I am trying to plan a a trip to Victoria this summer and I have a few questions.
1. What is Victoria like in the summer (July)?
2. Are there hotels that aren't crazy expensive? We like to spend more on outings rather than hotels.
3. How far is it from Seattle? It didn't look too far on the map.
4. If we wanted to spend a day in Seattle, is there an easy way to get there or no?
5. What are the best things to do in Victoria?
Hi there! I've lived in Victoria for 22 years, let me see if I can answer these for you.
1. July is usually really nice and not TOO hot. The key to Victoria is that we never get REALLY hot or REALLY cold. It is one of the most temperate cities in Canada. Average temperature is usually around 23C. That's around 73F.
2. This depends on 2 things. Where do you want to stay in Victoria and what do you define as "crazy expensive"? The hotels right in the inner harbour of Victoria are on the pricier side and you want to absolutely avoid anywhere on Gorge Road East. Trust me on that last one. If you can give a price range, I might be able to give you some decent places in that range.
3. Seattle is not too far, depending on how you get there. There are three main ways to get to Seattle from here. Fly, drive on ferry or passenger ferry.
Flying is of course the fastest way, especially if you take the seaplane from harbour to harbour. Round trip per person will run your around $320 USD.
If you have a car, you can take the Coho ferry from either downtown Victoria to Port Angeles then drive to Seattle. The Coho will cost your $62 for the car and driver plus $17.50 per passenger each way. The drive from Port Angeles to Seattle will take you around 2 1/2 hours.
The other car ferry option is to take the BC Ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawassen just outside of Vancouver and then drive down the I5 to Seattle. The cost is approximately the same as the Coho and the driving time to Seattle is also approximately the same. The difference between the two ferry choices is that the Coho requires you to arrive at the terminal 90 minutes prior to the ferry and you deal with customs before you leave Victoria. With the BC Ferry route, you drive across the border, usually via the Peace Arch crossing and that can take an unknown amount of time depending on how busy the border is.
Finally, you can take the passenger only ferry called the Victoria Clipper. If you buy your tickets last minute for the Clipper, the cost is $173 per adult for the round trip and kids 1-11 years old are only $86.50 but if you know in advance and buy your tickets 7 days in advance, the adult cost drops to $135 round trip and kids are only $35! The Clipper goes from harbour to harbour and take 2 3/4 hours. Clipper vacations also offers a Victoria to Seattle overnight package from $190 per adult.
4. See last paragraph above.
5. This really depends on what you like to do. A few things that are usually on the must do list are: Royal BC Museum, Butchart Gardens, whale watching tour, Ghostly walk tours, Maritime Museum, Miniature World, Beacon Hill park, Fisherman's Wharf and climbing Mount Doug. Point Ellice House is a bit of a hidden secret here, they have a lovely afternoon tea in the garden and then a tour of the historical house. I love heading downtown, taking a Harbour Ferry to Point Ellice House and having tea there.
Hope that helps a bit, please let me know if I can answer anything else. I love this city and I think it is really the loveliest place in Canada!
