We are planning a 7-day, 6-night family

Answer

I have enough to start. I'll write the trip file first, run the check, then give you a short skeleton + booking table.

Trip file saved (night_sum = 6, ok: true). Short answer below.

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## Itinerary

**Family priority / "what counts as success":** One anchor per day, early dinners, ferry transfers count as a half-day, and a rainy afternoon = a hotel/indoor day. With grandma capped at ~4,000 steps and a 4-year-old, getting through the day without exhaustion is the win — not the city count.

### ecommended plan: Vancouver 3 nights + Victoria 3 nights, YV in / YYJ out (1 ferry leg)

| Day | Anchor | Pace | Indoor rain backup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrive YV, transfer to Vancouver hotel | Very light — only hotel neighbourhood + early dinner | Hotel lounge / nearby café |
| 2 | Stanley Park partial seawall (hotel → Third Beach → Siwash ock turn-back, ~1,500 steps) **or** Vancouver Aquarium |1 anchor AM + hotel rest + early dinner | Vancouver Aquarium (indoor, sit-friendly) |
| 3 | Granville Island Public Market (flat, indoor-outdoor) + short False Creek seawall **or** Science World | 1 anchor AM + rest + light PM | Science World or Maritime Museum (both step-free) |
| 4 | est AM + **BC Ferries Tsawwassen → Swartz Bay (~1h35m with car)** + light Inner Harbour flat walk | Transit AM + light PM | oyal BC Museum (indoor, sit-friendly) |
| 5 | Butchart Gardens with on-site tram/shuttle, Sunken Garden flat paths only, back to hotel early | 1 anchor AM + rest | oyal BC Museum whole day |
| 6 | oyal BC Museum AM (sit-friendly, step-free lifts) + flat Beacon Hill Park PM or Miniature World (indoor) | 1 anchor AM + rest + early dinner | oyal BC Museum whole day |
| 7 | Depart YYJ (no return ferry) | Sightseeing = 0; hotel out AM, ~30 min taxi to YYJ | n/a |

**Neighbourhood hints**
- Vancouver: Downtown / Coal Harbour / Yaletown — flat, seawall access, near Canada Place. Hotel must have lift + step-free room + roll-in shower if possible.
- Victoria: Inner Harbour / Downtown — flat, walkable. Same lift + step-free ask.

### Variants considered (≤ 2)

| Variant | Why I dropped it | When to switch back to it |
|---|---|---|
| **A. Vancouver 4n + Victoria 2n, both YV (2 ferry legs)** | Last day = Swartz Bay → Tsawwassen → YV (≈ 3 h transit with luggage + cane + stroller). Heavy on grandma. | If you want more Stanley Park / Granville Island time and don't mind the long Day 7 transfer. |
| **B. Blogger's 5-place sprint (Vancouver → Whistler → Nanaimo → Tofino → Victoria → Vancouver)** | 4 hotel changes +2 ferries + 1 long coastal drive in 6 nights. Whistler Sea-to-Sky is curvy; Tofino adds a long Malahat-or-ferry detour. Grandma at 4,000 steps can't do it; toddler + luggage x4 changes is punishing. | None for your party. Keep it as a future trip without grandma. |

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## Booking checklist (no booking done — **I cannot book for you**)

| # | Item | What to check on the official page | Suggested lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | **Age-band matrix** (separate for **flights / hotels / BC Ferries / Butchart**) | Flights: infant vs child age cut by airline; child turns 2 mid-trip = seat change on later leg. Hotels: max occupancy incl. infant, roll-away policy. BC Ferries: under-5 free, 5–11 child fare. Butchart: under-5 free, 5–17 youth. | With air tickets |
| 2 | **City sequence + night count** | Vancouver 3n → Victoria 3n (matches the plan above) | n/a |
| 3 | **Flight ↔ hotel date alignment** | Arrival evening Vancouver = check-in Day 1; YYJ departure morning = check-out Day 7; ferry sailing must sit between Day 4 hotel-out and Day 4 hotel-in Victoria | Before any booking |
| 4 | **oom capacity** | Family room must sleep **2 adults + 1 child + 1 elder** (often = 2 queens + roll-away O a suite). Verify max occupancy **with infant counted**. oll-in shower on grandma's room | With hotel booking |
| 5 | **Connecting type (open-jaw YV → YYJ)** | Open-jaw on **one airline PN** = protected if YYJ leg cancels. **Self-transfer** (two separate one-way tickets on different airlines) = flag red, default to fail unless you accept the risk | With flight booking |
| 6 | **Booking actions** (all status = **未订**) | See table below | See table below |
| 7 | **I cannot book for you** | No payment, no PN created, no seats held. You (or your travel agent) place all orders | n/a |

