Vancouver Travel Forum

Hello Travellers. My husband and I are coming to Canada / USA for a wedding in July (we arrive in Vancouver on 28 June). The wedding is in Longview, WA on 11 July, so we have almost 2 weeks to explore. We have bought the Lonely Planet Pacific Northwest, but are having trouble deciding what is really worth seeing. Do you have any suggestions as to what we should definitely see in, around and between Vancouver and Longview. We will have a car, a medium budget and we'd like to fit in a couple of days at a nice Pacific beach. Many thanks in advance.

Welcome to VT and soon Canada and USA. The Northwest part of the United States and the Vancouver area are very pretty. I have been there a number of times on business and have 2 college friends that live in the area.

You can visit a number of Vancouver sites here on VT which should give you many ideas on what to see and do. A few suggestions I can give you from our trip to Vancouver 5 years ago are to spend some time at Granville Island in Vancouver and then take a ferry boat ride over to Victoria and visit Butchart Gardens. My information on Vancouver is still in progress (transferring pictures from older computer), but that several I have out there are from Butchart Gardens at the end of May. http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/f8615/dc80f/

You will pass through Seattle so you could take a Harbor tour and make sure to visit Pike Market.

A few of the things a little further off the highway for you to try are Mt. Rainer and if you want to get a little more off the beaten path you could go to Leavenworth, Washington which is on the eastern side of the Cascade Moutains and is similar to a Bavarian Village (I have never been to Germany, so I can't make a real comparison). This is the area of Washington where all the delicious fruits come from.

The famous Whistler/Blackcomb mountain is not too far from Vancouver and even though it's a little touristy, it's a beautiful area. I'm not sure if this is your thing, but I rented mountain bikes in the summer and did that on Whistler. It was a blast! You don't have to be crazy biking down the mountain, either. You didn't say how old you are, but we had a bunch of us (family reunion) from teenagers to my mother in her 50's (and whom is admittedly NOT a thrill seeker) and we all (even mom) very much enjoyed the experience and it was a highlight of our Vancouver vacation!

It will most likely be very beautiful here in the Seattle area in late July. A nice drive up to the Mt. Rainier area would be a good idea, as well as the possibility of visiting the Mt. St. Helens site. Also, from the Seattle waterfront you can take the ferry to Bainbridge Island and from there drive to the Olympic Peninsula, near to Olympic National Park. Of course, Seattle itself has so much to offer, as does Vancouver and Victoria, B.C..

The idea of a nice Pacific beach in the Pacific Northwest is vastly different than the beaches of California, or even Oregon. There are many beautiful waterfront parks and beach areas around the Puget Sound, but the beaches of Washington on the Pacific Ocean are rugged and windy most of the time. The water is chilly, not conducive to swimming without a wet suit.

Whatever you choose to do I hope you will enjoy your time here.

By the tone of your post I get the feeling you are talking about Vancouver Washington not Vancouver BC (Canada). Both Longview and Vancouver Wa are fairly small cities. You will need to plan to go elsewhere to keep yourself occupied for 2 weeks. Fortunately, the Oregon coast is oly about an hour away fron Longview. I would suggest getting some literature on the Oregon coast and starting in Astorias and heading South ont on hwy 101. There is a multitude of things to do on this stretch of road and covers all interests. With all the stops and sight seeing you can realistically spend 2 weeks just getting to Gold Beach near the South of Oregon.

I would suggest (naturally) that you plan to spend a couple of days at least on Vancouver Island. A truly beautiful Pacific beach can be found in Tofino which is on the West Coast of the Island. I have some pictures on my pages. Canuck68. I think you would enjoy visiting some of the little towns along the way from the ferry from Vancouver....such as Chemainus and Qualicum Beach.

Hi - strange, my wife and I and another couple were in this same situation about 3 weeks ago (our wedding was in Victoria and we only had 10 days to explore). During our free days we had time to visit Vancouver, Victoria, and Whistler. All were great and all had things to do for everybody. I think we would have liked to explre Vancouver Island a little longer and been able to go to Tofino, but we did not have enough time. We booked through a company located in Victoria called Destination 48 North. Very helpful and very knowledgable for anything to do with British Columbia.

U. Jesper

You are going to be on the West Coast at a great time of year! If you have the time to take a detour to Vancouver Island, you should definately check out Tofino and Long Beach for a few days(the rest of the beaches along the west coast are lovely, but islands block them from getting waves and thus beautiful stretches of sand like Long Beach). It's a great little town to spend a few days.

If you are driving down through Washington, a nice way to get off the highway between Vancouver and Seattle is Chuckanut Drive - you will twist your way through beautiful forests, country side and farms (there are a couple of creameries you can stop at to pick up some fresh cheese products, and you can stop at Larabee state park for some nice views of the San Juan Islands.

In and around Vancouver, be sure to visit Stanley Park (and the Vancouver Aquarium), English Bay, Grouse Mountain (hike up it if you feel adventurous), Lynn Valley suspension bridge is a nice, free alternative to the Capilano Suspension bridge (not as big, but much less touristy and still nice and easy to walk down to), Cypress lookout for views of the city.

Just north of Seattle in Everett is the Boeing Factory, home to the world's largest building in volume, and they offer tours of the facility. If you stop in Seattle, things worth seeing are: The Space Needle and Gehry's creation - the Experience Music Project, (The Space Needle was built for the 1962 World's fair and is home to the world's first revolving restaurant, and the monorail built there was the world's first full scale monorail), the Underground tour (runs a bit long, but really interesting), and Pike Place Market (world's first Starbucks is here - beware, it will be very crowded on a weekend day!)

There are also many wineries near Seattle in Woodinvale that are nice to stop at. Chateau Ste Michelle offers free tours with a tasting at the end, and Columbia wineries, across the road, offers tastings for $5.

Also not far from Seattle and worth checking out are Snoqualmie Falls, a 268 foot high waterfall, known for appearing in the television show 'Twin Peaks'.

Unfortunately I haven't been any further south than Seattle, so I don't have any advice for anything down past it.

If you plan to hike, there are hundred of great hikes all over BC and Washington with outstanding views.