Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

OK - summer vacation all booked, sort of. Loose itinerary of road trip down to Idaho and then head west through Washington State and short city visit to Seattle, then ferry up to Victoria and staying a week on the Island (but based in Victoria). Driving back through BC to Calgary.

What to do folks? Places to see, visit and dine?

Two teenage girls in tow - 16 and 14. Ideas please? :D

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

Read up on The Great Divide so you can deliver an informed lecture to your kids when you cross it and thus reinforce the myth of parental superiority. Leave a couple of days early so instead of barreling through the panhandle and eastern Washington @ 75 mph you get to stop a couple of nights at places that just look right and appreciate how beautiful it is, (I had to keep going, but wished I'd had time). If you stop in Spokane and you camp there's a good campground NW of town called 9 Mile on Lake Spokane and you can book online or by phone. When I travelled south from Osooyos to Spokane there was zero cell phone reception all the way so be prepared for dead spots. Most importantly be safe and have fun!

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

'Teenage girls, is Twilight still a thing for them? If it is, Port Angeles (where I assume you will be getting the ferry) is where Bella and Edward had their first date, maybe have lunch there.

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

Seattle - if they're into films, music, popular culture etc they might like the EMP Museum.

Victoria - I've not been, but Adrenaline zipline near Sooke looks fun. If they're into the outdoors, there are a few kayak tours from the Inner Harbour. There's also a newish company doing bike tours called The Pedaler. They do a "hoppy hour" tour of breweries, but I guess you have to be 19 for that one! Whale watching tours are expensive, but you have a good chance of spotting loads of orcas. Fish and chips or ice cream at Fisherman's Wharf is lovely on a sunny day - lots of floating houses there and you can watch the harbour ferries and floatplanes coming in and out (you can get there by harbour ferry too).

If they're into shopping, there are some nice independent clothes shops on Lower Johnson Street (LoJo is the trendy name for it!). There are a few summer markets too. Moss St Market on Saturday mornings is really busy in summer and has food stalls, crafts, live music etc. Sidney night market on Thursday evenings (I think - check!) is really bustling too. The new Victoria Public Market is worth checking out - just opened in the autumn in the Hudson building and is a great spot to grab lunch.

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

A neat thing in Seattle:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

Which route are you planning to use over the Cascades?

A whale watching trip on a Zociac from Victoria will be memorable.

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

Some of our crowd did that last Autumn. They got very damp indeed. All smiles when they came back.

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

The BC museum is worth a visit. Great section on first nations history. Fort Rodd is a nice couple of hours meander. Nice views from the top of the Malahat heading out of Victoria (north). Duncan is the city of totems (city in the loosest sense of the word). Botanical Beach to the west of Vic along the coast is a site of international scientific interest (or something like that). Make sure you get the tides right though!

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

Have to do the ol' Butchart Gardens if you haven't been before (it's a nice walk even if the teens aren't into that kind of stuff).

Float plane trip would be cool.

Second (or third) the zodiac boat whale watching. Even if you don't see any whales its a lot of fun.

The open top bus tour round Victoria is fun and helps you get your bearings (and they take you past Tom Selleck's mansion - oooo)

It was closed last time we were there, but you used to be able to get the VIA train up the island a bit (but very limited service).

Take a trip to some of the smaller islands - I think its Salt Spring that had a little crafty artsy kind of market.

Its been a couple of years since we went but if you are downtown and walk around the harbour edge heading right, you end up at Spinnakers pub. Tasty food and beer (and you can get those little 'put put' boats there too). On the way round there is a fish and chip shack on the quayside which was really good too (not barb's Place - thats the other way round)

Also another vote for the Seattle underground tour. Pike Place Market is ok if thats your cup of tea.

Tofino is worth a visit if you haven't already booked your Victoria accommodation, but its about a five hour drive from Victoria though, so you would probably want an overnight stay - one of my favourite places ever - it seems like you are at the end of the world!

Also, on the way back from Victoria you could drive up to Nanaimo and get the ferry back to Vancouver for a change of scenery maybe.

You could try and visit some of the places in here too! http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

If you're more on the adventurous side, I'd suggest bungee jumping off a bridge on the Nanaimo River. I know a guy who videotaped himself doing it once. It looks fun but a bit off-putting.

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

Ditch this kids Ive got some truly great bar recommendations in Seattle... :thumbup:

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

Ooh, lots of ideas, thank you so much guys! Keep 'em coming. Always better to hear from real life experiences than blindly follow pretty pictures in a brochure.

Do we need to sharpen our banjos when crossing Washington or am I stereotyping? ;). Where else should we stop off through that State?

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

Depends on what road you take over the cascades. I think highway 2 is nicer, and Leavenworth is not a bad faux German, a bit silly but not unpleasant, tourist town but interstate 90 will probably be faster, if you take 90, then Snoqualmie Falls is worth a stop. The Salish Lodge, at the falls has a great breakfast/brunch, and if a fan of "Twin Peaks" stop for pie in North Bend.

Better still, and much more beautiful, is highway 20, but further north. Winthrop, make a nice stop on the way, another silly tourist town, this time with a western feel.

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

http://adventureawaits.com/wp-conten...d1-725x400.jpgOhh, for Eastern Washington, nearly forgot as it is some place I have never been, but it looks well worth seeing is Palouse Falls.

Re: Visiting Van Island for me holidays!
 

You live in Alberta. It will be just like home. :)

You can check this website nearer the time to see if there is anything the girls might enjoy when you are in Seattle. http://seattledances.com/

If you are crossing the Cascades through Stevens Pass (Hwy 2) you start by going through a pleasant fruit growing and Orchard Area. Just before you reach the mountains there is the town of Leavenworth which is dressed up to look like a Bavarian village. More Bavarian than Bavaria but fun for a wander round. If you fancy schnitzel for lunch this is the place to stop. There is a popular white water rafting route down the Wenatchee river to Cashmere. It is fairly gentle and good for a first rafting trip.

There is a ski resort at the summit of the pass but it is not especially scenic apart from the imposing rock wall of Index Mountain. The north Cascades Highway (SR20) is a more scenic and exciting drive but it is much slower and will bring you to the I5 at least an hour north of Seattle. The other main route from Spokane is Hwy 90 but I have not driven this.

In Victoria I agree that you will enjoy Buchart Gardens, but I am not convinced two teenage girls will feel the same. I would also try the drive through Sooke to Port Renfrew. There are several scenic beaches along the way.

Tofino and Ucluelet are worth the drive. As said above, you will need an overnight stop. I recommend the Best Western Tin Wis Resort.