I am sure I will have more questions, but I am booking the hotel. Do I want to stay at the Great Wheel, Waterfront, Ferry Terminal or Alaskan Way areas?
Also, I am trying to fit in Portland and Vancouver. Any suggestions for well really anything. Take the train? rent a car? DH wants the train? How is Vancouver? DH has been to Portland, and my friend said it has a college town feel. I was also wanting to go to some of the parks/ forest areas nearby, Mt. Rainier?
I have the plane tickets, but don't have anything else planned. We will be in the area from Sunday to Saturday. Half day on both Sunday and Saturday due to our flights. So really 5 full days.
Post by supertrooper1 on Apr 18, 2018 14:03:25 GMT -5
My favorite hotels in Seattle are The Grand Hyatt, The Fairmont Olympic, the Hyatt House or the Silver Cloud Stadium. We stay a night or two 3-5 times a year and chose our hotel based on our activity. The Grand Hyatt is close to shopping, could be walkable to Pike Place but is 8-9 blocks with hills. The Fairmont is very centrally located to downtown and Pike Place. The Hyatt House is at the base of the Space Needle (which is currently open but under construction) and Seattle Center. The Silver Cloud is for when we want to go to a game. You can now take light rail from SeaTac (I have never done that), but Seattle tends to be more of a city to drive in because public transportation isn't the most convenient and the hills and spread out city make it difficult to walk. SeaTac is a ways from downtown. Top tourist attractions: Pike Place, the waterfront, Space Needle/Seattle Center, Ride the Ducks, Underground Tour, stadium tours (if you're into sports).
With 5 full days, I suggest picking either Portland or Vancouver. Or even taking the ferry to Victoria, BC. I prefer Portland over Vancouver, but I may be biased. I only live 45 minutes + border traffic away from Vancouver and I haven't been there in probably 8 or more years. Amtrak makes Vancouver easy, but make sure if you book it that it's the train and not the bus. The border traffic can be unpredictable. Weekdays are better for border crossing via car, and stay clear of Canadian holiday weekends where border waits can be 3+ hours. The drive from Seattle to Vancouver is about 3 hours (plus border wait times) and the drive to Portland from Seattle is also roughly 3 hours.
Portland downtown is a walkable city and the food carts are fun to try. Powell books is cool to visit. But there isn't a ton for kids IMO.
Living in Washington my whole life, I have never actually been to Mt. Rainier. I live close to Mt. Baker and we go there in the summer for snow.
supertrooper1 , I have Marriott points, so I was planning to stay in a Marriott, but they have the 4 locations and I wasn't sure which one. I was thinking it might not be enough time to do 3 cities. I would like to see Vancouver, but DH has been to Portland and was excited about it, and I haven't been to anything in the Pacific Northwest, so Portland would be fine with me too. We are not bringing kids.
I'm so confused by their names. Alaskan Way is along the waterfront, which is where the terminals are. I would choose the Waterfront. Or the Renaissance is a super-nice hotel, if you don’t mind being downtown and walking down the hill for the touristy stuff. I would definitely mind (that hill is STEEP), but thought I’d throw it out there since I’ve stayed there.
Do NOT stay near the airport. It’s fast food and just a grubby, yucky area.
I don’t love Portland, but I can see its charm. I do love the Columbia River Gorge. If you want to hike, that’s a cool place. Lots of microbreweries in the area, too. There’s a hotel called the Skamania Lodge that’s fairly cool and they have zip line tours on the property as well as golf.
Post by kimberlybb on Apr 18, 2018 14:52:13 GMT -5
I have never been to Vancouver but if you decide to go to Portland I would rent a car It is an easy drive from Seattle. If you are into craft beer there is a really neat tour in Portland called Brewvana. It's a bus brewery tour. Powell books is fun. I also really liked going to the Willamette Valley. They are known for their Pinot Noir. I think there are close to 500 wineries out there.
I love Seattle. I was just there last week for work. I really like the Lake Union area - that's where I usually stay.
