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10 hours transit YVR/SEA?

10 hours transit YVR/SEA?

Old May 15, 2015, 7:19 am
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10 hours transit YVR/SEA?

Hello forum,

I am visiting North America (seven days in Vancouver and three days in Seattle) for the fist in my life and am so looking forward to it.
I have searched through the internet, but since I do not have much experience in traveling I have failed to grab a clear idea so far. So although these are basic things, I decided to seek an advice from well experienced and local people.

As due for several reasons, I have decided to visit Seattle first whilst arriving in Vancouver.
I will be arriving in YVR with AC034 (ETA 07:35) then will be catching AMTRAK 517 (ETD 17:35). Based on the AMTRAKs website, I should be able to check in when the station is open, but not so clear. So my questions are;

1.The website states that the station has so called self-drop luggage storage space. How secure would it be? Any better way to store my luggage until check in?
2.There would be around six to seven hours for this transit. Would you recommend to go/do anything/anywhere?

Any advices/tips would be very much appreciated.

Kind regards,
sushiinSYD
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Old May 20, 2015, 10:47 am
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Originally Posted by sushiinSYD
1.The website states that the station has so called self-drop luggage storage space. How secure would it be? Any better way to store my luggage until check in?
Should be quite secure. It's your best option.

Originally Posted by sushiinSYD
2.There would be around six to seven hours for this transit. Would you recommend to go/do anything/anywhere?
Proceed to the 7-11 store at YVR and purchase a Transit DayPass:

http://www.yvr.ca/en/shopping-dining...c/7Eleven.aspx

Note that you will probably have to pay with cash or ATM card. You usually can't buy transit tickets with credit cards.

Then take the Canada Line Train downtown to Waterfront Station and transfer to a Millennium or Expo Line SkyTrain. Get off at the Main Street - Science World station.

The Amtrak Station is across the park from the Main Street - Science World SkyTrain station.

Drop your luggage, then get back on the SkyTrain and head back downtown.

Get off at Waterfront Station, head to Canada Place and explore. You can also use your day pass to cross the inlet on the SeaBus.



When you're ready to head to Amtrak, use your daypass to take the SkyTrain back to Main Street - Science World station.

On the Amtrak train, make sure to get a seat on the right hand side heading south, and the left side heading north.

Last edited by gglave; May 20, 2015 at 10:53 am
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Old May 22, 2015, 5:27 am
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Originally Posted by gglave
Should be quite secure. It's your best option.



Proceed to the 7-11 store at YVR and purchase a Transit DayPass:

http://www.yvr.ca/en/shopping-dining...c/7Eleven.aspx

Note that you will probably have to pay with cash or ATM card. You usually can't buy transit tickets with credit cards.

Then take the Canada Line Train downtown to Waterfront Station and transfer to a Millennium or Expo Line SkyTrain. Get off at the Main Street - Science World station.

The Amtrak Station is across the park from the Main Street - Science World SkyTrain station.

Drop your luggage, then get back on the SkyTrain and head back downtown.

Get off at Waterfront Station, head to Canada Place and explore. You can also use your day pass to cross the inlet on the SeaBus.



When you're ready to head to Amtrak, use your daypass to take the SkyTrain back to Main Street - Science World station.

On the Amtrak train, make sure to get a seat on the right hand side heading south, and the left side heading north.
Wow, thank you so much, gglave!!

I did not know about Transit Day Pass & payment method. I will make sure to prepare enough cash before hand (I though I could manage with credit card).

Canada Place looks wonderful. Again, I will make sure to visit.

For Amtrak, I have read about seating side, so I am hoping I would score that.

Once again, thank you very much for your help.

Kind regards,
sushiinSYD
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Old May 26, 2015, 1:07 pm
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Originally Posted by gglave
Note that you will probably have to pay with cash or ATM card. You usually can't buy transit tickets with credit cards.
Really?

I was in Vancouver for 2 months last summer and had no problems buying a day pass, faresavers and a monthly pass with (non-Canadian) credit cards, although I didn't try to buy them at the airport.
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Old May 26, 2015, 3:06 pm
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Originally Posted by :D!
I was in Vancouver for 2 months last summer and had no problems buying a day pass, faresavers and a monthly pass with (non-Canadian) credit cards, although I didn't try to buy them at the airport.
These days most retailers will no longer take credit cards for transit fare purchases. The percentage fee they have to pay for the credit card transaction is often greater than the profit margin on the fare tickets.

Cash or payment via ATM card (called "Interac" in Canada) is usually fine.

Note that this is retailers like 7-11 that I'm talking about here.

Credit card payments at ticket machines at SkyTrain stations are still accepted but, IIRC, you can't buy a daypass at YVR station.
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Old May 28, 2015, 11:27 am
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Originally Posted by sushiinSYD
Wow, thank you so much, gglave!!


For Amtrak, I have read about seating side, so I am hoping I would score that.

Once again, thank you very much for your help.

