Seattle and Vancouver had both been on my radar for very different reasons. If you had asked me years ago which city I was more excited to visit, Seattle would have won, thanks to years and years of watching Grey’s Anatomy. Between McDreamy, the Space Needle, and all those damn ferry boats, Seattle had been romanticized in my head for a very long time.
Vancouver, on the other hand, was never really on my radar. Then I started watching Virgin River.
Once I realized so much of the show was filmed in and around Vancouver, I started paying more attention to British Columbia. Suddenly, I was seeing mountains, forests, water, hiking trails, and beautiful neighborhoods everywhere. And if Jack Sheridan happened to be behind the bar at the Watershed Grill when we got there, well, that certainly wouldn’t hurt.
As I keep typing this, I’m starting to wonder if I need help???
By the time we actually planned a trip that included both Seattle and Vancouver, I had a pretty good feeling Vancouver was going to be more my speed. Still, I was really curious to experience the two cities back-to-back, especially since Seattle had been somewhere I’d wanted to visit for so many years.
My childhood best friend was always obsessed with Seattle when we were growing up, and he actually lives there now, so I picked his brain a bit about which neighborhoods would be ideal to rent a house in versus which to avoid.
We spent about two and a half days in Seattle before taking the train north to Vancouver, where we stayed for four days. And while I’m really glad we visited both, my prediction was right. Vancouver was easily our favorite.
Honestly, the bigger surprise wasn’t how much we loved Vancouver. It was how quickly we felt like we had run out of things we really wanted to do in Seattle.
Our First Impressions of Seattle vs. Vancouver
Seattle immediately felt like a bigger, busier city.
We stayed in Queen Anne, which gave us a quieter home base, even though most of what we wanted to see was downtown or near the waterfront.
We explored Pike Place Market, walked along the waterfront, rode the Seattle Great Wheel and checked off several of the classic Seattle sights. And then, we kind of looked at each other and thought, What else do we want to do? That was probably our biggest surprise about Seattle.
There are obviously plenty of things to do in and around Seattle. But once we had done the things we really wanted to do, there just wasn’t much else we were excited about. After about two and a half days, I felt like I had seen what I came to see.
Vancouver was completely different. Almost immediately, it felt like the combination of everything I love about traveling: water, mountains, walkable neighborhoods, parks, hiking, and a city to explore in between.
Winner: Vancouver
Which City Had More We Wanted to Do?
Seattle definitely has its iconic attractions. We explored Pike Place Market, walked along the waterfront, and rode the Seattle Great Wheel, which was one of my favorite things we did there. But once we hit the main things that interested us, we really didn’t have a huge list left.
Vancouver was the opposite. We explored Stanley Park and the Seawall, walked around Kitsilano, hiked at Lynn Canyon, and took a full Sea to Sky Highway day trip.
We even worked in a couple of Virgin River filming locations, including the Watershed Grill, which doubles as Jack’s Bar on the show. Sadly, Jack Sheridan was nowhere to be found. Rude.
And even after all of that, I still felt like we had barely scratched the surface. There were neighborhoods I wanted to spend more time exploring, hikes I wanted to take, and places outside the city I wanted to visit. That’s probably the easiest way I can explain the difference between the two.
I left Seattle feeling like we had seen Seattle. I left Vancouver wondering when I could come back and if I could afford to buy a house there.
Winner: Vancouver
Which City Was Prettier?
Vancouver. And honestly, this one wasn’t even close for me. Seattle has some really beautiful views, especially around the waterfront, but Vancouver was just pretty basically everywhere we went.
Stanley Park alone is reason enough to visit. Then there was the Seawall, Kitsilano Beach, Granville Island, and the residential streets in Kitsilano. Even wandering around neighborhoods felt like sightseeing.
One minute we were walking through downtown, and the next we were looking across the water at the mountains. And once we got outside the city, it somehow became even prettier.
Our Sea to Sky Highway drive was one of my favorite days of the entire trip. Between Shannon Falls, Squamish, Whistler, Brandywine Falls, and mountain views pretty much the entire way, I spent a lot of time staring out the car window.
Seattle had some beautiful moments. Vancouver made me want to stop for a photo every five minutes.
Winner: Vancouver
Which City Was Better for Walking and Exploring?
