Seattle Travel Forum

I am planning a trip in Dec/Jan from Australia to North America. We are hoping to have 1-2 nights in Seattle. We will arrive from Vancouver via bus and leave to Portland most likely on the Amtrak train. Whilst in Seattle I want to go to the top of the tower. Is there accomodation central to the train station and tower or can you recommend cheap transfers or other transportation. Any recommendations would be great. I would probably like to stick with the chain hotel/motels as I am booking over the internet from Australia for the first time and would like to play it safe.

I would love to see Mt St Helens and some of the surrounding areas. Are there day tours at this time of the year we could do? How close is Mt St. Helens to Seattle?

Any advice on any part of my trip would be appreciated. Thanks.

If I recall correctly, Mount St. Helens is about 2 hours drive south of Seatle and only about an hour from Portland. We took a daytrip to Mt Ranier from Seattle because it was closer. Had a great time day hiking.
I found a few tour operators with this google search.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLR,GGLR:2005-51,GGLR:en&q=mount+st%2e+helens+to+seattle

Hello,


From: Amtrak Stn; 303 S Jackson St - King St Stn

To: Space Needle Area Hotels

Approx 2 mi, 10mins drive by taxi $10US

Local Chains Zip Code, 98109

BW Executive Inn, 98109 Avg Daily Rate AUD 100

Holiday Inn Ex Hotel & Suites, Avg Daily Rate AUD 140

Comfort Suites Seattle Ctr, Avg Daily Rate AUD 120

Hampton Inn Down Town, 98109 Avg Daily Rate AUD 125


Best Wishes!

The "tower," I assume is the Space Needle, which is located slightly north of downtown Seattle in the neighborhood of Queen Anne. I would look for a hotel somewhere in the Queen Anne or Belltown area (not train station area), which are very convenient to downtown for walking, shopping, etc. As the previous poster mentioned, it's only a short and inexpensive taxi ride to the train station.

Other hotels you might try (and you don't mention a budget level):
--Westin, Sheraton, Hilton, W, Mariott, The Edgewater, Travelodge, Paramount, and many others. You might try the Ace Hotel, which is ultra-modern-minimalist, at about $99.

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is well worth seeing. I would recommend a rental car for this, as you can sightsee and stop along the way as you like. The drive is southward down Interstate-5 to Castle Rock (about 120 miles), and then you turn in on the beautiful two-lane road of Rte. 584 (another 60 miles to the volcano). Count on a minimum of 3 hours each way, and start very early to avoid commuter traffic around Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia.

If it's drizzling or raining in Seattle during your time (Dec-Jan), I would not bother with a trip to the mountains, as you won't see much, unless you intend to ski. Also, kindly keep in mind that because of our northerly latitude of 47 degrees, in these months daylight will be limited to about 0745-1645. These are not the optimum months to visit Seattle, but I certainly would wish upon you a spell of good weather!

The Moore Hotel has a great location and is cheap. It's a little seedy, but I stayed there a few years ago and thought it was a good value.

The hotels that USATravels recommended are all good middle of the road motel chains .. and all are within a few blocks of the space needle.

Your description in the Oregon forum and this forum leave a puzzle in my mind. If you could answer some of the questions I left in Oregon, and explain the outlines of your intentions, we could comment more realistically.

In December or January any trip to either Rainier or Mt St Helens will be in *MUCH* snow. Most of the commercial tours to them are just in summer ... there may be some in winter, but I'm not sure.

Coming at that time of year, and coming from Australia, you may really enjoy seeing some of the mountain snow. At Rainier, or St. Helens, or Hood in Oregon it can easily be between 4 and 8 feet deep. I do think that you could find tours from Portland to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood during winter ... that would be a real treat. If you couldn't find sighteeing tours, you could take a skier bus to Timberline Lodge on Hood in the morning, stay there most of the day (its a fantastic heavy timer lodge - very comfortable - good dining and drinking) and come back in the late afternoon.

At that time of year, in Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland you are most likely to meet lots of rain. There is a chance of snow, or a chance of periods of sunshine. Be sure to bring clothes that are warm and that are good in rain.