Vancouver Canada: Airport, Ferries, Rail
Vancouver, Canada is the Pacific gateway city, not a suburb of Portland, and everything on this page treats it that way: how you land, what it costs in Canadian dollars, and how far the rest of the country sits from here. Whistler, Victoria, Squamish, and the Rocky Mountains all fan out from this one city, and getting the logistics right matters more than any single attraction.
Key facts
| Currency | Canadian dollar (CAD), roughly USD 0.71-0.73 per CAD |
| YVR to downtown | Canada Line, about 25 min, roughly CAD 9.35 total with the AddFare |
| Victoria by BC Ferries | 95-minute crossing, 8+ hours door to door round trip |
| Rockies by rail | Rocky Mountaineer to Banff, 2 days; VIA Rail’s Canadian to Jasper, 4 days |
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: confirm the airport code
Both this city and Vancouver, Washington share a name and a founding-era explorer, Captain George Vancouver, and nothing else. This one uses airport code YVR, sits on Sea Island in Richmond about 12km south of downtown, and runs entirely on Canadian dollars, roughly 1.36-1.40 per USD. If your booking shows PDX or US dollar pricing, you’re looking at the wrong city.
Getting in: YVR and the Canada Line
The Canada Line SkyTrain runs direct from YVR-Airport station to Waterfront Station downtown in about 25 minutes. The fare isn’t flat: a 1-zone Compass fare (CAD 2.85 loaded, CAD 3.50 cash) plus a separate YVR AddFare, CAD 6.50 since 1 July 2026, brings a one-way trip to roughly CAD 9.35. Check current TransLink fares before you land. A metered taxi runs roughly CAD 35-45 and 25-35 minutes; Uber and Lyft both operate here and usually beat the taxi off-peak.
Getting out: Victoria, Whistler, and the Rockies
BC Ferries covers the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay crossing to Victoria in 95 minutes, adult foot passengers around CAD 21 one-way, a standard vehicle around CAD 89, door-to-door this runs 3.5-4 hours each way once terminal transfers are counted. Reserve vehicle space on bcferries.com for a summer date. Whistler is a 120-125km, roughly 2-hour drive up Highway 99, no passenger rail exists on that route at all. For the Rockies, Rocky Mountaineer’s First Passage to the West is a two-day daylight rail journey to Banff, 2026 fares from around CAD 2,289, mid-April through mid-October only.
Is Vancouver a good base for seeing more of Canada, not just BC? Yes, with the right expectations. Rail east is scenic but slow, two days to Banff, four to Jasper on VIA Rail’s transcontinental Canadian, and Vancouver sits three time zones (Pacific) behind Toronto and Montreal. Flying is faster for anyone short on time; the trains are the point for anyone who isn’t.
Where to stay
Downtown Vancouver or Gastown keeps the Canada Line, both ferry-terminal routes, and the Sea-to-Sky on-ramp all within easy reach. Compare downtown Vancouver hotel rates on Booking.com before picking a neighborhood, and book a Whistler or Sea-to-Sky day tour if a car isn’t part of the plan.
City-only sights, the Seawall, Gastown, and the Museum of Anthropology, live in our Vancouver places page ; the day trips beyond it get a full breakdown in our Vancouver Canada travel guide .