We did a Portland and Vancouver trip the summer before last. We flew between them. Mainly because it was summer and I didn't want to deal with traffic at the border, and the train schedule was not conducive to traveling with small children (like the train arrived in Vancouver at 11 pm). Vancouver was super awesome - I highly recommend it. We had a fabulous time there and I can't wait to go back. I also like Portland (we're going there this summer, because my BFF lives there), but I do feel like it's gotten pretty crowded and pricey because it's so popular. I think Vancouver is also crowded and pricey but it's been that way for a long time, so they have the infrastructure for it.
My rule with fun travel is to try to spend at least 3 nights in each place. I always end up having a better time if I do that, rather than rushing to try to visit more places. So if I were you, I would pick either Portland or Vancouver - and I'd pick Vancouver.
If you do Vancouver I think you should rent a car there. Stanley Park and the Capilano suspension bridge are awesome and require a car. You could also do a day trip to Whistler if you wanted - it's less than 2 hours. Ideally, I would prefer to take the train in between, but I just looked and the times are still not ideal (either early morning or late at night). So in that case I'd probably evaluate whether it's cheaper to rent a car at the Seattle airport for the whole trip and pay for parking in Seattle, or just rent a car in downtown Seattle when you're ready to drive to Vancouver. I've rented a car in downtown Seattle before to go to the nearby wine country and it was pretty easy.
Can you tell I love the Pacific NW and love to travel plan?
Post by freezorburn on Apr 19, 2018 2:28:20 GMT -5
Seattle resident here.
I like the Fairmont for proximity to downtown shopping and Pike Place Market.
What time of year will you be traveling? My recommendations might vary depending on the season.
If you will have kids with you and decide on Portland, I hear OMSI is good. Still haven’t been there, because when we go to Portland, all we do is go to the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation. And go train spotting, and ride trains. My kiddo loves trains.
Vancouver has some great restaurants, but I really love the San Juan islands. Could easily spend a few days or a whole week exploring those.
I recommend Vancouver if you love the outdoors. DH and I went a few years ago. We stayed in a really nice B&B in North Vancouver and we could walk to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park and Grouse Mountain. We spent a few hours getting lost there. Then we drove to Howe Sound and took the sea to sky railway. There is a nice brewery at the bottom of the mountain there called Howe Sound Brewery. In town, you can wander around Granville Island to do some shopping/eating or go to Stanley Park.
freezorburn we did OMSI with kids and it was a lot of fun. We also love the San Juans - we’ve only been there without kids but plan to take the kids next summer.
If you do Vancouver and especially if you’re with kids, I agree with polecat8 on Granville Island. We were there almost two years ago and DD was only 3, and she still talks about taking the little ferry to the island with all the games
If you like reading about destinations (fiction) I just finished Twilight Wife and it was great. Set in the San Juan Island area. (I always gravitate toward books set in places I am going or have been, esp. nearer to the trip).
waverly, when are you coming? I'm thinking fire season may impact where you want to go. Seattle- I really love Pike Market and try and catch the fish throwing. Underground Seattle, Space Needle, and the Rock and Roll Museum are all good bets and all located near each other, but I haven't been in years. Vancouver is okay but the border crossing can be heavy especially over the weekend as the Candaians like to come down to the States to shop. I 2nd the San Juans especially if you want to do outdoor stuff. We spent an entire day in Anacortes wandering around and checking out the different beaches/hikes. Anacortes is in Washington but a jumping ferry point to San Juan. Portland is okay but if you want outdoor stuff I would head along the Columbia Gorge even with the burned area from the big fire last year Multnomah falls is a must and they have a few other waterfall drives/hikes. I've heard good reviews on the riverboat dinner cruise along the Columbia river out of Hood River.
FYI We drive up to Portland often but it is usually for shopping or the zoo/OMSI/Powells/relative visits. There is a lot to do in Portland and its surrounding areas but for me the traffic and travel time from point A to B is a draw back. It also takes us 2.5 hours to get to Portland and another 2.5 hours to get home so it is a long-long day.
It’s for DH’s birthday. So I want to do kind of what he wants to do. He thinks he is outdoorsy but he’s really not. He’s more like coffee and brewery type person. But since it’s for his birthday he doesn’t want to plan or give too much input he kind of wants me to do it. Whichever city we choose we would stay for a couple of night not do a day trip.
If it were me I would probably do Vancouver but I am getting the Portland vibe from him. Good to know on the fire season and outdoor areas if we get that far.