Sunday, May 31, 2009

Cheapest Way to Get from Victoria BC to Seattle WA

UPDATED January 10, 2021. This trick should work again once the border reopens.

The reverse is obviously true for any Seattle-ites reading this. I'm not including times because it's possible to vary this, and because times are variable. 

1. Go to the Inner Harbour of Victoria and take either the Coho (Black Ball Transport) to Port Angeles. For best results in terms of time, take the 6:10 am Coho ferry during the summer when ferry service is at its peak. 

2. From Gateway Transit Center in Port Angeles, now just across from the Victoria Express, take the 30 Commuter bus to Sequim (Clallam Transit). You'll most likely have time to explore Sequim before the next bus 

3. At Sequim Transit Center, take the 8 Sequim bus to Haines Park & Ride in Port Townsend. Buy a daypass when you enter the bus (Jefferson Transit) 

4. Depending on schedule adjustments a small amount of time if you want to rush into town, but if so I recommend taking the 11 Downtown Shuttle (still Jefferson Transit, so your daypass is good) one or both ways, dashing the other on foot. Usually this will be easier on the way into town than the reverse, but I recommend grabbing a bus schedule on the bus to determine how best to do so or if indeed there's enough time to do so. If the timing seems extra tight, instead of getting off at Haines Park & Ride, get off at Four corners Park & Ride and wait for the bus below to arrive there from Port Townsend. In the reverse direction, you'll have to get off at Four Corners more often than not rather than seeing Port Townsend.

5. Back at Haines Park & Ride, use that daypass to take the #7 Poulso/Port Ludlow/Tri Area bus (Jefferson Transit once again) to North Viking Transit Center. There's a gas station nearby if you want to grab some food, but there isn't much to see here so you're probably best off just waiting for the next bus unless you have a long wait.

6. Take the 90 Poulsbo/Bainbridge bus to Bainbridge ferry terminal (Kitsap Transit). You probably won't have time to visit Winslow (Bainbridge downtown) unless you opt to take a later ferry, which is certainly do-able as they run pretty frequently. 

2-6b.  For only a little more, if you don't mind spending a bit more time in Port Angeles, 123 The Strait Shot (Clallam Transit) goes directly from Gateway Transit Center in Port Angeles to Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal.

7. Take the Bainbridge ferry to Seattle. You'll only have to pay Seattle to Bainbridge, not the reverse. Yes, this is a longer route, but it's cheaper than the Clipper or going to Vancouver and taking a coach/train from there. And some of the stops along the way are worth a visit.