Anyone done a West Coast trip recently?
My partner and I are looking to explore BC, and the West Coast of California and the states this summer in July for 3 weeks. We are planning to fly from Toronto to BC, and then rent a car from there. We are just starting our plans and have lots of questions!
- should we rent a car and use airbnb for the 3 weeks? Are there rental companies that are better than others, or recommended airbnb or hotels?… See more

East Sooke trail on Vancouver Island. I have the most beautiful I’ve ever done. The pacific rim. Camping there is amazing. The drive from Vancouver to Whistler is gorgeous and Whistler during the summer is really beautiful and fun. I would definitely rent a car or camper.

Monika that sounds absolutely beautiful, and right up our alley! Do you remember the name of the camp ground you stayed at? I don’t think we will bring any of our camping equipment, but maybe they have cabins or yurts to rent too?

It was in Tofino but Years ago so I would read the reviews on the various sites.

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g182158...

Sooke is amazing and they have the Sooke Harbor House restaurant which is well known. Ferry ride from Vancouver is really nice too.

Tofino is on Vancouver island as well and its got beautiful beaches and its own redwood forest. That being said, vancouver island is a days worth of travel time just because of the hours of waiting for the ferry. Also its expensive. And the size of your vehicle matters.

Michelle sounds like Torino is a must see! Is the water warm enough for swimming? Good to note about the wait times, now we can make sure to set aside a whole day for the island

A whole day to settle in there, driving it takes an entire other day. Well worth it. Its cold water. A lot of people wear full wet suits most of the time. But if youre staying in the shallows, in mid july, you might get lucky enough for warmth
BC's summer is finicky.

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The Oregon Shakespeare festival in Ashland is amazing. The town and Lithia park are also lovely. Crater Lake is gorgeous.

Marsha thank you!

We did San Fran (1 week) - followed by an incredibly cheap flight to Seattle - (4 days there) then an expensive Ferry to Vancouver Island (Victoria/Parkville/Tofino - week there) then a ferry from the Island to Vancouver for a few days - then flew back to TO fro Van. Three weeks in total. Loved everywhere we visited, but have family on the Island and have been there many times before. We did rent a car for our last few days and a night in downtown San Francisco and then dropped the rental off at the airport several days later before we flew out. We drove down the the Pacific Coast highway as far Bixby Bridge with stops in Santa Cruz, Monterey, Pebble Beach (amazing scenery) ). We also took a limo bus trip up to wine country (Sonoma Valley) on our second day there. When flying in from TO, we took the BART public transit light rail for $3 each which took us right downtown to our hotel (mid-price Hilton - there are 2). When in San Fran we bought the 3 day Hop On/Off pass that was totally worth it. So so much to see and do in San Fran (bus trips/stops included Catalina Island, Fisherman’s Wharf, Haight Ashbury, China Town and a ton of other places including a night ride). We also did a baseball game at at and t Stadium which has to be the best stadium in North America with its view of the harbour. If you want tickets to Alcatraz you need to book way in advance (night trip is super good and spooky). Seattle has lots to see (we did a haunted walk and a baseball game and a Duck ride in the harbour). Also has a cheap light rail transit from the airport. Vancouver and a Victoria is simply beautiful. The drive to Tofino was amazing and the beaches there are stunning. I would think twice about driving everywhere and explore flight options from BC to California. We did do this drive a long time ago and it is many many days of driving! Even the drive from Vancouver to Seattle is known for its crazy traffic congestion. Some ideas - Fly to Vancouver - use the public transit rail into the city (then no car for a few days) - ferry to Victoria and rent car for a week on the island - fly or catch a cruise ship down to San Fran (don’t need or want a car for a few days in this great city) - then rent car to go north and/or south along the California coast and then fly home? Just some ideas.

Fran amazing!! Thank you so much for the detailed suggestions! I just got a wave of excitement all over again!

You are welcome. Feel free to PM if you have questions. We did this trip on the cheap with lots of credit card hotel points and air-miles. Flights up and down the coast are cheap - w Alaska Air. You really don’t want to spend days days in a car! Start by googling the trip distances between cities along the coast from San Diego all the way up to Tofino. This will also provide travel options as well as driving times. The San Fran to Seattle stretch is many days of just driving. And the Seattle to Vancouver reroute is known for its crazy traffic jams (like TO). Also - so easy and cheap to get into the various cities from the Airport using public transit) except Victoria). There are nature oriented options (hiking, camping, etc) near all of the coast cities and in between.

We’re doing a similar trip to. We just rented an RV through RVezy. We also looked at RVs through Outdoorsy.

I’m from BC- Tofino is a must -

In 3 weeks, you can definitely do the west coast. Can't talk about Vancouver though as i've never been. It also might be cheaper to do Seattle [right across the border from Vancouver] to California [because it's domestic rather than international. So keep this in mind when you book a rental.
Things to see on a west coast road trip:
Washington: Olympic National Park [2 hours west of Seattle]. It's REALLY beautiful.
Oregon: Multnomah falls [45 minutes from Portland]
California: The one thing that hasn't really been mentioned is Julia Pfeiffer Falls, Big Sur

Touhid Se thank you for the amazing suggestions! Do the falls you mentioned and Big Sur have hiking trails? Or do you drive to see them? Great note about international vs. Domestic flights. I’ll have to compare those too!

A lot to see around Vancouver and Vancouver Island alone. Joshua tree is pretty far. - I'd skip that. Concentrate on northern coast - otherwise you'll drive a lot and miss a lot.

Monique thank you! I’m starting to see we definitely need to think a slightly smaller picture in order to fit in some great sights in only 3 weeks
really appreciate your advice!

I did Joshua Tree in May of 2019. Stayed at an airbnb called "The Now". Awesome spot in between Jpshua Tree and Twenty Nine Palms. If you drive from LA to Joshua Tree there is Cabazon Dinosaurs which is a quick stop along the HWY to see giant dinosaur statues from Peewee Herman's Big Adventure. In town there is also the worlds smallest crochet museum, which is basically a little trailer where you can pop in to see weird stuff. 2mins away from that is a junk art museum. Joshua Tree has a few of these. No admission.
The actual park has what seems like ENDLESS trails to explore. I rec a loop one and wish I could tell you the name of the one I did. It was a place where horse smugglers would hide their stolen horses, and was very beautiful with flowers and boulders. If you aren't into hiking I wouldn't stay longer than 2 nights in Joshua Tree.

Julie Macdonald I love hiking! This sounds absolutely perfect for us! The unique little sights and history behind them are intriguing too, thank you so much for sharing!

Julie Macdonald stay at our place next time! https://www.airbnb.com/h/motojave

Sounds like an awesome trip! I’d avoid hotels. I stayed in airbnb. start looking now though, books up quickly. I’d focus either on BC, head to Seattle and try Cali another time as there’s so much to do in the West. Good luck!

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We love road trips and have done a variation of your trip many times! Lots to see. Consider landing in Calgary and driving to Vancouver through the Rockies. BEAUTIFUL. Agree with reccos to go to the Island. Stop for walk through Cathedral Grove. Lots of hikes in Tofino!!!
. Have fun!

just research taking the rental car across the border.

David great advice! Didn’t even think of that, thank you

Costco also pretty good price for car rental.

There are also hot springs in Tofino.

Try and get to San Diego, great city.

When this plague is finally under control and you really want to isolate visit Joshua National Park. You will never regret it.

Completely agree. This park is gorgeous

Motojave Joshua Tree is our airbnb