

but I'm unable to book a one-way back to Seattle through their website.

Is there an error message, or does it say that cars aren't available, etc? What is not allowing you to book? Sometimes with National I have found that they are super-picky about the name you're using for location. When that happens I have to go back into the main list of countries/states and start from the beginning, to choose pickup and dropoff places.

 

[Karlzmom]

We plan on driving for June 6, 2016.

Has anyone booked with National to drive to Vancouver and back to Seattle-Tacoma? I booked a one-way to Vancouver, but I'm unable to book a one-way back to Seattle through their website.

We used National for two 1-way rentals last year. Here are a couple things to consider. First, all car rentals at Seattle are off site of the airport. Might not be a big deal, but it is worth noting. You'll have to hop on a shuttle bus to get out the cars and make sure that if you pull driving directions from Seattle to Vancouver that you make your start point the car terminal.

The cruise ship terminal has a desk to pick up the cars after your cruise. Be aware they share a single desk with Alamo and lines can be VERY long. In hindsight, I wished I'd gone off-sight to pick up the car and then just driven back to pick up the family and luggage. Very, very long wait and they didn't have the class of car I reserved when it was all said and done.

National, as stated above, can be very fussy about locations, hours etc. You may have to play a bit with options to find one that will work for you. Also, make sure you check the other companies as National has really gotten crazy expensive. I kind of resent paying a premium for my own loyalty - my last rental I bit the bullet and hopped to Alamo only to be directed to a vehicle on the aisle by the attendant for less than 1/3 the cost if I booked the aisle directly! Good luck.