What goes good with a Pacific Shores week?

[sfwilshire]

I've never been to Western Canada. I just booked a June 2008 week at Pacific Shores. What would be my best bets to try to add to that?

I was thinking maybe a few days in Vancouver (can probably get that with RCI Points) and a week somewhere else interesting.

We enjoy scenic drives (so the Canadian Rockies would appeal), quaint or architecturally interesting towns, good seafood, coastal places --- beaches or rocky. Actually, we're pretty easy to please.

I've read a few of the Canadian, Washington, and Oregon TUG resort reviews, but haven't made it through enough to have a feel for the best places to look.

Sheila

 

[Luanne]

Definitely Vancouver. You might also want to spend a few days in Victoria.

 

[ricoba]

Luanne is right Vancouver and Victoria.

For a mountain area, try Whistler.

The Rockies are a long drive from Vancouver, but it is very pretty. The Trans Canada Hwy (the #1) can be quite slow going in the summer with all the tourists.

The Okanogan, Kelowna, Pentiction area is beautiful as well.

 

[glenn1000]

Definitely Vancouver. You might also want to spend a few days in Victoria.

I agree- Vancouver and Victoria would be excellent choices. We have used Priceline for hotels and gotten very good results. Two days in each city would probably suffice, at least for us. Tofino and the west coast of Vancouver Island would be another nice area to see.

Here's how I'd do the logisitics (we do a similar trip every summer, though we only add 1-2 days on to our Pacific Shores week): fly into Vancouver and spend two nights. If you want to see Whistler you could go up for a day or two. Take the ferry to VI and spend your week at Pacific Shores. Then do the other Vancouver Island locations and take the ferry back to Vancouver the day you leave.

 

[Luanne]

When we went to Victoria we stayed at the Admiral Inn. I highly recommend it. Great location (we walked everywhere). Their website has several great links for additonal area information.

http://www.admiral.bc.ca/

 

[BevL]

I like Glenn's itinerary. Whistler will give you some nice mountain scenery - if you want anything more spectacular, you'd pretty well have to drive almost to Alberta to Banff or Jasper.

Vancouver and Victoria, although both urban, are very different experiences. If you're doing a few days in each, try to stay in the Harbour area of Victoria. There's much to do within walking distance there. And for Vancouver, pretty much anything in the area of the four star hotels on Priceline is good. Tofino and the west coast of Vancouver Island is a very different experience, not much there other than resorts, B & Bs, a whole lot of sand and beautiful scenery. Good for a day or two.

If you decide to hotel it, I hope you'll post again and we can give you some more specific suggestions of areas to stay in and, in particular in Vancouver, areas to avoid.

Bev

 

[Dottie]

We enjoyed combining it with Tauca Lea on the west side of Vancouver Island.

 

[SherryS]

We combined with an Alaskan cruise!

 

[sfwilshire]

Wonderful suggestions. Thank you.

It seems that Whistler is very available in the summer. I'll be on vacation next week, so I'll read up on the resort reviews. I've been seeing one resort in Alberta available, but the reviews were pretty poor.

If we split a week between Victoria and Vancouver and add a week near the mountains, that should be enough to get me in trouble at work for being gone so long! :whoopie:

Maybe we'll save the western US coast for another summer. I've driven most of the length and loved it, but my family members have never been farther north than San Francisco. (In fact, my oldest son is there today for the basketball tournament at Stanford. He's in the college band.)

Cruising to Alaska is definitely on our "to do" list, especially since that's the only state in the US I haven't made it to yet.

Sheila

 

[John Cummings]

We are visiting all of those places mentioned except for the up-island locations. Our trip is all booked for this August but no timeshare. We are doing the Rocky Mountaineer Classic Circle train tour ( Gold Leaf Service ) from Vancouver - Whistler - Quesnel - Jasper AB - Kamploops - Vancouver. We have booked extra nights at the Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver, 2 nights at the Marriott Inner Harbor in Victoria and 3 nights at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle. This trip is more nostalgic for me because I lived in Victoria, Vancouver, and the Rockies ( BC ).

