Ok guys- info on the islands please- worth visiting????? Or should we look somewhere else in northern WA for a couple day adventure? Thanks!!!!
San Juan Islands, WA
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I'm sure that you will receive replies from Fodorites who live in the islands, but as a non-islander but occasional visitor I will tell you that they are well worth visiting. Stay on San Juan Island (Friday Harbor) and ferry-hop to Orcas and/or Lopez.
"A couple of days" works for Olympic National Park, as well, and you can get there without a ferry ride. Google is your friend.
Orcas and San Juan Island get the most visitors. We prefer San Juan. Here is a summary of a day trip we took there in 2010:
"On Tuesday, August 17, we parked our car at the Anacortes Ferry terminal ($10) and went to Friday Harbor as foot passengers on the ferry ($12.15 each, round trip).
We walked around Friday Harbor and had a good lunch on the deck of the Downrigger, overlooking the harbor ($40).
After lunch we took the bus to Roche Harbor ($10 each, round trip).
The trip to Roche Harbor included an excellent narration about the island and drop-off points on the route such as a lavender farm and the Limekiln Whale Watch Park.
Roche Harbor is a delightful up-scale resort with two restaurants and a huge yacht harbor. We enjoyed the historic buildings, the gardens, and the yachts. We bought ice cream at a kiosk and ate it at an outside table with harbor view ($7).
We took the direct bus back to Friday Harbor, purchased food at King’s Market on Spring Street ($18), and enjoyed a delicious picnic on the evening ferry back to Anacortes.
It was a delightful day—hassle free and inexpensive (about $120 for the two of us).
HTTY
My two cents, having just returned from the islands, is that if you are a first time visitor to the area, do the Olympic Peninsula, Mt. Ranier, Mt St. Helens, Victoria, THEN do the islands. They are a nice, laid back, long weekend destination, not something worth crossing the country for.