Have you ever traveled by seaplane? If you are in Seattle this may be the perfect excuse. I was invited by Harbour Air to fly their inaugural route to Victoria from Seattle to stay overnight at the Fairmont Empress and have tea and almost had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. But the part that absolutely blew my mind and the part I keep telling everyone I know is that the actual flight from Seattle to Victoria is only 30 minutes! For someone who has spent a TON of time driving up north, I couldn’t believe it until I was actually in the seaplane and it really only did take 30 minutes. So if you are looking for even just a relaxing 24 hour trip from Seattle I would definitely recommend looking into a trip to Victoria by seaplane and I think this might be the quickest way you can get to Victoria from Seattle so you get more time to vacation with your time too.
How does it work to travel by seaplane to Victoria with Harbour Air?
Harbour Air seaplanes in Seattle leave from a dock shared with Kenmore Air in South Lake Union. Because Seattle to Victoria is an international flight you need to make sure you have your passport and any other documentation you typically use when traveling between different countries. I needed my car the next day so I parked my car overnight in the lot just in front of check-in (just know you will probably have to pay 48 hours because there are no hourly increments after 24 hours) and this was easier than I thought it would be (I was scared there were not going to be enough spaces). I just had to pay through an app and then pick up a pass from the front desk where I checked in. For luggage on a seaplane you need to make sure you stay within the limits that you book so that you don’t have to pay overages. I was only going for 24 hours but I had to bring my FIFA volunteer outfit with me because I was going to a training the day I got back and that took up a lot of room so I was really scared I might go over but it all worked out.
Flying by seaplane is much different than going to a regular airport. I made sure to check in an hour early (for international Harbour air flights you must be checked in 45 minutes before departure) and it was super casual to sit and wait. The marketing company that invited me brought me some delicious Cafe Hagen coffee and pastries. (There is also a Caffe Umbria nearby that I like to stop at when I’m in the area if you’re looking for coffee before your flight too) I was also given a declaration card that we would need for customs when we landed in Victoria.
I think we started boarding about 15-20 minutes before our flight took off. We walked the dock, got into the airplane and watched a short safety video. After that we were up in the air and 30 minutes later we were in Victoria. The flight was smooth and beautiful and the customs line up only took a few minutes. On our flight back from Victoria I asked which side of the plane we would see the Space Needle on and the pilot brought us close enough to see the soccer ball painted on the top for the World Cup. Flying in a small plane like a seaplane is such a cool way to see the cities we love from a whole different perspective. I know that Harbour Air does city tours too that would be a fun way for a family to sightsee.
Staying on the Gold Floor at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria British Columbia
I’ve always wanted to stay at the Fairmont Empress. It’s such an iconic hotel and the tea there is one I’ve heard about from people all over the world when they talk about trips to this city. I remember taking our boys to tea when they were very little but we haven’t been again in ages so having tea with Harbour air at the Empress was such a special treat. And it was great that the Fairmont Empress is walkable from the Harbour Air terminal on 950 Wharf Street (maybe even just a 5 or so minute walk!) so this entire trip could be car-free.
I was on this trip with two other Seattle writers and none of us had stayed on the Gold floor at the Fairmont Empress before and I think we were all blown away. From our gorgeous rooms to the beautiful aesthetic of the lounge everything felt thoughtfully designed to create calm luxury. We were able to stop in the lounge for drinks and snacks throughout the day and this is where we had breakfast on the day we left too. One thing I missed out on doing was the Signature Gold Floor personalized wake up call which I would call a “Croissant wake up”. You can have your day start with coffee and a croissant delivered to your room and that just sounds like how I would want to wake up EVERYDAY in my dreams if I could. (So now I am trying to convince my family that we have to go back so I can try this out too!)
Walking to Places from the Fairmont Empress
I had a couple hours between our tea and pre-dinner cocktails to get a little sightseeing in around the city. Thankfully the Fairmont Empress is quite centrally located so even with a teeny bit of time you can see a lot. I wanted to get a peek of Fan Tan Alley, and that was about 15 minutes away. On the way, there were so many cute shops I wanted to stop at as well as the Bay Center Mall. Walking by MEC, Kit and Ace, Fjallraven, Munro’s Books and intriguing new-to-me shops I felt like it might be a great idea to come back even just as a shopping trip!
We had pre-dinner cocktails and snacks at Q at the Empress and these were spectacular. I am still raving about the salmon and crispy rice and a drink I had called the Empress 75 that came with a spoonful of delicate grapefruit pearls. I spotted a chocolate cake on the menu called the 10 layer midnight bloom chocolate cake that looks like a dream.
For dinner we walked to Il Covo Trattoria and it’s the kind of place you want to just stroll up and find on a holiday, but you probably need to know a local to know about. It was such delightful food even after indulging in so much deliciousness on this very short trip. We chatted and ate and drank in the patio garden as the sun went down. I want to come back with my family and make memories here and I think it’s the type of place you want to know about too.
A place that caught my eye the minute we got off the seaplane is a place that is going to draw me back to Victoria ASAP. It’s called Havn and it is something like I imagined we would get to on our trip last year to Copenhagen but just couldn’t seem to find. British Columbia seems to be establishing its place in the world as a sauna destination (I recently checked out Circle Wellness in Granville Island that and I would revisit there in a heartbeat as well.)
One thing I really want to do in Victoria that we didn’t have time for on this trip is to walk the Malahat Skywalk. I thought you needed a car to visit (it’s about 30 minutes away from downtown Victoria) but I learned about a free shuttle they have from Downtown Victoria early May-mid October that operates on a first-come first-serve basis.
Other flights you might want to know about from Harbour Air
I found out that Harbour Air has flights to Vancouver from Seattle (in under an hour) that I might look into for future trips. And I really want to go to Tofino again and traveling by seaplane from Vancouver might make it an easier trip as well.
Did you know that Victoria is so close to Seattle by seaplane? (Also, would love to hear if you’ve been to the Havn sauna or your favorite places to eat in Victoria for next time)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)