British Columbia Travel Guide

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International Travel

Getting There By Air

Air Canada (AC) (www.aircanada.com) serves British Columbia, and many other airlines from worldwide destinations also serve the province.

Main Airports

Vancouver (YVR) (www.yvr.ca) is 15km (9 miles) southwest of the city. It is served by airlines from the USA, Europe and the Far East. To/from the airport: A light rail line, shuttle buses and taxis are available (journey time - 25 minutes). Facilities: Banks and ATMs, a post office, business center, restaurants, car parking, garage, car hire, nursery and duty-free shop.

Victoria (YYJ) (www.victoriaairport.com) is 22km (14 miles) north of Victoria. To/from the airport: Bus services, an airport shuttle and taxis are available (journey time - 30 minutes). Facilities: ATM, foreign exchange, car hire, shops, restaurants and cafes.

Kelowna (YLW) (www.kelownaairport.com) is north of Kelowna. To/from the airport: Shuttle services are available (journey time - 20 minutes). Facilities: Duty-free shopping, restaurant, gift shop, ATMs, car hire and a cappuccino bar.

Getting There By Water

Main ports: Vancouver (www.portmetrovancouver.com) is an international passenger port, with regular sailings to the Far East and ports on the USA's northwestern coast as well as up to Alaska.

There are ferry services to and from all coastal ports in British Columbia. Ferry services link two points on Vancouver Island with Vancouver city's north (Horseshoe Bay) and south (Tsawwassen) terminals on the mainland. Foot passengers can take coaches from Vancouver city center to Victoria city center.

BC Ferries (tel: (250) 386 3431 or 1 888 223 3779/BC FERRY; www.bcferries.com) operates numerous routes along coastal British Columbia, including a scenic, 15-hour, one-way, daylight voyage from Port Hardy on the northern tip of Vancouver Island up the Inside Passage to Prince Rupert, a crossing from Prince Rupert to the Queen Charlotte Islands, and the Discovery Coast Passage, a summer route between Port Hardy and Bella Coola on the mid-coast mainland.

There is also a high-speed catamaran from Victoria to Seattle (USA), the Victoria Clipper (tel: (250) 382 8100 or 1 800 888 2535; www.clippervacations.com). For further information on ferries, contact BC Ferries or consult The Ferry Traveller (tel: 1 800 686 0446; www.ferrytravel.com), a website with general ferry information.

Getting There By Rail

VIA Rail (tel: 1 888 842 7245; www.viarail.ca) train routes to and within British Columbia are: TheSkeena service from Prince Rupert to Jasper (Alberta) with connections to Edmonton (requires at least one overnight off-train stay en route); The Malahat service between Victoria and Courtenay; and Vancouver to Edmonton via Kamloops and Jasper, and on to Toronto three times a week (The Canadian).

The Whistler Mountaineer (tel: (604) 606 8460 or 1 888 687 7245 or 00 800 0606 7372, in the UK; www.whistlermountaineer.com) is a scenic, three-hour tourist train running between Vancouver and Whistler. The seasonal Rocky Mountaineer train (tel: 1 877 460 3200 or 00 800 0606 7372, in the UK; www.rockymountaineer.com) is a two-day, all-daylight tour between Vancouver and Banff and Calgary or Jasper and between Whistler and Jasper, operating between mid April and mid October.

Getting There By Road

The Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) reaches British Columbia via Calgary, Alberta, and continues through the south of the province to Vancouver, over to Nanaimo, and on to Victoria. The other main highways are numbers 3, 5, 16, 19, 37, 93, 95 and 97. Highway 99 runs from the US/Canadian border into Vancouver, then north to Whistler and beyond. Apart from Highway 97 and the remote scenic Highway 37, which run northwards to the Yukon, the province's road network is concentrated in the south. Road signs are international. There are good roads south to Seattle in the USA.

Coach: Greyhound Canada (tel: 1 800 661 8747; www.greyhound.ca) provides coach services between most of British Columbia's cities and major towns. Malaspina Coachlines (tel: 1 877 227 8287; www.malaspinacoach.com) runs services from Vancouver International airport to Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast. Pacific Coachlines (tel: (604) 662 7575 or 1 800 661 1725; www.pacificcoach.com) operates services from various Vancouver locations to Whistler, Victoria and Namaimo.