Need suggestion for a short trip in Vancouver/Victoria suggestion, Victoria, trip, short, Need

hirokendo

Hi there

I will have 2 friends come over from LA, California, USA and stay in BC for 3 days 2 nights during the USA Memorial weekend. Their tentatively schedule is as follows, may I know is the itinerary is too much for Day 1 ?

Do you guys / gals have any other suggestions for this trip in Vancouver / Victoria ?

Is it better off to fly from LA to Vancouver rather than drive from Seattle to Vancouver ?

Please feel free to express your 2 cents here.

Many thanks in advance.

Day 1 Los Angeles → Vancouver
Est. Arrives YVR around noon time or earlier/SEA around 10AM
Vancouver Downtown, Stanley Park, Gas Town, China Town, Queen Elizabeth Park, Richmond, Steveston Village, Capilano Suspension Bridge, Lighthouse Park, University of British Columbia
Day 2 Vancouver → Victoria → Vancouver
Butchart Garden, Parliament Buildings, Victoria Inner Harbour, Royal Road University, The Fairmont Empress Hotel, Beacon Hill Park, University of Victoria, Victoria Chinatown
Day 3 Vancouver → Los Angeles
Est. Departs YVR/SEA around 6PM or later
Places that are not visited in Day 1.

akshea

how old are ur friends ? are they white or chinese ?? Do they go HK often ?? they like Chinese food ?
I would take them out for some chinese or jap Food for sure..
I don't know if they would be interested in seeing the parks. They are all the same... for me anyways. ahha

qqmaro

Here are some of the suggestion for Victoria trip:

You can start the day by going to Butchart Garden early in the Morning
It is a really big place so may be 2 hrs.

Parliament Buildings, Victoria Inner Harbour, The Fairmont Empress Hotel is in the same area. You may also want to have a quick visit at the Royal British Museum (around 2 hrs) or Wax Museum (around 45 min), they are in the same area as well.

High Tea in Empress Hotel is quite special, (if you guys are interested to spend some relax chatting time) $ 40 per person. Make sure you call in advance to make reservation.
Depends how long you would like to chat, I would say around 1hr to 1 1/2 hrs

I will skip Beacon Hill Park. There is not much to see other than trees.

As for Chinatown, that is a really small street, mostly are Chinese restaurant, only 3or 4 Chinese shops selling really nothing special. 15 to 20 min Max (don’t have too high expectation)

If you are really good at looking at maps and finding directions, you may also wish to drive from down town up to University of Victoria area by driving along Beach Dr . You will be driving along the water, really nice ocean view. There are some stop point along the way.

I would really suggest going on Mt Tolmie Park. It is not really a park, it is a small mountain. All you do is drive up to the top, then you will be able to see all around, most of Victoria, the seaside, university of Victoria. It is quite nice view and give you quite an idea of Victoria (10 -15 mins)


My suggestion , your plans as follows:

Breakfast on Ferry ->Butchart Garden -> Fairmont Empress Hotel -> Parliament -> (may be Royal British Museum / Wax Museum) Walk back towards downtown area via Inner Harbour -> Lunch at Empress (High Tea) or at downtown -> Downtown -> China town ->  Drive along Beach Dr ->Mt Tolmie -> University of Victoria

Dinner, depends on your time, you might want to stop by at Sidney, or have late dinner back in Vancouver

canuck

Day 1 seems a bit hectic to me...do u really have to cover all those places?

myversa

Yes Day 1 you should focus on Northern part of Vancouver while Day 3 you can focus on Richmond or southern part of Vancouver.