Kind regards,
sushiinSYD
If you sit on the right going south, you're on the ocean side. We spent more time in the dining car/lounge so looked from there. Didn't see a lot of scenery, other than an eagle perched on a telephone pole. Due to mechanical problems, we disembarked the train at the border and continued by bus to Seattle. C'est la vie.
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Old May 28, 2015, 11:56 am
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Rather than waiting ten hours for the train and not having a hotel room during that time, I'd be inclined to consider renting a car and driving along the coast, perhaps keeping the car to use during your first day or two in Seattle. If you'll have seven days in Vancouver later, there's no need to rush around doing tourist things now. I'd also suggest spending closed to equal amounts of time in each city. Vancouver is nice, but so is Seattle.
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Old May 28, 2015, 1:29 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
I'd be inclined to consider renting a car and driving along the coast
You can't really 'drive along the coast' from Vancouver to Seattle (you can in some portions, but it's very convoluted and complicated).

A lot of the drive looks like this: https://goo.gl/maps/oqZLk

and this: https://goo.gl/maps/gCvJ5

By contrast, the train hugs the coast and is very scenic: http://www.discovery.org/scripts/vie...wnload&id=5531

Also, parking the car in downtown Seattle will be an expensive proposition, even when you factor train fare into the math.

Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Rather than waiting ten hours for the train and not having a hotel room during that time
Sounds like the OP is going to explore the city, not hang about a railway station for 10 hours. Sounds like a great use of available time.

Last edited by gglave; May 28, 2015 at 1:35 pm
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Old May 28, 2015, 1:35 pm
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Originally Posted by gglave
You can't really 'drive along the coast' from Vancouver to Seattle (you can in some portions, but it's very convoluted and complicated).

A lot of the drive looks like this: https://goo.gl/maps/oqZLk

and this: https://goo.gl/maps/gCvJ5

By contrast, the train hugs the coast and is very scenic.

Also, parking the car in downtown Seattle will be an expensive proposition, even when you factor train fare into the math.



Sounds like the OP is going to explore the city, not hang about a railway station for 10 hours. Sounds like a great use of available time.
.....but the OP will have seven days in Vancouver several days later. [It would be different if this were the OP's one and only chance to see Vancouver.] There's no need to rush around playing tourist right after getting off the plane. I'd rather relax than run around the city immediately upon arrival, especially when it means arriving into Seattle (and my hotel room) fairly late at night the first day.
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Old May 28, 2015, 11:16 pm
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Thank you very much for everyone!!

I really do appreciated your kind tips.

I am already in Seattle, and I thought I'd better report what I have done. I try to make it short, but as you may notice please allow my poor English.

I was assisted by very friendly staff at YVR station. Based on gglave's kind advice, I headed to the Central station first then dropped off my bag.
I had a walk to China town, and caught a train to Canada Place where I had a great time (When I come back to Vancouver later, I will meet up with my friends, so I thought I should do touristy things by myself first).
I caught a train again at Granville station to head back to station.
While I was resting in a park front of station, I had a very good chat with, again, a very friendly guy for a while, which helped me for both to stay awake and to learn something about Vancouver.

Luckily, I was seated on right side (I have given up my driver's license since I moved into Australia), so I have enjoyed the view a lot.
The thing made me smile and feel warm was there were many people waving at the train particularly along the coast line.

I had a great walk around the city today. So far so good!!
I am very much looking forward to coming back to Vancouver and exploring more.

Once again, thank you so much for all of you!! ^^

Kindest regards,
sushiinSYD
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Old May 29, 2015, 9:50 am
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Thanks for the update - Glad to hear you're having a good time.

Originally Posted by sushiinSYD
I had a very good chat with, again, a very friendly guy for a while, which helped me for both to stay awake and to learn something about Vancouver.
That park is always full of interesting characters - They always have a lot to say
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Old Jun 18, 2015, 7:27 am
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Once again, thank you very much

Sorry for digging up this thread again. Now I am back in Sydney and thinking back about this trip, and simply cannot help but posting one more comment.

When I went back to Vancouver, I stayed at English Bay area. One day I took a walk to Central Pacific Station, had a drink at a pub called "Craft" at Olympic Village, then head to Granville Island, took a ferry back to English Bay.
It was just a half day walk, but while I was enjoying this particular walk I felt funny thinking of the reason why I decided to create this thread.

I loved both Seattle and Vancouver a lot. Both are beautiful and lovely city, and people are very relaxed and friendly. (I saw three turtles in the park around Pike street in Seattle, by the way, which was a pleasant surprise)
Particularly, I was so pleased that I have finally managed to try Spot Prawn's sashimi at Japanese restaurant called "Izakaya Kingyo" in Vancouver. The meat was incredibly sweet, and it was served with deeply fried its head. The head floor person told me that they needed to rest prawns for a certain number of days to maximize the sweetness of the meat. Worth giving it a try!!

But again, without your kind help I can tell that my very first day in Vancouver would have been one of the worst of my travel experiences.

Best regards,
sushiinSyd
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Old Jun 18, 2015, 10:52 am
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Thanks for posting back. Great to hear that you had a good time.
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