Camping/Driving in Vancouver Island/Inner Passage/B.C

Hey fellow Travelbloggers! We're trying to cobble together a vacation leaving Seattle with our vehicle this July for ~10 days and are trying to decide on a route/destination in Vancouver Island or driving inland up to some of the inner passage islands. Camping, hiking and exploring the local culinary scene/fresh markets are major draws to us.

Would you suggest taking the extra time in the car to take Hwy 20 up to Bella Coola? We thought about doing a loop (up to Bella Coola and ferry down) but the ferry fees seem rather steep with the car. There's the distance to consider as I believe it might actually be longer than it appears on Google maps - I'm thinking maybe 2 days driving up? I don't see many local roads on my maps - how inaccessible are the coastlines?

Also thought of maybe keeping the car on Vancouver Island and then just walking on the ferry to explore the inner passage islands. Good/bad? Save for another trip when have more time/money?

Subjective and opinionated advice welcome! We're also open to other destinations suggestions within a drive or so from Seattle, although we'll be exploring Glacier/Missoula/Banff next summer so no need to tell us how gorgeous that would be.

Cheers,

Stephanie Reply to this

Thanks for the response! I hear some many great things about Banff - really looking forward to that in the future.

We've decided on a bit more laid-back and relaxed trip than we initial planned for so we'll be making a small loop - taking a ferry from Anacortes, WA into the Victoria area, driving up to explore Pacific Rim NP and maybe Strathcona and then departing through Nainaimo into Vancouver before heading back stateside. Less driving - more lolling around in the morning with tea and ocean waves. 😊 Although I now have so many "one of these days" itineraries for the Northwest area I don't think I'll ever be able to complete them all

We'll definitely get a blog or two up about it afterward! Reply to this