Visiting Seattle, is a day trip to Vancouver doable? (Bellingham: rental, homes)

[Redlionjr]

How's it going! So me and my large family are having our yearly summer vacation and Seattle is one of the cities we are considering going to in 2024.

It'll be 12 of us. 7 Adults, 3 teenagers, 1 child and 1 toddler. We'll be staying in a rental home in Renton for 5 nights. On one of the days we wanted to drive to Vancouver and spend a couple of hours there. This will be everyone's first time in Washington and in Canada.

I was wondering how easy of a drive is it to Vancouver from the Seattle area? Is it a good idea to take a large group to Vancouver for a day trip? How is the drive back to Seattle at night time?

Any recommendations for a memorable day trip in Vancouver?

Thanks in advance!

[CrazyDonkey]

Amtrak Cascades

Depart King Street Station (SEA): 7:50 am
Arrive Pacific Central Station (VAC): 11:50 am

Depart Pacific Central Station (VAC): 5:45 pm
Arrive King Street Station (SEA): 10:10 pm

Adults: $41 - $47 (Tu-Sa) $78-82 (Su-Mo) RT (this week's
Seniors (10% off)
2-12 (50% off)
<2: Free

Arrive early to nab "water-side" seats - lounge seats also available for sight-seeing.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

How's it going! So me and my large family are having our yearly summer vacation and Seattle is one of the cities we are considering going to in 2024.

It'll be 12 of us. 7 Adults, 3 teenagers, 1 child and 1 toddler. We'll be staying in a rental home in Renton for 5 nights. On one of the days we wanted to drive to Vancouver and spend a couple of hours there. This will be everyone's first time in Washington and in Canada.

I was wondering how easy of a drive is it to Vancouver from the Seattle area? Is it a good idea to take a large group to Vancouver for a day trip? How is the drive back to Seattle at night time?

Any recommendations for a memorable day trip in Vancouver?

Thanks in advance!

Leave super early and come back late. It is doable but a long day. Don’t miss Stanley Park and Granville Island.

[Gardyloo]

From Renton you're looking at around 3 hours' drive time plus whatever delays you encounter at the border, so call it 4 hours door to door best case. It's certainly doable; I've done it I don't know how many times, but it's a long day. You'll have long daylight hours in the summer, so if you get away around, say, 7 AM you can be in Vancouver before lunch, then leave at 5 or so and still be back in Renton before dark. It's a long day for kids, especially a toddler, but you know your group. I'd do this on a weekday to minimize border delays, but Vancouver-area traffic is no picnic. Remember everyone will need passports.

The train is nice but managing a big group on the ground in Vancouver - cabs, Ubers... would be a major pain. Remember a car seat for the toddler, maybe the child depending on age.

No idea of your overall plans, but an overnight in Vancouver would be SO much better.

[CalWorth]

Unrealistic. Tourist traffic in western Washington in summer sucks! Border crossing is unpredictable. Plan for an overnight.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

Don’t miss Stanley Park and Granville Island.

If you all end up going, these are probably the two best recommendations since you won't want to add too many sites for a short day with a large group. These are probably the two best destinations to keep a large family busy for the day. Stanley Park is scenic, relaxing, and has beaches, biking, gardens, an aquarium, totem poles, and forested trails all right on the edge of downtown. The park is enormous and very photogenic with lots of mountain, water, and city views. You could easily fill a whole day there and it's easy to get to from the train station. Granville Island is a busy public market and will have a large food selection to likely satisfy everyone's palate.

[StealthRabbit]

Don't do this trip on a Friday, Saturday, or Monday.

Passports required. (Since everyone won't have Nexus,, Global Entry, or Enhanced ID)

Check the wait times at crossings (I usually use Lynden, or Truck crossing.)

Leave real early (2-3AM) come back real late. After midnight. (Sunday evening will be crowded, but I prefer Sundays in metro and BC, as you'll certainly find a Cricket game to watch). Less traffic, but some stuff might be closed.

Be very courteous, and brief with border security.
Don't bring forbidden items.

Getting back into USA is usually the biggest problem.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Don't do this trip on a Friday, Saturday, or Monday.

Passports required. (Since everyone won't have Nexus,, Global Entry, or Enhanced ID)

Check the wait times at crossings (I usually use Lynden, or Truck crossing.)

Leave real early (2-3AM) come back real late. After midnight. (Sunday evening will be crowded, but I prefer Sundays in metro and BC, as you'll certainly find a Cricket game to watch). Less traffic, but some stuff might be closed.

Be very courteous, and brief with border security.
Don't bring forbidden items.

Getting back into USA is usually the biggest problem.

Good advice, Stealth, though I’d narrow the “ideal window” to Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. My wife headed up there about a month ago. We sucked it up, made early coffee and left central Seattle at 5am. That let us blow past Snohomish County and Bellingham before any traffic, Peace Arch border crossing was quite mellow with just like a 6 car wait.

[Natnasci]

If it were just two adults, I'd say it's doable. Exhausting though. If you are driving, border delays in summer can be in the hours.
Then you have the George Massey Tunnel to contend with. It has counterflow lanes, that may not be in your favour, and that can add significant time to the trip, especially if a BC Ferry has just unloaded hundreds of cars heading the same way.

On a good day after crossing the border the trip will take about one hour into the city centre, but in summer the chances of this diminish. So four hours door to door is a good window for EACH way.

If you are driving, parking on Granville Island is practically impossible. Too busy. Stanley Park charges for parking. Having a car in downtown Vancouver is more of a hinderance. The freeway ends at the city's border, so it's surface roads into downtown. Also, check your dates, and make sure it's not a holiday. Many Americans arrive on July 1st, or the first Monday in August, and wonder why traffic is a nightmare. As said, avoid weekends if possible. Summer is a very busy time.

With a large group, the train may be the better option. That way you can leave the Pacific Central Station, and walk across to the Skytrain to take you into downtown proper. The nearest station to Stanley Park is Waterfront Station, then about a 10 to 15 minute walk. Nice views though. If you end up at English Bay by Stanley Park, you could walk the 30 minutes along the seawall ( probably longer with a group and children )until you get to one of the small ferry services that can take you to Granville Island ( which isn't really an island ). Again this will cost more money. These are small boats so you may have to break the group into two.

Honestly, I just don't think you will have enough time to enjoy the day. A lot of effort for, hopefully, a few hours.

[87112]

Monday is a good day for traffic around here. Thursday is the worst, by far.

So I would go up Monday, however things are pretty dead on Mondays up there.