You should have a great time as long as the weather cooperates.

 

[glenn1000]

Maybe we'll save the western US coast for another summer. I've driven most of the length and loved it, but my family members have never been farther north than San Francisco.

Another option for the west coast is to do it as a day trip from Pacific Shores. We took a day trip to Ucluelet and Tofino, including a hike(Wild Pacific Trail to Florence Beach). It's a nice exposure to the area without the need to stay overnight.

 

[BevL]

I think Glenn means the west coast of Vancouver Island. If a person chose to do that in a day, I'd definitely want to do it on a bus. It's a long drive over some rather windy and steep roads. Beautiful, but if I was driving myself, I'd definitely overnight there.

 

[glenn1000]

Thanks Bev. I did mean the west coast of Vancouver Island. The west coast of the US would be a real challenge as a day trip!

I don't like driving and, although it wa a long day, found that the drive to the west coast of VI wasn't too bad. I believe we went on a weekday so did not have much traffic. We enjoyed stopping at several different spots and the ability to move around so I'm not sure that we would have enjoyed it in the same way on a bus trip.

 

[BevL]

Oh, that's good to know, Glenn. We did that jaunt last Easter and hit snow on some of the summits between Nanaimo and Tofino. It was harrowing, but that's an extreme, I know. We overnighted and came back the next day. Good to know that in normal circumstnaces it would be doable in a day.

Bev

 

[Canuck]

What about flying into Calgary and (fly out of Vancouver or Victoria), drive to the coast over a few days? Stop in Banff for a night or 2, Golden/Kicking Horse or Revelstoke for lunch. Overnight in Salmon Arm and then drive through to Vancouver for a few nights in the big city! The Rocky Mountains are amazingly pretty and you're almost guaranteed to see wild life!

I'm grew up in Victoria, and it is really lovely....so the other suggestions are great. Whatever itinerary you choose it will be wonderful! Enjoy the planning and have a safe trip!:whoopie:

PS Parksville and Qualicum on Vancouver Island are fun little towns. There is also a fun market called Coombs http://www.oldcountrymarket.com/

Sooke is about a 30 in drive from Victoria and has great walking trails and beautiful scenery. Lots of Eagles!!! http://www.vancouverisland.com/regions/towns/?townID=44
Great B & B & restaurant called Sooke Harbour House.

 

[Laurie]

If Canadian Rockies + scenic drives appeal, you might consider a whole timeshare week in Banff or Canmore to go along with your Pacific Shores. You could ferry to Vancouver, pick up a Canadian rental car, drive thru BC to Banff, drop car in Calgary (or vice versa) - flying open jaw to or from Calgary + Victoria or Vancouver, as Canuck suggested.

A couple summers ago, we started at Pacific Shores and ended in Banff. We picked up our car in Vancouver and dropped it in Calgary for a very reasonable rate.

(We spent a month - with more detours inbetween, such as an extra week in Victoria + Sooke and western Vancouver Island, then dipping down into USA for a week at Glacier NP in Montana - but you can do this in a 2-week period. Also there are different-day checkins so you might be able to have an open night inbetween, without losing a timeshare night. Osoyoos has the most incredible astronomy-observatory b&b, I'll look up the name if you need.)

We really enjoyed the driving between points, we got to see so much incredible scenery in BC and western Alberta. And I couldn't say which week was more incredible of these 2, but they were among our very favorite exchanges & destinations ever.

 

[sfwilshire]

It's a long drive over some rather windy and steep roads. Beautiful, but if I was driving myself, I'd definitely overnight there.

DH, the primary driver, thought the Road to Hana was a breeze, so I doubt this one would bother him either.

Thanks for the great tips. If I ever get this year's June vacation planned, I'll get more serious about next year!

Sheila