Cheapest Way from Downtown Vancouver to Victoria BC
May 16, 2008 | 2:58 pmOn my recent trip to Vancouver, one of the recommended sights was to visit the town of Victoria, BC, located on Vancouver Island (this means, about 70 kms away from the city of Vancouver downtown). So as i began researching the best way to get there, all i found online was taking the pre-packaged trip: downtown Vancouver to Tsawwassen on Pacific Coach (1hr), crossing on the BC Ferries (1.5 hrs), and back on the Pacific Coach to Victoria (1hr). The total cost for this package is $86 per person. This seemed so expensive to me, but i couldn’t understand why all my google searches ONLY came up with this option. In fact, even on the ferry, the only transportation they promote is the Pacific Coach transportation, they obviously have some arrangement.
Well, i’m here to tell you that THERE IS A CHEAPER WAY TO GET FROM DOWTOWN VANCOUVER TO VICTORIA, BC. The trip took 4.5hrs instead of 3.5 but it cost $40 return per person instead!
- Step 1: Go to any 7/11 store and buy a day pass, this will cover most of your trip.
- Step 2: For the next 2 steps, use the BC transit system to plan your trip.
A. You need to find your way from wherever you are in downtown Vancouver to the Ladner Exchange. The direct bus, most probably, that you will take is the 601 South that goes down Howe Street in downtown vancouver all the way to the Ladner Exchange in Delta. You can use your day pass for this part of the trip.
B. From there, just change bus platforms (5 meters between each, and each bus waits for the next so no worries) to take the 620 from Ladner Exchange to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. You can use your day pass for this part of the trip. - Step 3: This part is the same for everyone, you have to take the BC Ferries from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, the cost is $13 each way (and you can only book one way, you’ll have to get your return ticket on the way back). Obviously, here, you can’t use your day pass for this.
- Step 4: Next, as soon as you get off the ferry, right there in the Swatz Bay parking lot, you will find the Victoria local transit buse waiting for you. Get on the 70X (X is for Express, you could also take the 70B, but that would just take longer). HAVE EXACT CHANGE, cost is $2.50. The bus takes another hour and takes you to the heart of downtown Victoria.
So, $9 for the day pass, $13×2 for the ferry and $2.50 for the bus: $40! Pass on the word, if you’re on a budget, there is a cheap way to get from downtown vancouver to downtown victoria and back.
UPDATE – 3Dec09: hey y’all, it seems this is the most popular post on my blog, so many of you from all over the wold have come here to find this info. i would love to hear from you to find out if the info here was useful. Does anyone else have tips to share, was there an even cheaper way to do this? Did you use the info in this blog? Did it help, or was it confusing?
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Why buy the day pass? Even on a weekday, the most you will pay is $5 for a one way trip – paying for a day pass for a single trip is not economical…
Thanks for the write up though!
well, i guess it depends from where you’re coming right? i mean, i bought the day pass because precisely because i needed MORE than a single trip: it covered 2 bus rides from my hotel to ladner exchange, and then on the way back from ladner exchange 2 bus rides back to my hotel.
so 4 rides, total $9… if you’re saying 1 way trip is $5, and i’m taking 4 buses, wouldn’t that work out to $20 instead?
No – maximum cost within the Lower Mainland system is $5 in one direction (i.e. from hotel to ferry terminal). That is the charge across all zones during the day on a weekday. After 6:30 PM or on the weekend – the maximum charge is $2.50.
You’d need to pay again to return, but most people would be returning late in the day or on a different day. If you were planning on taking the trip to the island and then returning the same day before 6:30 PM, then the savings would be $1.
See http://www.translink.bc.ca/Transportation_Services/Fares_Passes/fare_pricing.asp for all the details.
Yes we did return the same day, so yes, i guess we only saved $1, but still, that’s very interesting Rob.
So you’re saying i could have used the same bus ticket for 2 different bus rides as long as they were going in the same direction: 1 from hotel to Ladner Exchange, and 1 from Ladner Exchange down to Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, and that would have cost us $5?
Anyway, it’s good to know, thanks for the info… and thansk for showing us that we can get to Victoria EVEN cheaper, lol.
I will say though that, as a tourist there, it’s an added peace of mind of knowing that we had a day pass that would take us wherever we wanted that day, without having to scramble for change when we got on the bus back from Tsawwassen.
I would say the cheapest way is to take the ferry for sure. But if you think of the time savings then flying isn’t really that bad. The flight is only minutes compared to the 2 hour ferry.
great comment! I totally forgot to explore that option. I don’t think it would have made sense in our specific situation, but this post was about giving people options, so yes, i have to agree, if time is of the essence then…
So, have you ever taken the flight? How long does it take? Where does it land in Victoria? Is it small local companies that fly there, how does it work? I just googled it and found this place: http://www.harbour-air.com/. Who else?