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image by jim lo scalzo

Plan­ning things, par­tic­u­larly trips, at the last minute is very unlike me, but here I am — bound  for Van­cou­ver and Seat­tle for six days with my wife and son. I have been to Seat­tle, but that visit was eight years ago. I have never been to Vancouver.

Nat­u­rally, I will be doing my fair share of research before my depar­ture on Mon­day, but I want to hear from you. If you have been to Van­cou­ver and/or Seat­tle, I would love to receive your sug­ges­tions and tips on the following.

• Where to stay – I have an eye on a cou­ple hotels in both cities, but I’d like to hear from you before I book.
• Good places to eat - I’ve heard there is some great dim sum in Van­cou­ver. I’m on a mis­sion to find it.
• Activities/Sights - What are the “must see” or “must do” things in either city?
• Vic­to­ria – Has any­one been to Vic­to­ria? I was think­ing that we might pos­si­ble take a ferry to Vic­to­ria, spend a night there, and then ferry back to Van­cou­ver or head on to Seat­tle from there.
• Bain­bridge -  In lieu of trav­el­ing to Vic­to­ria, maybe a day trip to Bain­bridge Island would be more prac­ti­cal in terms of time — given we’re only in the area for six days.
• Get­ting Around – Do I need a car? We like to stay in the city and do as much as we can by foot or on pub­lic trans­porta­tion, but real­ize, some­times, a car makes life eas­ier. I was plan­ning on us tak­ing Amtrak from Van­cou­ver to Seat­tle. Is there a bet­ter way to make that trip?
• Air­port – Related to get­ting around, what is the best way to get to/from the air­ports into the city?
• Places/Things to Avoid – Any dodgy areas of town that I should avoid? Any tourist traps? (Think, over­priced and underwhelming.)

These are the things to popped into my head, but please feel free to share any­thing, about either city (or nearby points of inter­est) that you think would be helpful.

Thank you!