If you are heading up to Whistler, you have several options to choose from. Here's a shortlist of ones you might find interesting:
Coach
Bus is probably the easiest method, and the most common bus heading that direction is the Greyhound. These guys tend to do about 8 trips a day back and forth, but you are best to use their site to dial in the day that you want to travel and work out what is best for you.
For a rough idea, this was the schedule at the time of writing:
Vancouver to Whistler
Departs Arrives Duration Schedule
05:15am 07:45am 2h, 30m 1930
08:00am 10:30am 2h, 30m 1932
09:45am 12:30pm 2h, 45m 1928
11:00am 01:30pm 2h, 30m 1934
01:00pm 03:30pm 2h, 30m 1936
03:00pm 05:30pm 2h, 30m 1938
05:00pm 07:30pm 2h, 30m 1940
07:00pm 09:30pm 2h, 30m 1942
Whistler to Vancouver
Departs Arrives Duration Schedule
05:30am 08:00am 2h, 30m 1931
08:00am 10:45am 2h, 45m 1933
10:30am 01:15pm 2h, 45m 1935
01:30pm 04:15pm 2h, 45m 1937
03:00pm 05:45pm 2h, 45m 1929
04:30pm 07:15pm 2h, 45m 1939
06:30pm 09:15pm 2h, 45m 1941
09:00pm 11:15pm 2h, 15m 1943
Approximate fare cost is around about $24 each way, at the time of writing. Again, check the Greyhound website for up to date costings and schedules.
The Vancouver bus terminal is Pacific Central Station (Google Map link), which is within easy reach of the Main St/Science World Skytrain station, so that is probably the easiest method of getting there if you don't want to take a taxi or have a mate to drop you off. I have heard that there is shuttles to and from the station to some of the bigger hotels and hostels, so that is probably worth looking into.
Another coach line to look at if you want to go directly from the Vancouver Airport to Whistler is Pacific Coach, which costs in between $51 and $62 and would be a good way to go if you don't need to stop in Vancouver on your way through to get a SIN number. If you are coming to Canada on a Working Holiday Permit though, it would definitely be worth stopping in Vancouver to get your SIN number.
Train
This is a journey that we've meant to do at some stage, and it promises to be a really scenic way of getting up to the mountain, or back down. It costs a fair bit more than the Greyhound though, with tickets costing $110 for a one way on the basic "Coast Classic" level. If you're keen, the site to check out is http://www.whistlermountaineer.com/. If you have a look at the site, you may be able to score some sort of package deal where they throw in a nights accommodation for the cost of a return train trip, so that may be worth it if you are planning on coming up just for a season of mountain biking or something.
It should be noted that the train only runs in the summer, so a bit restricted if you are coming up for the snow season!
Float Plane
Costing about $159 one way, this could be an awesome way of getting to Whistler whilst seeing a fair bit of the countryside on the way up there. Whistler Air seems to be the main provider,but they don't mention on their site what the baggage restrictions are. They do two scheduled return flights a day, at 8/9am and 5.30/6.30pm, and their scheduled service ran from May 1st to October 1st in 2008, so more of a summer thing.
Helicopter
By far one of the coolest and quickest (35 minutes) ways to get to Whistler would be by helicopter. Hope you're sitting down for the price though, because Blackcomb Helicopters charges $2700 for the pleasure! They're just one of the many offering the service, but the price seems about median.Watch out though, because the luggage restrictions on these flights are... well... restrictive!
Please discuss this article and recommend other modes of getting to Whistler in the CanAussie Forum
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