BC Ferry from Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert?

Question

I want to take trip from Washington state to Queen Charlotte Island. Understand if I want to go by BC Ferry I need to go from Vancouver to Victoria, then to the north end of the Island to catch a ferry to Prince Rupert. Does anyone know where the ferry terminal is and are there any hotels/b&bs nearby. When does the ferry depart? Any nearby restaurants? Are there any scooter rental companies on Vancouver Island and in Prince Rupert?

Answer 1

You don't have to take the ferry to Victoria. I would suggest taking the ferry to Nanaimo which is almost half way up Vancouver Island. Then you have to go north to Port Hardy which is the southern terminus of the run to Prince Rupert. Port Hardy has everything from hotels/motels and restaurants, B&B's. There are scooter rental companies in Victoria and Nanaimo but I don't know about Prince Rupert. Once in Prince Rupert you catch the ferry to the Queen Charlotte's. Hope you have a great time but chose your time of year as that part of BC received considerable rain and that could put a real damper on your holiday.

Answer 2

No, there is no shorter road route. Topography is why. Find a relief map of BC and it should be pretty clear why there is no coast road. The modern roads follow river valleys, the Fraser and Skeena, for the most part, and there is no large valley closer to the coast. The coast itself is basically mountains right up to the water and would present an extreme challenge for road building, and make it very expensive to build. The Sea to Sky highway from Vancouver to Whistler is built on the coast and has had many problems over the years with floods and rock slides because it clings to the mountainside. As well, the road between Vancouver and Prince George on the way to Prince Rupert follows the original trails taken by gold miners in the last century and the native traders before that, and that's where towns grew up so it made sense to put the road where the people were.The miners were travelling on foot and with horses so naturally they followed the easiest route. Traditional travel along the coast, by native people and later white people, has been by water because it's much easier than fighting the coastal topography. You can take a ferry to Prince Rupert from the northern end of Vancouver Island but it won't be any faster or cheaper.

Answer 3

You can check the BC ferries website for schedules. Don't worry about finding the ferry terminal in Port Hardy, it will be well signed. It's near the town but if you were going straight there from the south you'd turn off before you actually got to Hardy. I haven't taken the ferry from there but I doubt very much if you'll find any accommodation or restaurants right at the terminal. Go into town for those. There's a fair number of places to stay in Port Hardy



Depending how you're travelling, you have a few choices of route. You can take a ferry from Washington to Victoria, you can drive into Canada and go to Victoria from Tsawwassen, or you can drive through Vancouver and take a ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo. That last would be my choice if I was driving up from Washington, because you can take the freeway more or less straight from the 276 St crossing to Horseshoe Bay. If you're on foot, it would probably be simpler to get a ferry to Victoria and then a bus up island.

Answer 4

You can also take a ferry from the US side to Victoria, then you drive for about 5 hours (guessing) towards Port Hardy where you catch the ferry to Prince Rupert. Yes there are hotels there and restaurants. best to Google it. there are scooter rentals, too cold for that now though!

Answer 5

ya :D