3 day trip from Kingston, WA
 

Hello,

Visiting friends this summer in Kingston WA and want to add a few days onto the end to have some time to ourselves. Then we have to fly home from Seattle. Where would you suggest going and staying, for peace and relaxation and natural beauty? We don't want to have an extremely long drive back into Seattle the night before we have to head home. The islands? If so, which one would be most relaxing. Olympic National Park? If so, where and what to do? Thanks for any input.

On the Olympic Peninsula I would divide my time between Quinault Lake Lodge (Fireplace Room) and Lake Crescent Lodge (Marymere Building) or Quillayute River Resort: http://www.qriverresort.com/

All three of these places have beautiful, relaxing natural settings.

HTTY

If you want to spend your time in the San Juans, I suggest Orcas Island or San Juan Island. On either island it would be good to have a car, and there can be long waits to get a car on a ferry.

Another possibility would be to drive to Winthrop via I-5, 530 and the North Cascades Highway (20). If this is your choice, you could continue the loop staying in Chelan (a lake resort town) or Leavenworth (a mountain town with a Bavarian theme).

This loop drive is quite scenic. It takes you through the North Cascades, the Methow Valley (a favorite place of mine), down the west side of the Columbia River, through the Wenatchee Valley and back through the Cascades over Stevens Pass.

The drive from Leavenworth back to Kingston is 120 miles and takes about 2 3/4 hours.

Rooms in Winthrop and Leavenworth are less costly than those in the San Juans or at the places I mentioned on the Olympic Peninsula.

Thanks for the advice! I think I am leaning towards your second suggestion. Seems like a lot of driving and waiting to go to the San Juans, and probably a lot more people. Have you stayed anyplace in particular at Chelan or Leavenworth? Also, when we come back we will be heading into Seattle to the airport, staying over the night before for an early flight. What would be the route back if headed to Seattle as opposed to Kingston?

The drive from Leavenworth to Seattle is about the same as to Kingston.

In Winthrop we like to stay at Rio Vista in a King room with a river view; in Chelan we stay at the Best Western Lakeside; and in Leavenworth at Abendblume B&B.

HTTY

In Leavenworth, we have had several great stays at Pension Anna. It is right in downtown, but on the edge. So you can walk to everything, yet the hotel is in a quiet area. I really like going for walks from there in the morning on Blackbird Island.

Thanks, mms, for the Pension Anna tip. Abendblume is a beautiful place, but it might be better to be in town.

HTTY--I love the variety of rooms there. Most are for couples, but there are a few large enough for families. We have had the chapel suite with the kids a few times and that is pretty cool. Breakfast there is very good, BTW.

You can make a nice loop from Kingston to Leavenworth and back to Seattle by taking Highway 2 eastbound and Interstate 90 westbound. In between the two, take Highway 97 south and you may want to take a short detour into the picturesque town of Roslyn, where Northern Exposure was filmed.

I must suggest that since you are going to be so close to one of the only temperate rain forests on the planet that you think about heading to the Olympic Peninsula. Any of the Olympic National Park accommodations are peaceful, quiet and memorable. Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort has no cell phone reception or TV, if you really want to get away! Kalaloch, which is near enough to the Hoh Rain Forest for easy access, overlooks the Pacific Ocean (amazing sunsets!). Either lake lodge, Crescent or Quinault are charming. A stroll through the Pandora-like rainforest, a walk on a wild Pacific beach, a leisurely evening at an historic lodge, and maybe a drive to get up close to glacier-capped Olympic Mountains.....if it were me, I'd choose the Olympic Peninsula. Plus, you can probably find some really good Olympic Coast Cuisine at one of the local restaurants. It's about five hours from Kingston to Kalaloch, but the drive is part of the experience.

If you are looking for things to do in Leavenworth and the surrounding, we've created a website from a tourist's perspective of things we like to do and things others may like to do. It has upcoming events and highlights "The Next Big Thing" in Leavenworth.

See it at http://www.accidentalbavarian.com.