Vancouver island vs Vancouver

[AnotherBreakfast]

Planning trip of a lifetime for this summer - flights are booked and heading to Vancouver.
Plan so far is 3 nights Vancouver, 3 nights Tofino, 4 nights whistler, 4 nights Vancouver.
But after looking at Tofino a bit more, should we do an extra night in Tofino??? And reduce last Vancouver leg? Our kids are 9 and 12 - we don’t like to be on the go all the time, so will be doing a mix of activities and relaxing but looking to tick off the main BC items like seeing bears, whales watching. Am looking at surfing for one of our days in Tofino. Also I think once our kids have seen a couple of mountains they’ll probably get over quite quickly so atm Whistler will probably cover us 😂
looking for any hints and tips from folks who’ve done this with kids

We did a similar trip with a 12 year old last year. We loved Vancouver, but stayed in a central area and avoided the dodgy bits!

Night 1 - airport hotel - we arrived late
Nights 2 and 3 - Vancouver (cycling around Stanley Park, Lookout, Canada Place, free coach to Capilano / Grouse Mountain (we did those two in the same day), Granville Island
Nights 4, 5 and 6 - Victoria, Sidney by the Sea, Butchart Gardens, Victoria itself (has an amazing haunted house crazy golf, a nice park with a big totem pole, the area with floating houses and little colorful boats is lovely)
Night 7 - Broke the journey to Tofino staying near Qualicum Beach, saw Cathedral Grove and Goats on the Roof en route - Q Beach was lovely for an evening swim, really calm, shallow warm water, big contrast to cold, wild Tofino). Taylor River rest stop was fantastic for a swim.
Nights 8 and 9 - Uclulet - Lighthouse trail, a really amazing trail leading to a crashed WW2 plane
Nights 10 and 11 - Tofino, lots of beach walks and trails and nice coffee shops
Night 12 - North Vancouver, lovely vibe on the waterfront, water taxi back to Canada Place, Kitsilano beach and ethnology museum on the way back to airport

It was a great trip. Only regret was that I would have liked an extra couple of days for Whistler.

@AnotherBreakfast As others have said, 7 days in Vancouver is too much. There’s good coastal walks in the city and we did a self guided walk too - one wrong turn and it was drug central. The best place to visit in Vancouver is the Museum of Anthrapology at the Uni of BC. It’s not the easiest to get to, but with DC, it’s brilliant. You learn a lot.

I would then drive up to Whistler for 3 nights. Yes, it’s all new development but there are things to see and do. I personally like wildlife, so a week on VI is worth it. Remember it’s 400 miles long though. You don’t necessarily need Victoria as you can get ferries or fly into Nanaimo. This gives you more time on the island and you can get a car here if you prefer.

Ah this sounds exactly the stuff our boys would love.
thanks for sharing the detail

You guys are the best.
Right, itinerary adjusted to this so far:
2 nights vancouver
2 nights victoria
3 nights tofino
2 night gap to fill ??? Poss uclulet? Or Parksville?
3 nights whistler
1 night Vancouver…

I think there is more for the kids to do around Parksville, and nice warm shallow water for swimming. And it breaks the journey to Tofino. You can visit Uclulet easily from Tofino anyway.

Ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, then back via Nanaimo worked well

That’s only 13 nights. Can you not travel to make 15 nights? Then you will get a better itinerary with more time on VI. Vancouver has a transit railway (not very rapid) from the airport to downtown. It’s the Sky Train. Choose a central hotel near a station to minimise transfer time. You can go right over to the port side if you want.

Entry to Canada in the airport is also self serve. You go to the machines as a family,

Sounds good. I would choose Parksville over Uclulet. Get that ferry booked asap.

Can also vouch for the Tin Wis Resort. The beach is beautiful.

We took the ferry to Victoria and had a couple of nights there. Then a couple of nights in Parksville, stopping en route at Duncan for the totem pole trail. Tofino is small but lovely and the people were very friendly.

please google map your itinerary, and take into account travel time. Tofino takes a while to get to, I would do Parksville then EITHER Tofino or Ucluelet

Just an FYI drive time from Victoria to Tofino is approx 4hrs 20 mins

Tofino to Whister 6hrs 9 mins (same drivetime as Norwich to Cornwall)
Parksville to Whistler... just under 4hrs drive time (Stoke-on trent to Cornwall equivalent)

Neither of these times allow for ferry waits

@Vanillazebra Depends how long you intend to be on VI. Most people don’t realise how big it is! They seem to think it’s the Isle of Wight. I think it’s 400 miles long which is why even a week there is minimal. As it would be if visiting the uk. That’s why the holiday needs to be a bit longer.