Transportation: Buses
If you are travelling as a group, or if you are traveling alone, taking the bus makes a lot of sense. Vancouver has several bus-friendly transportation options for the traveller.
Scheduled bus service leaves from downtown Vancouver at the CN Station at Main and Terminal. Greyhound (662-3222, 1 800 661 8747) is the major bus line with scheduled East-West service. Buses leave several times a day in every direction. From Vancouver, you can go east to the Okanagan, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Toronto, or South into the United States to Seattle, San Fransisco, or Los Angeles (of course, you can catch the bus from these places and come TO Vancouver as well!) Greyhound also has passenger terminals in Langley, Surrey, New Westminster, and Maple Ridge. Maverick Coach Lines (662-8051) provides service to the Sunshine Coast, Squamish, Whistler( $17 one-way), and Nanaimo ($20 one-way), and the Vancouver Island. Pacific Coach Lines leaves only for Victoria (662-8074) with a one-way fare around $25.
If you need to get into town from the airport, take the Vancouver Airporter. It only costs $9 one-way or $15 return. This is about half the taxi rate. The airporter leaves from most downtown hotels, though you should call 244-9888 to make sure they schedule a pick-up at your hotel.
For those living on (or planning a visit to) Vancouver Island here is a bus between Nanaimo and Vancouver Airport, provided by Pacific Coach Lines (1-800-661-1725 or 604-662-7575) which departs from Harbour Park Mall (at Front Street) at 9:30 am and returns to Nanaimo at 8:15 pm. Along the way, it stops in Downtown Vancouver and at the Cruiseship Terminal.
If you need to get to Sea-Tac Airport (in Seattle), Quick Shuttle (604-940-4428, 1-800-665-2122) offers service to and from Vancouver, B.C. Pick up for the trip from Sea-Tac is outside Door 26 on the Baggage Claim (lower) level.
There are a variety of sightseeing options by bus. The biggest is Gray Line of Vancouver (879-3363), which has a multitude of tour options and packages. Dominion Tours (298-1302) also has a number of tour packages for Vancouver and Victoria. Tours are detailed in "Find Attractions."
There are scheduled ski buses up to Whistler, such as SNOWBUS (604-685-7669) which runs a daily express coach from Richmond and Vancouver to Whistler. Rates start from $35.
You can also charter a bus for special group travel, whether its a company or team visiting the city, a ball game, or going skiing at Whistler. Here is a list of the various charter bus companies in Vancouver:
Find Local Bus Companies (charter & scheduled).
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