laminmd

This is our first trip ever to Washington and British Columbia. My husband and I are flying to Seattle in mid-June 2010 and renting a car for all portions of this trip besides approx. 3 days in Seattle itself.

So if I want to design a circle trip starting and ending in Seattle, and I only have 15 days total (incl. travel days on airplane), how can I do this intelligently and hit the following major spots in some sort of meaningful way: Seattle, Tacoma glass museum, Olympic peninsula (ONP, Pt Angeles, Pt Townsend), Mt Rainier (willing to eliminate), Mt St Helens (willing to eliminate), Leavenworth and Wenatchee valley (willing to eliminate), San Juan Islands, Whitbey Island, Victoria and highlights of Vancouver Island.

Thanks for your assistance.

spirobulldog

If you plan on staying @ one of the 4 lodges in Olympic, you probably want to make reservations ASAP. same would go for Paradise Inn @ Rainier. I haven't done The Northern Cascades National Park. yet myself, but I was suprised it didn't make your wish list. It looks very interesting as well. Mt. St Helens is the most "out of your way" place, so that would be what I might eliminate, although it is very interesting and a little spooky.

boom_boom

If I were to take such a trip, I'd start by leaving Seattle taking the ferry over to Bainbrdige Island and head for Port Angeles. Spend a couple of days based out of PA for the ONP. Then take the ferry across to Victoria and Vancouver Island for a few days, be sure to get as far north as Naniamo on the island. Next come back down the island to Sidney where you can get a ferry for San Juan Island. Then back to the mainland at Anacortes. Then south to Everett and US 2 across the Cascades to Leavenworth and WEnatchee. Just east of Leavenworth take US 97 to Ellensburg. Then decide if you want to go back to Seattle and thence to Mt Ranier or if you want to down and catch US 12 out of Yakima into the park from the eastern side. Out of the park and then into Tacoma via SR 7.

One possible alternative is to go north from Seattle to Whidbey Island, then take the Keystone to Port Townsend ferry before Pt. Angeles and ONP.

laminmd

Thanks, boom_boom, this is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for...and spirobulldog, is Mt St Helens worth the extra driving? Especially since it could easily be cloudy with limited visibility in June?

Fodorite018

laminmd--Yes, Mt St Helens is worth it! We have been there numerous times and even though we remember when it blew and we had the ash, it still draws us in. June can be anything for weather. We have been there in early June when it has been beautiful, and then yes, there are days that it is socked in. I would keep it on my itinerary and then if the weather is bad, you can always skip it. BTW, we used to do day trips there when we lived north of Seattle and with little kids. No biggie. Same thing with Leavenworth...we went over often. I do prefer to stay over there, but we are big hikers and such so we like to enjoy the area. But now that we are down in Portland we still go...just can't do it in a daytrip anymore

spirobulldog

If you do go to St Helens, don't miss the Visitor Center. My wife is alway upset with me for not going to the Visitor Centers in National Parks. This is one that is not to be missed, in my opinion. The ending of their movie is very shocking.

suze

I think I already answered this question??? but you have way too many places on your itinerary for a 13 day trip (15 minus the 2 days plane travel) and you've listed 13 separate places!

laminmd

I agree, WAY too many places. I might need to break it into two separate trips (hopefully I'll return to the area someday) and just stick with Seattle, the Olypmic peninsula, and Vanouver Island this time around. Thanks to everyone for their advice.

Connie

We just did these two this summer and if I had to choose between Mt. Rainier and Mt St Helens, I'd choose Mt. Rainier for sure.

NorthwestMale

Ahem, "the most out of the way place" on your itinerary is Vancouver ISLAND.

The travel costs for getting there are considerable, and it takes ages.

Trying to see "highlights" of an island that is more than 300 miles long isn't very fair to yourselves or the island.

And you don't even have Vancouver on your list. Vancouver is the only North American city routinely listed among the top ten liveable cities in the world, and is far more suitable for a first-time visit to this area than is Victoria.

My first, quick, idea as to a circle tour for you is as follows:

Land in Seattle

either drive or ferry toward the west side of Puget Sound, eventually on the long loop up around the Olympic Peninsula.

... back toward civilization at/near Olympia... then down south to St. Helens... then pick your own path back toward Mt. Rainier... Tacoma... Seattle (put your 3-day window in the MIDDLE of your trip so as to get some needed rest)...

Depart Seattle to the north... Hwy #2 to Leavenworth/Wenatchee... then the looooong loop around via North Cascades Hwy via Winthrop, WA... THEN up to Vancouver... a couple of nights there would be wise... then back south on Interstate 5 toward Seattle, with Whidbey Island on the way.

Indeed you'd have to haul ass to even cover this version in your window of time, but long, slow ferry rides to isolated spots only restricts your opportunities.

