Seattle Travel Forum

Hi,

My wife and I will be in Seattle-Vancouver-Victoria region for 9 days/nights in mid-July. We will be flying in/out of Seattle and we are planning to drive to Vancouver.

We like an good mix of city and outdoor stuff. Hiking, nature trails, mountains, forests etc. We also enjoy cafes, trying different cuisines, window shopping, city strolls.

I have the following questions which will help us plan the trip better,

(i) Any suggeested itineraries. How do we split the days among these cities. Would we be able to cover Olympic National forest (western Washington) in the itinerary. Or will it be too cramped?

(ii) Good locations/hotels to stay in Seattle - nothing fancy but descent and clean.

(iii) Any recommendation for outdoor activities around Seattle - hiking, mountains, nature trails etc.

(iv) How is public transportation within Seattle? Or do we need to drive our car to most places.

(v) Any not-to-miss attractions, events, activities in Seattle. We will be there in mid-July '08


Thanks a bunch!

i would recommend that you drive up the olympic peninsula from seattle and then take the ferry to victoria from port angeles.
that way you can easily stop at the olympic national park on the way and you can return quickly by driving straight from vancouver to seattle along the coast.

I'll answer your posts re Seattle and Vancouver together.

(i) Itineraries
A couple of generic thoughts:
In 9 days you would have time to do any 3 of these 4: Seattle, Olympics, Victoria, and Vancouver
I’d recommend either of the following:

If you wanted to do all 4, IMHO the fastest reasonable would be as follow – more days preferable:
Day 1 & 2: Seattle: 2 days (maybe on one of those days driving to Mt Rainier?)
Day 3: drive down I-5 to Olympia, thence across to the beaches at SW of Olympics, spend ½ day at beach
Day 4: Drive along west side of Olympics to Port Angeles, stopping for ½ day for a rain forest hike
Day 5: morning drive to Hurricane Ridge (Alpine terrain), walk a few hours, then back to Port Angeles and catch late ferry to Victoria (not many ferries, watch schedule closely)
Day 6: Victoria
Day 7: Ferry to Vancouver
Day 8 & 9: Vancouver
Day 10: Drive to Seattle

A less rushed trip in 9 days would be:
Day 1 & 2: Seattle: 2 days
Day 3: take ferry from Edmonds to Kingston then drive towards Port Angeles. On the way choose to stop at Dungeness Spit for beach, or drive to Hurricane Ridge (Alpine terrain), walk a few hours.s
Day 4: Morning ferry to Victoria, afternoon: Victoria
Day 5: Victoria
Day 6: Morning ferry to Vancouver, afternoon: Vancouver
Day 7 & 8 Vancouver
Day 9: Drive to Seattle – take slower roads along Puget Sound instead of freeway, some beach stops

Both above have lots of driving and lots of ferry trips (car + ferry = $)

If you wanted to minimize driving, a possibility would be:
Days 1, 2 & 3: Seattle: 2 days doing city things sans car, 1 day rent car and drive to Mt. Rainier
Day 4: Passenger-only ferry downtown Seattle to downtown Victoria, afternoon: Victoria
Day 5: Victoria
Day 6: Morning bus & ferry to Vancouver, afternoon: Vancouver
Day 7 & 8 Vancouver
Day 9: Most of day in Vancouver, 6PM train to Seattle

If given the choice, I would spend more time in Vancouver than Seattle … more things to do.

Ii Hotels: I’ll leave to others, I’ve lived both places and have friends in both, so never used a hotel

iii. Outdoor activities:
Seattle:
Dive to the mountains (Mt. Rainier or many other places in Cascades 1 to 2 hrs away); Rent kayak or canoe on Lake Union; Stroll in parks (visit the outdoor Sculpture Park and/or Government Locks)
Victoria:
Rent bikes and ride the 55km long Galloping Goose trail (former RR) from downtown beside the harbor and along the strait of Juan de Fuca; go on a whale watching trip; rent canoes or kayaks and explore the water; stroll through Butchart Gardens; visit BC Museum; walk around Victoria
Vancouver:
For sure: rent bikes and ride the seawall from downtown around Stanley Park and around the entirety of False Creek to Granville Island – lots of stops and sightseeing … a great and full day … leave lots of time for Granville Island … en route there is a tremendous variety incl. views, nice beaches, parks, busy shopping and residential areas, its great
Lots of walks possible in Stanley Park
Go to North Shore: lots of ½ day hikes (get a guide book to show you); 3 examples:
drive or city bus to top of Seymour … lots of subalpine hikes while overlooking Vancouver;
drive or bus to Lighthouse Park in West Vancoucer … natural area on the shore of Burrard Inlet, nice hikes, nice views;
Drive or bus to West Vancouver and hike the Capilano Canyon from the waters edge to Capilano dam (about 2,000 ft elev. gain)
Being young and active don’t bother with over-rated tourist traps of Grouse Mtn or Capillano Canyon Suspension Bridge. In North Vancouver Lynn Canyon Park has lots of hiking and a similar suspension bridge – for free.
Vancouver is a very cosmoplolitan city … lots of cuisine from all over the world including especially Chinese and East Indian.

Lot's more to say, but that will have to wait.

Re public transport:
Seattle has a fairly good bus system. Most of the "city things" are relatively close to downtown, so most can be walked to ... but to get to good hiking or scenic places outside of downtown you'd want a car.

Re events not to miss:
Jule and early August is Seafair time with lots of events
For a calendar, see:
http://www.seafair.com/events/community/