A bit of Seattle, Vancouver and popping over to the beautiful island of Victoria and what not to miss!
A few weeks ago, I was able to remove three places on my TripAdvisor list of “Places I Want to Go”.
I’d heard so many great things about Seattle, Vancouver, and Victoria (Canada). I was so excited to be able to squeeze in a family trip before my kids went back to their respective schools. If you ever happen to visit these beautiful cities, or are fortunate enough to live nearby, I’d like to give you some highlights of places I adored.
Seattle
Time permitting, we would have driven to Seattle, but as we only had six days, we flew then rented a car. Our flight was delayed, so by the time we arrived in the city, many restaurants were already closed. However, the Kimpton hotel staff recommended purple Cafe and Wine Bar just down the street. It wasn’t hard to convince me to try this restaurant, because I am just crazy about the color purple, so I thought it was a good sign.
First of all, it’s worth going to this place just to see their bar with a winding staircase up to the top! Then it’s totally worth staying for the food–it’s obvious that the chef knows his way around kitchen, which you may think is a given, but it is absolutely not.
The next day we took a leisurely drive up to Vancouver, stopping in for lunch at The Chuckanut Manor Seafood and Grill. Although it was a nice setting on scenic Chuckanut Drive, the food was rather “meh”. It wasn’t really worthy of a review, so I’d say take the drive, but skip the Manor.
Vancouver
It was mid-afternoon when we arrived in Vancouver and settled into our hotel which had a fabulous view of Vancouver Harbour and North Vancouver.
We took in the sights around the harbour. Although it was a bank holiday weekend in August, Vancouver felt very relaxed, uncrowded and peaceful.
Vancouver is just stunning at night. After dinner, we wandered back to our hotel from Gas Town via the harbour front.
Breakfast drinks the next morning.
We made the ferry to go to Victoria on Vancouver Island, which was a lovely crossing through numerous small islands. (On the map, from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay.)
Victoria
Butchart Gardens
One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Victoria was to visit the renowned Butchart Gardens*. I’ve been to some gorgeous gardens in the US and Europe, but this one truly is awe-inspiring. It was a spectacular feast for the eyes. Whilst there, I treated my daughter to afternoon tea. I won’t just tell you not to miss the phenomenal gardens, but do not miss the afternoon tea either. Everything from the view, to the scones was very enjoyable. We had a lovely time lingering over the savories and sweets.
We then walked through breathtaking gardens, each one with a more stunning array of flowers or a more impressive view, than the last!
Continued here…
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Christina, you missed so much on your trip to Vancouver! We have the Van Dusen gardens, which are absolutely beautiful; the views from Grouse Mountain on the North Shore are staggering; the famous Stanley Park (bigger than Central Park, NY), Granville Island Market; so many restaurants you can’t imagine. Next time you come, I’ll take you around and show you the real Vancouver.
Oh trust me, I know, Patricia! We barely got a taste of Vancouver! It was just waaaay too short of a stay! I absolutely want to return so I’ll be sure to take your advice and yes, maybe we could even meet! :)
What a beautiful city. I can’t wait to visit. Thank you for the post.
I’m so glad you’ve got it on your list, Cheri!
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Darn, you drove right through my town! Next time we will have to show you a bit of Bellingham. Sounds like you had a great time, looking forward to the next part.
Oh no! I didn’t know you were in Bellingham! My neighbor is from there and told us to go to Whatcom Falls, which was beautiful! I really want to come back up so badly, and Travelzoo just sent me an email today: RT flights LAX to Seattle only $158! Wish I could just hop on a plane! :(
The gardens are breathtaking, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful! Great photo’s.
It was pretty unbelievable to see in real life! They had begonias that I thought were fake, because they were so huge and colorful and PERFECT! Thank you! I go a little nutty with the photos, as you can tell (and this is just a smidgen of what I took)!
Just SO lovely! I wish we had time to visit Vancouver, but the conference will take so much of our time. I love going to High Tea and this one looks especially wonderful! It’s the gorgeous gardens we miss most in SoCal.
Have you been to the Huntington, Descanso and the LA Arboretum? If not, put them on your list! All here in LA, and while they are not like Butchart, they are still absolutely worth seeing! CC
I agree – my eyes totally lit up seeing these! They are so perfect and pretty looking!
So sweet of you to say! Thank you! CC
Oh I feel like I’ve been on vacation!!! super post – thanks!
mary x
I wish it was that easy! :) Thanks, Mary ;)
Awwww… all names and places sound so familiar! Part of our trip was supposed to be exactly the same! I also had the Butchart Gardens on my list! They look amazing and so does the high tea! :-)
Manu
Will you go next year? I think it’s a must to go during summer (here) as it rains so much during the rest of the year. However, I think you should stop in LA before going up to the Pacific Northwest… :) CC