Again, Vancouver. We walked a lot in both cities, but I enjoyed walking around Vancouver more. Seattle is hilly. Very hilly.
We used a combination of walking, Uber, and the monorail while we were there, which worked perfectly fine for our trip. But walking often felt like a way to get from one attraction to another.
In Vancouver, walking around was part of the attraction. Our day in Kitsilano was probably the best example. We parked near Kitsilano Beach and basically just started walking.
We wandered along the waterfront, looked at houses we definitely cannot afford, took in the mountain and city views, and eventually made our way toward West 4th Avenue.
There wasn’t one huge attraction we were rushing toward. We just liked being there. And those are often some of my favorite travel days.
Winner: Vancouver
Which City Had Better Access to Nature?
Vancouver, easily. This is probably one of the biggest reasons it suited us so well. You can stay right in Vancouver and have easy access to beaches, parks, forests, hiking, and mountains.
Lynn Canyon was my favorite part of our entire Vancouver trip. We walked through the forest, crossed the suspension bridge, and hiked along the trails. It felt like we were much farther away from the city than we actually were.
Then there was the Sea to Sky Highway, where we managed to see waterfalls, mountains, and small towns all in one day.
Seattle obviously has incredible nature nearby, too, and I’d still love to explore more of Washington someday.
But based on the trip we actually took, Vancouver gave us much more of what we wanted without needing to travel very far.
Winner: Vancouver
What Did Seattle Do Better?
Okay, Vancouver is clearly running away with this, so Seattle deserves some credit. Seattle had more of that classic sightseeing feeling. Pike Place Market is iconic for a reason, and I loved finally seeing it in person after hearing about it for so many years.
The waterfront was fun to explore, and riding the Seattle Great Wheel gave us one of the best views of our stay. There was also something really satisfying about finally being there.
Seattle had been in the background of my life for so long, between my childhood best friend, Grey’s Anatomy, and just years of hearing about the city. So even though I didn’t fall in love with it the way I once thought I might, I’m really glad I finally got to experience it.
And yes, seeing a ferry boat in Seattle did make a tiny part of my brain go, McDreamy, is that you?
What About the Food?
I don’t think either Seattle or Vancouver became a major food destination for us, but we ate well in both. When you have two families vacationing together, 4 adults and 2 teenagers, there are a lot of preferences you have to take into account. I’d call this category a tie, since I can’t rate it accurately.
Winner: Tie
Would We Go Back to Seattle?
Probably not for a Seattle-only trip. That doesn’t mean I disliked it. I’m genuinely glad we went, and there were parts of the city I really enjoyed. But I left feeling like I had experienced the things I wanted to experience.
I could definitely see us returning as part of a larger Washington or Pacific Northwest trip, especially because there are places outside the city I’d still love to explore. But if you asked me today to pick a city for another long weekend, Seattle probably wouldn’t be at the top of my list.
You can read everything we did in my three days in Seattle recap.
Would We Go Back to Vancouver?
In a heartbeat. There are still so many things I want to do in Vancouver and British Columbia, and I’d happily revisit several of the places we already explored.
I want another afternoon in Kitsilano and more time around Stanley Park. There are neighborhoods I still want to explore, hikes I want to take, and so much more of British Columbia I want to see. Basically, Vancouver feels unfinished to me in the best possible way.
You can read our full four days in Vancouver itinerary for everything we did during our first trip.
Vancouver vs. Seattle: Which One Would We Choose?
If you somehow haven’t figured it out yet…
Vancouver.
And for us, it really wasn’t close. But the two cities offer pretty different trips. If you love classic city sightseeing, markets, museums, and iconic attractions, you might prefer Seattle.
But if your ideal trip includes walking along the water, exploring pretty neighborhoods, hiking through a forest and looking at mountains every chance you get, I’d choose Vancouver.
What’s funny is that Seattle was the city I had wanted to visit for years. Vancouver was the city I barely thought about until Virgin River put British Columbia on my radar. And somehow, Vancouver ended up being the one I couldn’t stop thinking about once we got home. Seattle was a place I was excited to finally check off my list.
Vancouver became a place I wanted to keep exploring.
Have you been to both Seattle and Vancouver? Which one did you prefer?
Or, if you haven’t visited yet, which one would you choose first?
More From Our Seattle & Vancouver Trip
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