Travel across Canada

1- VIA Rail (VIArail.ca) 1-888-842-7245

VIA Rail Overseas Travel Agent – Discovery Trains Belgium

Tel.: +32 (0) 784 80588
Web: www.discoverytrains.net

2- Greyhound Bus (greyhound.ca) 1-800-661-8747

3- BC Ferries (BCFerries.com) 1-888-223-3779

4- Vancouver Island Connector Bus (VIconnector.com) 1-866-986-3466

5- Tranlink Vancouver Transit and Skytrain (http://www.translink.ca)

6- Rental Cars Budget Rent-a-Car, Discount and Enterprise

7- Air Travel Expedia.ca and Cheapoair.ca

Air Canada, Harbour Air Seaplanes, West Jet

More infos

After many hours of research, I’ve come up with Option A and B for the cheapest way to travel across North America from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Vancouver, British Columbia by train and bus. The last Option C is for Air travel.

Option A & B takes 4.5-6.5 days of travel. Approximate Cost for Economy (non Sleeper, no meals) $1600 CAD round trip

Option C takes 8-9 hours travel. Approximate Cost $800-$1000 CAD round trip

Booking at least 3-6 months ahead of time to secure travel plans is essential since August is a very busy time of year, and prices will go up.

There are many hostel options in Vancouver, and across Canada.  Also I hear Couchsurfing.com is a good option and hitchhiking, although illegal, is a relatively safe & generally culturally accepted option.

OPTION A:

VIA Rail train travel across Canada

I had to call VIA Rail because I couldn’t find fares online from Halifax, NS to Vancouver, BC.

The agent quoted me with service Wednesday, Friday and Sunday only from Halifax:

Round Trip Youth Fare (under 25 years old)$1599.65 CAD total with tax,

‘Escape’ class, non-refundable 

This would take 6.5 days in total.  You never leave the train for too long on stops although the stop in Winnipeg midway through he told me is a few hours.  No meals, no sleeper bunk beds, chair only.

You can bring food onboard and there are stops every day at various lengths. Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg have stops where you could potentially find food in the allocated time.

The portion between Toronto and Vancouver I did find online takes 5 days.

OPTION B:Amtrak.com (US) and VIArail.ca (Canada)I chose Halifax as the starting point as a guess since it’s a large Atlantic port on the East Coast of Canada.  It’s also a really fun city to visit in the Maritimes.Itinerary I found:

Halifax, NS to St. Lambert, Quebec departs only Wednesday, Friday & Sunday @ 1300, service VIA Rail only (estimated 22 hours of travel)

Connect to St. Lambert, Quebec to Everett Station, Washington State, US connects same days, service Amtrak only (estimated another 3 days and a bit)* This portion of the trip one-way quoted me $249 (Value fare), $549 (Flexible fare) or $1196 USD (Premium fare)Connect to local transit buses at Everett Station WA to Cordata WA BOLT Bus to Vancouver, British ColumbiaBOLT Bus from Cordata, WA to Vancouver BC (estimated 2 hours) If you Google Halifax NS to Vancouver BC, the details of this itinerary will be shown. OPTION C: Travel by AirSearch on Expedia.ca, CheapoAir.ca, or even Flighthub.com. Pay attention to the currency, since CAD vs USD is about 1:.77 on most days recently.  Also taxes can add on a chunk at the end too, up to 15%.

What a beautiful part of this province and of Canada!! Be ready for your mind to be blown 🙂

It’s important to note that travel from Vancouver to Maurelle Island takes a full day.  There are 2 ferries on BC Ferries, a couple buses and a private boat pick up once you get to Quadra Island.  This final boat shuttle will complete your journey to Maurelle Island.

Here’s a map highlighted and itinerary at a glance:

Vancouver to Maurelle Island

In Downtown Vancouver take the 250 or 257 Express Bus to Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal (Translink.ca)

BC Ferries: Horseshoe Bay (West Vancouver) to Departure Bay (Nanaimo)

1 hour 40 mins, about $20 one way per passenger, $60 additional for a vehicle

Vancouver Island Connector BUS: Nanaimo to Campbell River, leaves daily 1045-1325 and 1515-1800

$43.95 total per person

BC Ferries: Campbell River (Vancouver Island) to Quadra Island (Quathiaski Cove)

10 mins, about $9 return per passenger, $21 return additional for a vehicle

Once on Quadra Island, most backpackers hitch a ride to wherever they need to get to.  Arrangements for private boat shuttle across to Maurelle Island will be the last leg of the journey.

Each part of the trip from Vancouver to Vancouver Island, up Island and to the Northern Gulf Islands, the vibe feels more and more relaxed.

Cell service is still available in all these areas too if you need to stay connected.

Flights

J’ai pris un aller-retour en BXL midi et Vancouver. C’est moins cher qu’un aller simple. A voir si j’utiliserai le retour. Voici les détails.

Je pense que vous devez vous dépêcher.