mrtravelerms

We are planning a quick trip - 5 days roughly – and have waited last minute to start planning. Any itinerary/must see/must do suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We will be definitely flying in to Seattle and plan to stay the first night there. Then we had thought of traveling to the San Juan Islands (kayaking/whale watching), possibly Victoria or Vancouver (these two are really up in the air right now), next to Mt. St. Helens (stay in that vicinity) and ending in Portland. I am possibly interested in Mt. Hood although not sure about our travel time at this point and how crammed we will be. Any thoughts are welcome!

NWWanderer

Yikes, I got brain freeze as soon as I got beyond 3 different places you want to go in only five days, LOL ;-). I think you're trying to do WAY too much. I'd stick to just Seattle and the San Juans with that amount of time, if you actually want to *see* anything of either place. Getting to the San Juans involves a good amount of travel time and you should go for at least 2-3 days.

lennyba

That is really, REALLY crammed. You'll kill half a day just getting to the San Juans - if you go you should stay and enjoy for a while, not rush off to the next thing.

Is Portland a must-do? If you give yourself a decent amount of time in Seattle and the islands (which to me would be more like 2 nights Seattle/3 SJ) you'll be racing to get to PDX just to leave.

Gardyloo

I don't think it's totally unreasonable although it will be pretty full. The San Juans add too much logistic difficulties this year due to length of access drive and ferry waits, so bypass them in favor of Victoria. (Most years there are direct Victoria Clipper runs from Seattle to the San Juans but not this year owing to the boats being chartered by the Navy.)

First night, Seattle.

Second night, Victoria - access by Victoria Clipper - http://www.clippervacations.com or (more time in Victoria and more fun, also more $$) via floatplane - http://www.kenmoreair.com - both of which offer hotel packages and other activities like Kayaking or whale chasing.

Third night - back in Seattle.

Fourth day - Seattle to Portland via Mt. St. Helens; fourth night Portland. (The days are long and there's really no place close enough to MSH that's worth overnighting IMO.)

Fifth day/night - quick spin up the Columbia Gorge, then off you go.

clarasong

second the notion that you are going to spend most of the time in transit...If you do the Clipper, as has been suggested, you can see some of downtown Seattle when you get on the boat, see some of San Juan's while at sea, and have a relaxing time....