How Long to Cross Canada/US border from Vancouver

[lilpooh108]

I'm planning our drive from Vancouver (post cruise) to Seattle.

How long is the wait to cross the border on a Saturday? Would like to plan lunch and potty breaks accordingly.

Thanks!

 

[Heard02]

We went mid-day on a Monday and waited nearly 1.5 hours.

 

[Nannabelle]

Our experience late morning was also about an hour and a half.....stay out of the right lane as people are merging from the "store & restroom" parking lot... That lane moved so slow and did not figure it out until we got up there. Nexus lane moved pretty fast if your "Entire" party gas Global Entry or Nexus...

 

[Tenkawa]

Well, http://bwt.cbp.gov/?com=0&pas=1&ped=0&plist=3004 for what it currently is.

Honestly most times it is under 40min on a weekend EXCEPT Saturday Morning gong south, which can hit an hour+ in summer.

The person who waited 1.5hrs was an outlier (unless it was a holiday weekend, then all bets are off).

One nice trick is download the WSDOT (Washington State Dept of Transport) app for Android (and I think iPhone too). It lists the border wait times both ways and is the most up to date.

 

[Tenkawa]

Our experience late morning was also about an hour and a half.....stay out of the right lane as people are merging from the "store & restroom" parking lot... That lane moved so slow and did not figure it out until we got up there. Nexus lane moved pretty fast if your "Entire" party gas Global Entry or Nexus...

To use the Nexus lane ALL members in the vehicle (including infants) must be registered Nexus/GOES/FAST members.

 

[lilpooh108]

Our experience late morning was also about an hour and a half.....stay out of the right lane as people are merging from the "store & restroom" parking lot... That lane moved so slow and did not figure it out until we got up there. Nexus lane moved pretty fast if your "Entire" party gas Global Entry or Nexus...

We have just regular passports. Which lane would u suggest? Will the wait be shorter after lunch? We're not in a hurry.

 

[deanimal]

We live right next to the border and can see the line from our window so I can give you the exact wait time: sometime between nothing and four hours. Sorry, but that's as accurate as you get! I've watched the border lines for years and I still can't predict anything. Weekend mornings are the longest lines, but they can suddenly get long at any time. I've gone over in fifteen minutes on a Saturday afternoon and waited two hours on a random Monday evening. I wish I could help you more, but I always just leave lots of time and resign myself to the fact that it will take whatever it takes. If you're planning snacks and bathroom breaks I'd be sure to get that in before getting in line and hope for the best!

 

[Nannabelle]

We have just regular passports. Which lane would u suggest? Will the wait be shorter after lunch? We're not in a hurry.

The right lane was twice as slow because of all the cars cutting in from the Rest Center parking lot....
USE THE LEFT LANES..no one is merging into that lane !

 

[lilpooh108]

We live right next to the border and can see the line from our window so I can give you the exact wait time: sometime between nothing and four hours. Sorry, but that's as accurate as you get! I've watched the border lines for years and I still can't predict anything. Weekend mornings are the longest lines, but they can suddenly get long at any time. I've gone over in fifteen minutes on a Saturday afternoon and waited two hours on a random Monday evening. I wish I could help you more, but I always just leave lots of time and resign myself to the fact that it will take whatever it takes. If you're planning snacks and bathroom breaks I'd be sure to get that in before getting in line and hope for the best!

Thanks! Due to everyone's posts here, we've decided not to try to get to Seattle until after lunch. I figure they'll be more people trying to get to SEA after cruises and such. We will see!

The right lane was twice as slow because of all the cars cutting in from the Rest Center parking lot....
USE THE LEFT LANES..no one is merging into that lane !

Great advice, I really hate being stuck in a lane where everyone else is passing me by

 

[Tenkawa]

There are a number of places along the way that have some good eats for lunch too. Bellingham and Mount Vernon both have good places.