Wildly:

Nights

1: Olympic Peninsula
2: (same??)
3: (somewhere between St. Helens & Rainier)
4: Tacoma area?? (possible for #3 & #4 @ same spot?)
5:
6:
7: all Seattle
8: Wenatchee/Winthrop ??
9: Vancouver
10: Vancouver
11: Vancouver again (you'll love it!)
12: Mt. Vernon/Whidbey/Anacortes area
(go to San Juans IF time still allows)
13: (this night negotiable, depending on Whidbey/San Juans)

14: Near Sea Tac airport


I just took my best shot... and even if you hate the whole thought process, it provides a backbone to improve upon.

laminmd

Wow, NorthWestMale, something to think about. Thanks for that alternative itinerary. Just curious what you like so much about Vancouver? I am saving it for a separate trip one summer when we will spend some time there and then board a cruise ship north to Alaska and do several days land touring afterwards. Regarding Olympic peninsula, will need at least 3 days as we are considering relocating there. So, maybe a modified version of your list with more time in OP and no time in Vancouver? If we're going to be in Port Angeles then we might as well take the ferry to Victoria and spend an overnight there too.

NorthwestMale

OK, IF you are going to honor yourself and really DO Vancouver thoroughly on a separate trip, then you could get by without it here.

But if you are considering relocating to the Olympic Peninsula, I sense it would be most effective to see the very best the Northwest has to offer in the way of giving the area every chance to maintain your interest.

Victoria is so darn remote, and that is its biggest drawback. It is a whopping 75 miles from here/Seattle, has nearly 300,000 people, and I have been there once in 35 years! I'd happily and eagerly go there were it not made complicated by a long and expensive round-trip ferry ride.

Victoria's quaintness is preserved by its isolation, and it is in some ways (pleasantly) stuck in time somewhere in the past.

Vancouver, by contrast, has been made to become majorly diverse, with vast numbers of significant cultures coexisting in a city that is extremely safe by U.S. big-city standards. (Few North American cities anywhere have normal people walking the streets all night long as much as Vancouver does) (LOL - there are some others walking, but never mind them)

It is an excellent place to get small dabs of foreignness without the risks that often come with a foreign country. The food is awesome, the city views are breathtaking, and the downtown area is compacted by water on 3 sides making for a great walking-around destination.

Heck, even the Olympics are going to be split between there and nearby Whistler in a few months.

Let me try my list again:



(nights)

1- Olympic Pen.
2- Olympic Pen.
3- Olympic Pen.
4- Tacoma area (after day trip to St. Helens?)
5- Tacoma area
6- Seattle area
7- Seattle area
8- Seattle area
9- Wenatchee/Winthrop area?
10- Vancouver
11- Vancouver
12- Mt. Vernon/Whidbey/Anacortes
13- San Juans?
14- Near Sea Tac airport to fly out

nukesafe

Be aware that one needs reservations on the ferry to Victoria from either Anacortes or Port Angeles may be required, especially in the Spring and Summer.

If you need to catch an early ferry, you might consider staying close to the terminal(s) the night before. Locals often rent guest rooms to such folks. Check the local Craigslists. Advertising is a no no on Fodors, but a Google search might turn up our cozy room in Anacortes, for example.

laminmd

Thanks for all the tips and feedback. I've been doing some research, and I'm getting the idea that in the summer, if I want to see the San Juan Islands and I'm taking a ferry for vehicles (which I must since I will have to rent a car), then the lines to board can get crazy long. I'm wondering if that means I should plan to get to the San Juan Islands from the west side rather than from the east side, where most people are boarding? In which case I would then be looking at creating an itinerary in which I toured the Olympic peninsula, took the ferry to Victoria, and then took the ferry from Sidney to Friday Harbor? Heading east on the ferries back towards the mainland is then free, correct? So this seems to make the most sense unless I am missing something...

Welbourn3

Just a word of warning - we came across some completely snow-covered trails in Mt. Ranier when we went in mid-June 2006. These were trails from the Visitor Center. We were not prepared for such cold weather and had to buy some fleece vests and hoodies while we were there (which they conveniently sell at the Visitor's Center) .

Also, there was some snow up on Hurricane Ridge, which is on the Olympic Peninsula near Port Angeles.

For a picture of Mt. Ranier during this trip go to http://sites.google.com/site/nomanchanilla and click on the link to the left that says something like "picture slideshow"
The picture after the Mt. Ranier photo is of a waterfall we hiked to on the Olympic Peninsula (I think from Sol Duc).

Good luck!

NWWanderer

I would limit the number of stops to 5 or 6 max. A circle trip of Olympic Peninsula, Victoria, San Juans and Seattle would make sense. You can do Whidbey Island on the way between the San Juans and Seattle, and Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens and/or the Tacoma Glass Museum can be done as day trips from Seattle.

Which day of the week you travel to/from the San Juans is the most important factor with respect to wait times--don't travel to the islands on a Friday or come back from the islands on a Sunday. However, if you travel from Sidney to the San Juans then which day of the week it is doesn't matter, as that segment takes reservations.