Skip to content
Vancouver Island ToursBritish Columbia, Canada

20 bookable tours, starting on the island

Transfers & Getting Around

Vancouver Island has no passenger rail and thin intercity bus service, so the legs between Victoria, Nanaimo, the ferry terminals and the airports are worth booking rather than improvising. This category also holds the fast ferry to Seattle and self-drive rentals.

20 tours

Victoria to Vancouver - Coach Bus Transfer
Photo from the Viator listing for Victoria to Vancouver - Coach Bus Transfer.

Transfers & Getting Around on Vancouver Island

The transfers that matter most here are the ones that cross water or cover distance: Victoria to Vancouver by coach (which includes the BC Ferries crossing from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen), Victoria to Seattle on the Clipper fast ferry, and airport runs to Victoria International (YYJ) on the Saanich Peninsula or Nanaimo (YCD). Cruise passengers arriving at Nanaimo's port will find private transfers to Victoria listed here too.

Within Victoria itself you rarely need a transfer: downtown, the Inner Harbour, Fisherman's Wharf and the Ogden Point cruise terminal are all walkable or a short bus ride apart. It is the moment you want to be somewhere else on the island that a booked seat or a hired vehicle earns its keep.

Overland and camper rentals are listed here as well. They suit itineraries that go north of Nanaimo or out to the Pacific coast, where public transport is close to non-existent and the drives are long.