In Mount Vernon I recommend the Callico Cupboard (excellent fresh bakes breads, home made soups and sandwiches. All made with a focus on local ingredients).

Bellingham has a number of places, but I would say that Bill McHale's on Meridian would be my overall pick.

If you aren't from California, then there is a Sonic drive-in in Ferndale (shortly before you reach Bellingham). The only one in the state I think.

Rough driving times from border:

Ferndale - 15 minutes
Bellingham - 20 minutes
Mount Vernon - 45 minutes
Everett - 1h15m
Seattle - 1h45m (to downtown)

It takes approx 30min-1 hour to get to the border from Vancouver, depending on where you are staying and what route you take.

 

[bumbershoot]

Probably not useful info for the OP, but there are other Sonics now. They are just all further south than Seattle.

 

[twentytoez]

We went mid-day on a Monday and waited nearly 1.5 hours.

1.5 hr in line at boarder?

 

[Freesia123]

I think an hour to an hour and a half is a fair estimate. When you get closer there is a sign stating the wait time. We always go to Spplebees in Bellingham!

 

[lilpooh108]

There are a number of places along the way that have some good eats for lunch too. Bellingham and Mount Vernon both have good places.

In Mount Vernon I recommend the Callico Cupboard (excellent fresh bakes breads, home made soups and sandwiches. All made with a focus on local ingredients).

Bellingham has a number of places, but I would say that Bill McHale's on Meridian would be my overall pick.

If you aren't from California, then there is a Sonic drive-in in Ferndale (shortly before you reach Bellingham). The only one in the state I think.

Rough driving times from border:

Ferndale - 15 minutes
Bellingham - 20 minutes
Mount Vernon - 45 minutes
Everett - 1h15m
Seattle - 1h45m (to downtown)

It takes approx 30min-1 hour to get to the border from Vancouver, depending on where you are staying and what route you take.

Thanks, this is very very helpful.

I looked on yelp and I think we're going to stop at Kamaaina Grindz in Everett on our way down to Seattle. Does anyone here recommend it (or not)?

On Sonic -- we have one 20 min from my house. When I was pregnant last time I craved it irrationally. My poor DH was constantly driving there at odd hours getting me the Coney footlong dog. Not healthy, I know.

 

[MousseauMob]

Is the other direction, heading into Vancouver the same times and advice to avoid the right lanes? . We'll be traveling on Thursday.

 

[MousseauMob]

Bumping in hopes of a reply to my question.

 

[jrabbit]

DCL's first summer in Alaska, the cruises were from Tuesday to Tuesday (according to the dates on my pictures, but that seems really odd to me ...)

If that's the case we crossed into Canada Sunday morning (spent the night in Seattle) and had less than a 15 minute wait.

Coming home right after the cruise, we waited between 2 and 2.5 hours to get back into the US. We left the ship, caught the SkyTrain to the airport where we left our car (best deal we could find - really only about $35 for the week) and drove straight to the boarder.

 

[MousseauMob]

Thanks!

 

[Nannabelle]

Is the other direction, heading into Vancouver the same times and advice to avoid the right lanes? . We'll be traveling on Thursday.

Sorry don't remember the Northbound US to Canada being as much an issue.... Just really remembered being really annoyed returning to the US when one lane was at a crawl (right lane) due to constantly having cars merging from the Rest Area/shop parking lot...
Now I know to stay out of that lane!

 

[lilpooh108]

So we're back!

For anyone else curious --- we drove from Vancouver to Seattle on Saturday at around 5pm.

The "Peach Arch" border entry point was about a 30 minute wait as posted, but in reality in took a bit longer than that just due to various cars doing weird stuff (like stopping and not starting again, etc).

I believe we missed most of the mid-day rush by spending the day in Vancouver.

The longest period of time actually was the 1 hour drive from downtown Vancouver to the Cit of Richmond. Stop and go the entire way, and I never realized that the 99 through that point is not a "real" freeway so there were lots of stoplights and delay. HTH someone!