Vancouver vs. Seattle: Which is Better & Where to Spend More Time
Vancouver vs. Seattle — wondering where to spend more time?
Vancouver and Seattle, two majestic cities of the Pacific Northwest. They both have a wonderful location between the Pacific Ocean and the mountains, and this comes with somewhat similar vibes.
Their climate is also similar, both are notoriously rainy. But is one better than the other, considering rain and everything else to see and do?
This post aims to help you compare what each of them offer and where to spend more time. While I don’t think there’s one true answer to the “Vancouver vs Seattle” question, I have my own vote that I’m sharing at the end.
Vancouver vs. Seattle: How They Compare
While Vancouver and Seattle are only 2.5 hours drive from each other, and their weather and environment have lots of similarities, you can’t ignore the fact that they are located in two different countries: Canada and the USA.
So first, let’s see how they compare in terms of weather, culture, food, things to do, cost of living and more.
Vancouver vs. Seattle: Climate
Located approximately 150 miles (240 km) from each other on the Pacific Coast, the climate in Vancouver and Seattle is quite similar.
They have moderate oceanic climate, with warm, dry summers, while the rest of the year is rainy, especially between October and March.
They both receive one or two light snow falls each winter, but most of the precipitation is rain.
Vancouver lies norther, and it tends to be a little bit cooler and rainier if you look at the stats. Vancouver’s annual average rainfall is 57.3 inches (1455 mm), while it’s 39.3 inches (998 mm) in Seattle.
It means 168 days of rain in Vancouver in an average year, and 150 days of rain in Seattle. The number is not exactly the same, but it’s close, and the rainiest month is November in both cities.
The hottest average high temperature in Vancouver is 22°C (in July), while the hottest average high temperature in Seattle is 25°C (in August). The coldest month is December, with an average low of 2°C in Vancouver and 3°C in Seattle.
The length of daylight hours are also similar: about 8 hours of daylight in December and about 16 hours of daylight in June in both cities.
However, the average ocean temperature in August is slightly warmer in Vancouver, being 16°C, while it’s 13°C in Seattle.
Vancouver vs. Seattle: Environment and Geography
Sitting between the ocean and mountains, Vancouver and Seattle both offer an unusually beautiful setting. But they’re not the same.
Nature is closer to you in Vancouver. You don’t need to leave downtown to find breathtaking beaches in English Bay, and visiting 1001-acre Stanley Park can easily be part of your downtown stroll.
The 22 km long Vancouver Seawall is hard to beat, as well. It’s a scenic coastal pathway for pedestrians and bikers around the whole downtown area and Stanley Park.
Seattle’s largest park, Discovery Park is half the size of Stanley Park (534 acres), and being at the western end of the Magnolia neighborhood, it’s definitely not walking distance from downtown.
Seattle has beautiful ocean beaches (like Aliki Beach or the Golden Gardens), but they’re also further from downtown. The waterfront is not that accessible throughout the city as in Vancouver.
On the other hand, Seattle has numerous lakes in and around its metro region, so you can enjoy both the ocean and freshwater on the very same day.
Giant Lake Washington has several parks along its shoreline, Lake Union Park is great for renting a kayak or paddleboard, and there’s a loop trail for walkers and joggers around Green Lake.
Vancouver, and especially the Metro Vancouver area, also has lakes, but not as big and not in such close proximity to downtown as in Seattle.
Seattle has Mount Si (45 minutes drive away) and Mount Rainier (about 2 hours drive away), while Vancouver has the North Shore Mountains and a whole range of mountains north and east of the city within 1.5-2 hours driving.
You don’t even need to leave Vancouver to find yourself in the rainforest, and the North Shore Mountains are about 20 minutes drive from downtown.
Vancouver vs. Seattle: Food Scene
Both cities have large public markets with an incredible variety of fresh and baked goods. But Seattle’s Pike Place Market is multi-level, with various other stores selling books, cookware or vintage.
Vancouver’s Granville Island Public Market is one level, but being on the water, it has a prettier setting. You can get there from downtown by the cute, tiny Aquabus, and Granville Island has lots of green spaces, playgrounds and a splash pad for family fun.
Apart from the markets, Vancouver is famous for great food, especially Asian food. Many would agree that it has the best Korean, Japanese and Chinese food in all of North America.
You find it not only in Chinatown, but also in Richmond, and honestly, Asian cultural elements are everywhere in the city.
When it comes to coffee, Seattle is hard to beat though. Known as the coffee capital of the United States, it has both chains and independent coffee shops to spoil coffee lovers.
It’s home to the first Starbucks, established in 1971 and located directly across from Pike Place Market, and you can visit it even today.
