San Francisco to Vancouver roadtrip

ToxicPaddy

I'm heading to a friend's wedding in Vancouver next year and thinking of flying into San Francisco and doing a bit of a road trip before hand to Vancouver.

Has anyone done this?? If so any recommendations??

I'm thinking of spending about 5 days In San Francisco to do some sight seeing and then give myself 2 weeks to get to Vancouver with a few days spent in Portland and another few spent in Seattle.

Is this viable??

Can anyone recommend a good car hire company that does one way rentals for decent price??

Thanks

micosoft

Very doable (did it the other way). If you have time take the ferries from Seattle up to Vancouver, well worth it for the views. Coast road has fantastic views! Easy to get accommodation along the way in motels without booking and pretty cheap.

You biggest issue is renting in the states and returning it in Vancouver. That's super complicated from a car rental perspective - I'd suggest driving back to seattle (can do it in four hours) to fly home from Seatac. You can get pretty decent deals for a two week rental - just make sure they have an office both ends and airport to airport dropoffs tend to be cheaper.

dingding

Also you will need a hire company that will let you take the car out of the US and into Canada.

Should be a brilliant trip mean to do it sometime.

Please post how you get on if you take the trip, where you stayed, no of days etc....

The Peanut

It's a fantastic route!

Oregon and Washington are great states and Portland and Seattle are two great cities with great nightlife. As mentioned, the coastline is stunning in parts.

Depending on the month, it could be very cold and/or wet so plan accordingly.

You'll have no problems with the time - 2 weeks is loads.

ToxicPaddy

Cheers for the replies guys.

It will be in March so I'm expecting it to be cold and wet but that won't bother me too much. Growing up in Ireland made sure of that :P

I have a friend in Portland so I'll be staying with them which will save on the cost a little and also some insider knowledge on the sites and nightlife

I'm also looking at visiting Napa Valley on the way up to Portland.

Are there any towns you recommend staying in on the way between Napa and Portland?

That's a great idea about returning the rental in Seattle, will save the cost of returning in another country. But I'm also considering dropping the car in Seattle before I head to Vancouver as I won't need a car when there as I'll be staying downtown by the coast opposite Stanley Park.

I'm gonna take plenty of pics and notes on the journey and I'll pop the details on here when I get back..

Keep the suggestions coming. All information appreciated

InTheTrees

I've driven from the Bay area to Seattle quite a few times. I moved from the Bay Area to Seattle about ten years ago.

You can drive it in a couple of days so two weeks should be plenty.

InTheTrees

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

Are there any towns you recommend staying in on the way between Napa and Portland?

You should see Napa. Sonoma is the town to stay in.

Ashland, Oregon, is a good place to stop heading north.

Its a scenic little town in the mountains of southern oregon.

I dont usually recommend taking the freeway but Interstate Five between SF and Eugene, Oregon is a really pretty drive. When you go through the mountains at least.

InTheTrees

There's a few ways to get to Vancouver from Seattle.

I'd really recommend the ferry going via the San Juan Islands in Puget sound. You can also get a fast ferry from Seattle to Victoria on Vancouver Island, which is the capital city of BC, from there you get another ferry to Vancouver.

You can also take the train from Seattle to Vancouver.

There's also floatplanes to Vancouver.

helimachoptor

I was going to do this last year however the shut down killed my plans.

Plan was to do a few days in san fran, then yosemite, then crater lake (oregon).
also planned to go to Eureka, Coos Bay, Klamath falls.

I would defintely drive up to napa for a day its awesome, go to see the red woods.

If you have 2 weeks defintely take a look at various plans that are out there.
I would say stick to the coast, its the best part of it

iusedtoknow

2 weeks is loads of time for this.

Personally, I would make the first stop Napa, staying in Sonoma - it's real pretty up there - it's only 1 hour out of SF but it makes for a great over night. Driving up Napa valley to Healdsburg is great, and if you do it in the week it is usually pretty quiet (the weekends are very busy up there)

From there I would cut across to route 1 and follow that as far as it'll go. You'd probably need to go halfway to SF and cut over (stinson beach is the first town as you are heading North) It's a great coast line, and the fog is usually not as bad at that time of year. I-5 is pretty, but you basically will get to Oregon in 9 hours that way. What I love about the coastal route is that you usually see migrating whales (they spend their lives going up and down the coast). One of memories from doing this trip last year was seeing them diving out of the water, we had to pull over to watch as it was really distracting.

lonestargirl

The only think to be aware of is that to enter the US using ESTA you have to have a flight exiting the US booked.

micosoft

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

Cheers for the replies guys.

That's a great idea about returning the rental in Seattle, will save the cost of returning in another country. But I'm also considering dropping the car in Seattle before I head to Vancouver as I won't need a car when there as I'll be staying downtown by the coast opposite Stanley Park.

Sure - and as an idea you could take the ferry to Vancouver... more interesting then taking the bus straight to Vancouver and you get to see Victoria on the way.

Downtown Seattle to Victoria. Lovely compact City.

Victoria to Vancouver.

You leave downtown seattle and get dropped close to Victoria and Vancouver city centre. There are buses that leave Vancouver that will bring you straight to Seatac.

ToxicPaddy

lonestargirl wrote: »

The only think to be aware of is that to enter the US using ESTA you have to have a flight exiting the US booked.

I have an existing ETSA which doesn't expire until the middle 2015 and all flights will be booked in advance so I'll have all documentation ready before hand.

ToxicPaddy

micosoft wrote: »

Sure - and as an idea you could take the ferry to Vancouver... more interesting then taking the bus straight to Vancouver and you get to see Victoria on the way.

Downtown Seattle to Victoria. Lovely compact City.

Victoria to Vancouver.

You leave downtown seattle and get dropped close to Victoria and Vancouver city centre. There are buses that leave Vancouver that will bring you straight to Seatac.

Looks great. I was in Vancouver and Victoria a number of years ago but would love to go again.