### Booking actions (status = 未订 for every line)

| Item | Suggested lead time | Filter / fields to set when searching | Official entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flights into YV (long-haul) | **2–4 months** out for early-summer peak | Open-jaw YV in / YYJ out, same airline if possible; child seat request if needed; baggage | Airline's own site (not OTA) for fare rules |
| Flights out of YYJ | Same booking as above (open-jaw on1 PN) | As above | Same airline as inbound |
| efundable hotels — Vancouver x3 | **3–6 months** out, with free cancellation until ~7 days before | "efundable" rate, 2 adults + 1 child + 1 elder, step-free room, lift, breakfast not required | Hotel direct or BCAA / CAA / Costco Travel (members) |
| efundable hotels — Victoria x3 | **3–6 months** out, same filters | Same as Vancouver | Hotel direct |
| **BC Ferries Tsawwassen → Swartz Bay vehicle reservation** | **Opens 60 days before sailing** — book the moment the window opens; summer sailings sell out | Vehicle reservation + driver + passenger count, child4 + elder 71 declared if asked | bcferries.com (official only) |
| Butchart Gardens tickets | **1–2 months** out, online | Date-specific timed entry in peak summer | butchartgardens.com |
| Vancouver Aquarium + Science World |2–4 weeks | Online timed entry | Vancouver Aquarium, Science World |

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## Influencer blog vs your party

The "5-place in 6 nights" sprint assumes adults who can stack days and re-pack a suitcase in 20 minutes. For **2 adults + 4-year-old + 71-year-old with cane at 4,000 steps/day**, that loop is roughly:

- **+5 acts of cross-city packing** → each one is a 60–90 min reset, bad for grandma's knees and the kid's nap window
- **Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler** — scenic but curvy and 2h+ each way, no flat walking at the top that fits the step budget
- **Tofino detour** — adds either a long Malahat drive (closed sometimes in winter, manageable in summer but slow) or an extra ferry, for a beach destination that needs a half-day just to get value
- **Victoria last** — by Day 6–7 grandma is the most tired; ferrying back to YV then driving to the airport on departure day is the worst possible end

Cutting to **Vancouver + Victoria only, with the open-jaw fly-out of YYJ**, removes:2 hotel changes, 1 full ferry leg, and the long Day-7 airport transfer.

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## Word-of-mouth note (not verified — do **not** treat as fact)

| Claim type | Use as |
|---|---|
| Influencer / blog "must-do" lists (Capilano, Whistler day-trip, Tofino, Granville Island kayak) | A *soft* wish-list. Cross out anything with stairs, suspension bridges, or >2,000 steps. |
| "Stanley Park is 8 km around" — true, **not** your plan; we cut it to ~1.5 km out-and-back | Treat the seawall distance as a distance, not a target. |
| / TripAdvisor ferry wait times | Verify on bcferries.com sailing status before driving to terminal |

Any specific opening hour, sailing time, ticket price, age cut, or weekly closing you see quoted (anywhere) needs to be re-checked on the official page in the same week you travel. Don't paste a 2024 number into a 2027 plan.

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## Two gaps that change the plan (please answer and I'll re-cut)

1. **Origin city / airport** for flights into YV.
2. **Exact dates / year** — "early summer" was assumed as late June 2027 (2026 summer is already past as of today, 2026-09-17). If you mean a different window I'll re-cut the night split and the booking lead times.

Once you give me those two, I'll verify the BC Ferries summer schedule + reservation window on the official page, lock the open-jaw airline choice, and add the Butchart 2027 hours + age cut to the booking table.