Vancouver vs. Seattle: Things to Do
Thanks to their wonderful location and close proximity to water and mountains, many of the best things to do in Vancouver and Seattle are outdoor activities: hiking, skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, kayaking or paddleboarding.
North Vancouver doesn’t only give access to the mountains, it’s already in the mountains, with steep streets, parks cut but by rushing streams and picturesque canyons.
The North Shore Mountains offer an endless number of hiking trails in the summer, and three ski resorts in winter.
If you drive an hour or two further north to Squamish and Whistler, you find yourself in the wonderful high mountains where you can hike to glacial lakes in summer or have powdery fun in the world class ski resort of Whistler Blackcomb in winter.
Seattle also has access to multiple ski resorts. Unlike in Vancouver where you reach the North Shore Mountains in about 20 minutes from downtown, they are rather two or three hours drive from Seattle.
Snoqualmie Pass, Seattle’s “home mountain” is about an hour drive away from downtown, Mountain Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades National Parks are further.
Nevertheless, Seattle has recreational trails within city limits, like Volunteer Park in Capitol Hill, Green Lake or Discovery Park.
But hiking and skiing are not the only things that these two coastal cities offer. You can enjoy their spectacular scenery from several viewpoints.
Ride to the top of the Space Needle in Seattle for exceptional panoramic views of downtown, Puget Sound, the Cascades and the Olympic Mountains, or walk in Kerry Park to enjoy the best views of the Seattle skyline, including the Space Needle.
Vanier Park, Charleson Park and the False Creek Seawall have the best Vancouver skyline views day and night, and you can visit Vancouver Lookout for a 360 degrees view of the downtown, the Burrard Inlet and the North Shore Mountains.
The False Creek bridges, especially Burrard Bridge, have great aerial views of the city, the bay and the mountains.
One of Seattle’s strengths is the active live music scene (places like Neumos, Crocodile or The Triple Door) which barely exists in Vancouver.
You can go bar hopping in the historic neighborhood of Capitol Hill and enjoy the city’s vibrant arts scene.
Seattle has a variety of great museums: the Seattle Art Museum, the Chihuly Garden and Glass with its unique glass sculptures, the Museum of Pop Culture, the Pacific Science Center, the free Frye Art Museum (a private collection of paintings and sculptures) or the Museum of Flight, one of the largest air and space museums in the world.
Explore more things to do in Seattle
Vancouver has its family-friendly science center, too, the Science World, and some of its most exciting museums are the Museum of Anthropology, the Vancouver Maritime Museum and the HR MacMillan Space Centre.
Both Vancouver Aquarium and Seattle Aquarium have large tanks with a variety of sea life, focus on local marine life and exciting hands-on opportunities for children.
Pioneer Square is home to Seattle’s oldest neighborhood, with incredible architecture, art galleries, cafés and bookstores.
Vancouver’s Robson Square can’t really be a match, even though it has some lovely views and the Vancouver Art Gallery. For nice architecture and old Vancouver vibes, stroll the streets of Gastown and find the famous Steam Clock.
Explore more things to do in Vancouver
Vancouver vs. Seattle: Transportation and Public Transit
Both Vancouver and Seattle have walkable downtowns, but prepare for some elevation change walking up and down the hills. For longer distances, you can drive, bike or use public transport.
Driving is not exactly pleasant in large cities, especially in the rush hours, and neither Vancouver, nor Seattle are exceptions.
Parking can be a hassle, and it’s quite expensive in the downtown core. But to reach places outside of downtown, you’re still usually faster driving than anything else.
Vancouver has relatively good public transport for a North American city, with three rail lines (called SkyTrain), a large network of buses, the Aquabus and the False Creek Ferries on False Creek and the Seabus between North Vancouver and the downtown.
You can use the Compass card to pay for public transit, except for Aquabus and the False Creek Ferries which are private companies and require tickets directly bought from them.
They’re less for commuters and more for visitors to enjoy the Vancouver skyline while crossing False Creek.
How does Seattle’s mass transit compare to this? It has only one light rail line (operated by Sound Transit) and a network of buses and regional express buses (operated by King County Metro and Sound Transit).
Mass transit also includes a ferry system on Puget Sound. Taking the ferry is the most effective way of transport for some, but for visitors it could offer another angle to see the city, especially the Bremerton ferry with views of the Seattle skyline.
The ORCA fare card system connects all providers.
When it comes to biking, Vancouver easily wins. It’s a viable transportation option there, with an extensive network of protected bike lanes. Biking along the Seawall and around Stanley Park is one of the best things to do when visiting Vancouver.
