Honeymoon Help- Seattle, Portland, Vancouver

Old Dec 23rd, 2012, 09:01 PM
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Honeymoon Help- Seattle, Portland, Vancouver

I am getting married in July 2013 and we are thinking about honeymooning in Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, possibly Northern California. We would like to take a road trip up or down the coast, problem is not so sure how to go about planning (how many days in each place, what to see, etc.) All I know is we would fly into Seattle, so that is our start. ANY HELP?!?
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Old Dec 23rd, 2012, 10:42 PM
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Have you looked at any guidebooks? They would give you an idea of what there is to see, and you could narrow what they suggest according to your interests and the time you have.
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Old Dec 24th, 2012, 06:16 AM
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My thought as to the route: Fly to Seattle. See Seattle, Take the train or Amtrak bus to Vancouver. (do a search above for Vancouver to see things to do).
Take the train from Vancouver to Portland. See Portland. Rent a car in Portland and head West on US 30 to Astoria. Start South on US 101 to Cannon Beach. There are many choices as to where to stay along the coast. When you get to Crescent City California take the time to see the Redwood NP.
Take US 199 to I-5 at Grants Pass and I-5 South to Gold Hill and cut over to Rt. 62 to go to the south entrance of Crater Lake. Reserve at Crater Lake lodge now if you can. Leave Crater Lake by way of the north entrance and then turn east on Rt. 138 to US 97 north to Bend Oregon. See Bend. Leaving Bend, US 97 North to Madras and US 26 to Rt. 35 near Government Camp and north on 35 to Hood River. Stay in Hood River. Take the old US 30 west to see the waterfalls including Multnomah Falls. Turn in the rental car wherever you rented it. If downtown take the red line light rail out to the airport to fly home from PDX.
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Old Dec 24th, 2012, 07:09 AM
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How many days do you have for this road trip? That will be an important factor in advising how far you might travel and for how long you might stay at each stop along the way.

HTtY
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Old Dec 24th, 2012, 09:35 AM
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First of all, best wishes on your marriage!

Secondly, good choices -- any ONE of these places would be a great place for a honeymoon.

Thirdly, a little advice from travelers who are about to celebrate a 30th anniversary: don't make your honeymoon a marathon. This is time for the two of you to adjust to the fact that you're now a couple. The reason you get away on a honeymoon is to, well, GET AWAY from other stress-inducers. A trip where you're saying, "If it Tuesday, this tower must be the Space Needle," is NOT a good way to do that! Instead, I suggest you slow down and savor one of them. The purpose of this trip is to see EACH OTHER, not the destination.

We did our 55th honeymoon (we got tired of referring to several trips as a "second" honeymoon, so we actually started counting!) in the areas you mention, and we DEFINITELY recommend them for a romantic start to a marriage. Just not all of them in one trip!

Of course, if going from one place to another is a romantic turn-on for the two of you, ignore what I just said.
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Old Dec 24th, 2012, 09:47 AM
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Ignore what I just said.


Will do.
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Old Dec 24th, 2012, 10:40 AM
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The following loop worked out well for us:

-Flew to Vancouver & stayed 3 nights
-Amtrak to Seattle, picked up rental car & drove to Port Angeles and spent 3 days exploring Olympic National Park.
-Drove back to Seattle, dropped off rental car and spent 3 nights before flying out of Seattle.

We started in Vancouver to avoid a round trip from Seattle. Three days gave us a small taste of each area and I would return. I wanted to take a day trip to Victoria but ran out of time. As long as you don't over schedule I think it is possible to see multiple places without stress. It was a wonderful trip.
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Old Dec 24th, 2012, 12:00 PM
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Good points above. The route that I suggested would be a bare minimum of 10 days - 14 would be much better.
Make sure to have your passports.
With 10 or less days, drop Vancouver and maybe even Redwood NP.
Whatever time you can spend at Crater Lake would be the highlight of your honeymoon IMO.
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Old Dec 25th, 2012, 12:41 PM
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No greyhound buses on a honeymoon, Tom. just sayin'
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Old Dec 27th, 2012, 10:42 AM
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Congratulations!!!

How long of a time are we planning?

What kind of a budget are we talking?

Do you want a fancier hotel for your first few nights in Seattle?

When you say "Vancouver" are you talking about Canada (there's also a city of the same name right next to Portland)?
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Old Jan 3rd, 2013, 10:52 AM
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Cannon Beach is a beautiful area of the Oregon Coast to spend time in. The Stephanie Inn there is one of the nicest places on the Oregon Coast to stay. ***kim***
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Old Jan 3rd, 2013, 10:23 PM
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kimamom: It looks like we've lost the OP. Registered, posted and never returned.

So maybe wait til s/he comes back to at least tell us how many days they are planning for this trip . . .
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Old Jan 4th, 2013, 08:21 AM
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We took a trip to this area for our anniversary in July. It was a perfect time to go. I would suggest staying in Seattle for at least 3-4 days. Plenty to do and see. We stayed at the Westin in downtown for one nite (because we had hotel points to use) and then moved to the Marriott at the Waterfront for 3 additional days. Both properties were wonderful. We could see the needle from our room at the Westin and this property was by the starting point for the Duck tours which I would highly recommend doing on your first couple of days so you can get a feel for the layout of the city. The tour is in a vehicle that can go on land and water and takes you past most of the important parts of the city, as well as, into the lake. It was really fun. You do not need a car while you are in Seattle. Our hotel arranged for a town car to pick us up at the airport for about the same price as a taxi. We ended up saving a lot of money because we did not have to pay for parking in Seattle and you can walk everywhere. We also took a ferry across the bay to Saltys for Sunday Brunch. It was awesome. The view of Seattle was beautiful and the food was excellent. Then, of course there is Pike's market. We rented a car when we were ready to drive to Vancouver which I also feel you shouldn't miss. Beautiful city with great bars, restaurants, parks and views. We only spent 2 nights here but we could have spent 3 or 4 nites. This is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to and they have perfect weather in July. 70's most of the time and no humidity. Loved it. We spent 2 nites here and then drove to Whistler which is north. Beautiful drive. Don't miss it. A very romantic place in the mountains where they were still skiing and snowboarding in July. We took the tram between the mountains and even saw bears. We only stayed one nite but again, I would recommend more. Lastly we drove back to seattle and stayed at the Marriott in Redmond because I wanted to go to the Woodenville area where there are several wine tasting rooms. If you love wine you won't want to miss this. Before our flight the next day, we drove over to Squalomie falls -- I'm sure I am not spelling this right but this was also a very beautiful area. If I were you, I would save Portland for another trip and enjoy this area. After all you are on your honeymoon. I would also 'milk' this fact at every hotel, bar and restaurant you go to because most of the time you can get upgrades and freebies because it is a special time for you. Good luck.
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Old Jan 4th, 2013, 08:29 PM
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I'd definitely start in Portland...

Fly into PDX and spend a couple of nights in Portland. I'm not sure on your budget, so these are a bit pricey...but in Portland, the Nines hotel rocks. The restaurant there is amazing too.

Take a leisurely drive to Cannon Beach. Last time we were there we stayed at the Surfsand. Nice place and you can't beat the beach there.

The drive up to SEA. Hotel 1000 is nice and central.

If you want to go all out, catch a seaplane from SEA to Victoria BC and spend a couple of nights there.

You can also then catch a seaplane from Victoria to Vancouver. Have fun!
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Old Jan 18th, 2013, 07:42 AM
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If it was me I would chose one way or the other or you could start at the bottom and go up or start at the top and go down but to start in the middle seems a little bit of a waste of valuable time.
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Old Apr 14th, 2013, 01:00 PM
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