If, however, you want to experience an island feel, you could simply take the ferry from W. Seattle

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Hi all -- My friend and I would like to go to Seattle and Vancouver for 5-6 days nights in mid-August (flying from NY). We're trying to figure out how we should plan our flights and whether we should rent a car to get around. In Vancouver, we'd like to see the city and go to Vancouver Island for the day. In Seattle, we just want to see the city and enjoy the food/night enterprise car rentals for sale scene. We're in our late 20's and are just looking for a quick/fun girls getaway. Our options are:
1) Fly into one city and out of the other. If we do this, should we rent a car to cross the border OR take the train and not rent a car at all? Should we just rent a car for Vancouver? We don't have a preference on which city we do first, if we do the multi-city flight.
2) Fly into and out of Seattle. If we do this, upon landing in Seattle from NY, we would get a rental car and drive straight to Vancouver, spend time there and then drive back to Seattle to spend a few days there before flying back to NY.
I recommend something a little different. Fly in/out of SEA and to leave Seattle take the Victoria Clipper to Victoria, rent a car there to tour Vancouver Island (go at least as far as Nanaimo) When done there take the ferry from Sidney into Vancouver and then Amtrack back to Seattle.
I think your trip would be far better 'packaged' if you simply opted for just the Seattle and Vancouver parts, each of which would provide you picturesque settings and enough time to take-in both places.
Try to avoid having to travel enterprise car rentals for sale when everyone else is on the roads and in the border enterprise car rentals for sale lines. For not being AS rushed as you were intending to be, you can afford to be flexible and maximize your fun time while minimizing your border time.
Upon returning to Washington State, either come back LATE Sunday night (maybe hitting the border no earlier than 8pm, but 10pm is better enterprise car rentals for sale yet for minimizing the wait and then zipping the 110 miles back to central Seattle {freeway all the way}) or even early on Monday.
(*** I admit that if someone picked me up by the scruff of the neck and put me 75 miles away in Victoria, that I'd be thrilled to explore the whole city and much of the lower island area, but I'd want a week or more do do it. As Vancouver Island is more than 8 times the size of Long Island (and far more remote), it can't be done properly enterprise car rentals for sale on one trip, particularly when at the expense of time utilized in Vancouver)
I toyed with all kinds of combinations for this trip, and ended up flying in and out of Seattle and renting a car for the whole trip. It seemed less hassle, less time than making enterprise car rentals for sale all the various transportation connections, and just didn't tie me down so much. I did rent the car in Downtown Seattle however after spending a couple nights there and saved a bundle enterprise car rentals for sale compared to picking it up at the airport, even though I returned it to the airport.
If you're going to Victoria definitely do it from Seattle and not Vancouver. I didn't know that would be better and it's a three hour bus/ferry/bus transfer from Vancouver whereas from Seattle the ferry leaves from downtown and arrives in downtown Victoria. But we had 6 days in Vancouver/Victoria and that still felt rushed. No way I'd add Victoria to your itinerary. Oh, and we loved the Sylvia Hotel in Vancouver.
To maximize enterprise car rentals for sale your time on land, look into JFK-SEA direct flights on Jetblue. 7:14pm flight gets you in around 10:35pm. On your return flight take the 9:50pm red eye from SEA, gets you into JFK at 6am. Some other airline routes could take you all day.
If you are only spending a couple days in Seattle and mainly want food and bar scene, you don't need a car. You will waste time finding parking. Take the Sound Transit from the airport to downtown Seattle, it gets off right beside Nordstrom on Pine, takes about 25 mins and costs $2.50 I think. There will be plenty of good restaurants and bars to occupy you in downtown/Belltown/Capitol Hill areas for 3 days.
Driving from Seattle to Vancouver takes 2.5hr if there is absolutely no traffic, which is rare on I5. Also renting enterprise car rentals for sale cars are cheaper in Vancouver than in Seattle, and some car rental companies may not let you or may charge extra if you take the car cross border. So consider taking Amtrak enterprise car rentals for sale or the Quick Shuttle Bus to Vancouver, then rent a car there.
Once you get to Vancouver, you don't need a car downtown for shopping and good restaurants. Consider biking as a mode of transportation. It's a great way to go around the city and especially to go to places like Stanley Park. There are lots of places to rent bikes. Maybe on last day in Vancouver rent a car (about $40/day for mid-size) if you really want to go to Victoria. But I think that's really tight to do that. If all you're going for in Victoria is scenery, you will get a good taste of that from inside the cities in Seattle and Vancouver. enterprise car rentals for sale Sure, it won't compare to going to the islands, but for a 5-6 day trips, it will be a nice compromise.
I'm not sure what you are wanting to do on Vancouver Island. Seeing anything enterprise car rentals for sale other than Victoria or the Buchardt Gdns would be very difficult in this time-frame. Victoria is another city. Cute, though it is, it is packed with tourists in the summer. The Buchardt Gdns are great, but not sure if this is what you are looking for in going to Vancouver Is. You could take the Clipper to Victoria from Seattle enterprise car rentals for sale - go in the morning and return the same night or the next night.
If, however, you want to experience enterprise car rentals for sale an island feel, you could simply take the ferry from W. Seattle to Vashon Island and picnic enterprise car rentals for sale at the beach at Pt Roberts lighthouse or even take the Argosy Cruise to Blake Island for the salmon bake and spend some time walking the trails there, time permitting. Even Golden Gardens Park, in Seattle, has a very island-like beach and is a lovely spot.
Good things to do in Seattle - rent a bike at Alki (can go on the water taxi from downtown and rent a bike close to where it goes in W. Seattle); go kayaking at the Aqua Verde and see the houseboats on L. Union (Sleepless enterprise car rentals for sale in Seattle), then have lunch at Aqua Verde; see the salmon ladders at the Crittendan locks; and see the troll in Fremont.