Seattle is said to be one of the most bike-friendly cities in the USA, but let’s be honest, the bar is very low. So coming from other cities in the USA, you might find Seattle bike-friendly, but coming from Vancouver (or Europe), not so much.
From Seattle Washington State Ferries take you to islands and lovely far away towns, while from Vancouver you can take BC Ferries to get to Vancouver Island and many others off the coast.
Vancouver vs. Seattle Cost of Living
Both Vancouver and Seattle can be considered expensive cities for most people. According to several cost of living comparators (like livingcost.org, numbeo.com), Vancouver is the more affordable of the two.
Consumer prices, rental prices, restaurant and groceries prices are all 15-20% lower in Vancouver (but salaries are no exception either).
If you have a salary of $1000 in Vancouver, you will need to earn $1190 a month in Seattle to maintain the same standard of living, which is 1.19 times higher.
Also, it’s worth noting that Vancouver is quite often included in the list of the top 10 most livable cities in the world, while I’ve never seen Seattle in the top 10.
Vancouver vs. Seattle Demographics
Being similar in many aspects, Vancouver and Seattle attract similar people. They are environmentally friendly seaport cities with good air quality, a paradise for outdoor lovers, and they provide countless recreational opportunities.
Their populations are within the same limit, though with 724,745 people Seattle has a higher population than Vancouver (675,218 people).
However, the Seattle metropolitan area is significantly larger, with a metro population of 4 million compared to Metro Vancouver’s 2.5 million.
But Canada has public healthcare, and public schools in Vancouver are known to be good, while you likely need to pay for a private school in Seattle. This makes Vancouver more ideal for families and elderly people in general.
On the other hand, the technology industry in Seattle is very strong, so if you’re working in tech, you might still be able to have a better standard of living in Seattle.
Vancouver vs. Seattle Crime Rates
Crime rates in both cities are low, however, it’s lower in Vancouver than in Seattle, according to Numbeo.
Being in different countries also makes a difference, as most Canadians don’t have guns.
Getting from Seattle to Vancouver or Vancouver to Seattle
If you have time to visit both cities, I can only recommend doing so. Getting from one to the other is quite easy and quick, and if it wasn’t for passport control, you might forget you’re actually traveling between countries here.
Vancouver to Seattle Drive
Getting from Vancouver to Seattle, or from Seattle to Vancouver, can be the most convenient by car – given the fact you have a car (or rented one, anyway) and you drive outside of rush hours.
Driving time is around 2.5 hours, but traffic conditions and border control can slow it down.
Vancouver to Seattle by Ferry
The most scenic way from getting Seattle to Vancouver is by ferry.
Though it’s probably the slowest way, too, as there’s no direct ferry service, you need to change in Victoria – which is a chance to visit BC’s beautiful provincial capital.
The Victoria Clipper ferry ride connects Seattle with Vancouver Island. It takes you to Victoria in about 3 hours, from Pier 69 in downtown Seattle to the Belleville Terminal in Victoria’s Inner Harbor.
Then you can take BC Ferries from Victoria to Vancouver, which is another 1.5 hours scenic ferry ride.
However, BC Ferries doesn’t depart from downtown Victoria, but from Swartz Bay, and it doesn’t arrive to downtown Vancouver either, but to the small town of Tsawwassen, 40 minutes drive south of Vancouver’s core.
You’ll likely need a taxi or board the ferry by car to make this journey truly convenient, especially in the early or late hours. If you have a car, you can also add a few days long Vancouver Island road trip to your itinerary.
Vancouver to Seattle by Bus
The cheapest way to travel between Vancouver and Seattle is by bus. Four companies offer this journey via Interstate 5: BoltBus, Quick Shuttle, Greyhound and Amtrak Thruway. It takes about 3.5-4 hours to get from downtown to downtown.
Vancouver to Seattle Flights
The quickest way to travel between Vancouver and Seattle is by plane. Several airlines (like United, Delta or Alaska) have direct daily flights from Vancouver International to Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport, and they take about an hour.
You can then use a taxi or public transport (the light rail in Seattle and Canada Line SkyTrain in Vancouver) to get into the city center.
Which City is Better? Vancouver vs. Seattle
Okay, I know that every person can have their own preferences, but with respect to any different opinions, my vote goes to Vancouver.
Its scenery makes it one of the most breathtaking cities in the world, and beaches, mountains, waterfalls and rainforests are right next to downtown or a short (20 minutes) drive away.
It’s also a safe, bike-friendly and exciting city where Asian, North American and European cultures blend together, and it has a great food scene. Visit it on a sunny day, and it’ll be your favorite city in North America.
About the author: Bea is a passionate traveler, hiker and founder of In Love With BC, a blog that focuses on traveling and outdoor activities in British Columbia.
