Ferry

Washington State and Seattle to Victoria

Four companies provide a ferry link between Washington state and Victoria. Clipper Navigation (800/888-2535, www.clippervacations.com [5], adult US$86 one-way, US$140 round-trip) has a passenger-only service departing Seattle [6]’s Pier 69 up to five times daily in summer and less frequently the rest of the year. Washington State Ferries (206/464-6400, 250/381-1551, or 888/808-7977, www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries [7], adult US$16, senior US$8, youth US$12.80, vehicle and driver US$53.70) link Anacortes [8], north of Seattle, with Sidney [9], 32 kilometers (20 miles) north of Victoria. A link between Port Angeles [10] and Victoria is made by the MV Coho (250/386-2202 or 360/457-4491, www.cohoferry.com [11], adult US$11.50, child US$5.75, vehicle and driver US$44) year-round and the passenger-only Victoria Express (250/361-9144 or 360/452-8088, www.victoriaexpress.com [12], US$12.50 pp each way) in summer only.

Alaska Marine Highway System

The Alaska Marine Highway System (907/465-3941 or 800/642-0066, www.dot.state.ak.us [13] /amhs) is an extensive network of government-run ferries through Alaska’s Inside Passage [14] and along the British Columbia coast. Although these ferries don’t stop at Vancouver, their main southern terminus is just 70 kilometers (43 miles) away at Bellingham [15], in Washington state. Because of international border regulations, the only Canadian port of entry used by the ferry system is Prince Rupert [16] in northern British Columbia. Make all reservations as far in advance as possible.

From the southeastern Alaska town of Ketchikan [17], an alternative to the nonstop two-day trip to Bellingham is to catch an Alaska Marine Highway ferry to Prince Rupert [16], then a BC Ferries vessel to Port Hardy [18], at the northern tip of Vancouver Island [3], from where it’s a scenic drive down to Nanaimo [19] or Victoria for the short hop across the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver with BC Ferries. This is a great way to include Vancouver Island and Vancouver in your northern itinerary without backtracking and at a similar cost.