druss4171

My husband and I are taking an Alaskan cruise next August from Seattle and plan to spend a week in the pacific northwest after the cruise. However, we've never been to that area and are a little overwhelmed and what to do. We plan on visiting in Seattle for three days before the cruise, so we have a full week to explore additional areas from Seattle. The return flight can be from a different airport.

We would like to see the Oregon and Washington coasts, Crater Lake, Sequoias and Yosemite. Maybe a winery or three? I suspect there is no viable way to do all of that in a week, but I'm stumped at what part we should try to make work, and what part we need to just miss this trip. Should we plan in flying home from Seattle, or would San Fran be better?

Does anyone have any input?

Fodorite018

You are right, a week for all that is not doable. Since you will have already had several days to see Seattle on the front end, I would focus on driving down the coast for the week at the end.

I personally love the Olympic Peninsula, but think you would be best off choosing that and just the northern tip of the OR coast such as Cannon Beach, OR skipping the OP and doing all of the OR coast and Crater Lake.

I can't help with CA stuff, but I am sure others can give you ideas for that.

If you do the OR coast and CL, just head south from Seattle and then at Longview cut over and head down. Or, you can keep going down to Portland and cut over to the Willamette Valley and visit a coupe wineries before heading over to the coast. That is easily done with very little backtracking, if any. One thing to keep in mind is that most places in Cannon Beach, and lately many in Seaside and Manzanita, have figured out the high demand for lodging and so have 2-3 night minimum stays during high season, so plan accordingly. CB has been a favorite of mine since being a little kid growing up in Salem. It is popular for a reason, it is beautiful! Haystack Rock and Ecola State Park are two places not to miss. Crater Lake is beautiful, and the boat ride on the lake is excellent. You could then drive back to Portland to fly out. If you do that, you could allow time on your way to see the Columbia River Gorge.

janisj

>>We would like to see the Oregon and Washington coasts, Crater Lake, Sequoias and Yosemite. Maybe a winery or three? I suspect there is no viable way to do all of that in a week

Gardyloo

Another option is to do a loop around the Olympic Peninsula, then down the coast to Cape Disappointment at the (awesome) mouth of the Columbia River, down the northern and central Oregon coast as far as Yachats, then head inland through the Willamette Valley wine country to Mount Hood, then down the (marvelous) Hood River Valley to the river, and back to Seattle via the Columbia Gorge and Portland. Returning the car where you got it would save a LOT of money by avoiding a one-way fee, and the drive from Portland to Seattle, while a bit boring, is pretty quick. Here's a map illustrating this - https://goo.gl/maps/Neb5wtVnhKv

A completely different plan would involve flying to San Francisco and spending the week in northern California, something like this: https://goo.gl/maps/D18xkTrU4Bq

Flights from Seattle to SF are around $100 and take under two hours. This route (either direction) would include the marvelous gold rush country along CA Hwy 49 - picturesque historic towns and beautiful California landscapes, giant Sequoias just up the road from the wine center of Murphys, followed by a visit to Yosemite Valley.

You'd then zip back across the central valley to the Monterey Bay area, with visits to (remarkable) Point Lobos just north of Big Sur, Carmel with its shops and old Spanish mission, Monterey itself (restaurants, aquarium) then around the bay to Santa Cruz with its funky waterfront amusement park. You'd return to SF with a stop in either/both Big Basin or Henry Cowell state parks for good redwood groves. Like the Olympic/Oregon route, this includes ample scenery, history, and interesting towns.

norfolkanway

I want to keep an eye on this thread but don't know of any other way of doing so other than submitting a reply!

janisj

>>but don't know of any other way of doing so other than submitting a reply!

druss4171

Thanks for the great advice!

We really didn't consider flying to San Francisco from Seattle, but now that makes perfect sense! I think we are leaning in the California direction.

Any input on this:
Fly into Sacramento, drive to Lake Tahoe, spend one night
Drive to Yosemite, spend three nights
Drive to Santa Barbara and meander up to SanFrancisco. This "meander" part will leave us three nights along the coast before ending up in San Francisco for just one night. We've both been to San Fran several times, and while we love it, it's also the only part of California we've seen and are willing to sacrifice any time here. Just a good place to catch a nonstop flight home to NC!

As a different trip, we are also looking at a trip mid-March with our college aged kids. Would Seattle/Vancouver/Oregon coast be a bad idea at that time of year?

Thank all for your help!

janisj

That would work -- however -- arriving at SMF, collecting a car and driving to Tahoe only to leave the next morning to drive to Yosemite leaves you essentially no time AT Tahoe so I might not bother. I'd consider 2 nights at Tahoe, then not go to SB but only as far south as Cambria (that is assuming hwy 1 will be fully re-opened by then, which it should be). Then Big Sur/Carmel/Monterey and on to SFO

So 2 nts Tahoe, 3 nts YNP, 2 nts in the Big Sur/Carmel area, and on to SF. Or even just 2 nights in Yosemite and 3 nights for the coast.

What say of the week would you be arriving at SMF? If a Friday the traffic to Tahoe will be GAWD awful. Another option would be to fly from Seattle to Reno and drive to Tahoe. That way you'd have much more time at the Lake so one night would be a little more doable.

Bothe Lake Tahoe and Yosemite (especially YNP) will be VERY crowded in August so getting around will take longer than you may imagine

janisj

That should be >>What day of the week . . .

Gardyloo

I think the big California loop is still too ambitious. Yosemite in the late summer is a real crapshoot; it can be quite hot, crowded, and the famous waterfalls are likely to be trickles or even dry. The drive from Yosemite to Santa Barbara down the Central Valley will be hot as hades and the drive itself is (IMO) pretty awful.

If you want to do a one-way drive, then I would pass on the Tahoe/Yosemite bits and just follow the coast south - Monterey Bay, Carmel and Point Lobos, then assuming CA 1 is still blocked, loop around through San Luis Obispo and back up to the Hearst Castle, then 101 all the way to LA and fly from there. You might not have to pay a one-way fee for rentals between SF and LA; it's worth checking.

As a different trip, we are also looking at a trip mid-March with our college aged kids. Would Seattle/Vancouver/Oregon coast be a bad idea at that time of year?

Not a great one. It's likely to be quite wet and (most years) too early for springlike conditions. It CAN be nice, but the odds are good you'd have more cloudy/wet days than dry ones.

MichelleY

I think you should stick with the Washington/Oregon plan. Do California on another trip with more time.

janisj

If you have options -- March would be better for Yosemite and August would be better for the Pacific NW.

druss4171

We actually do have the option of Cali in March with the kids and Washington/Oregon with just the two of us.

If it makes a difference, we would arrive in Cali (either San Fran, Sacramento or Reno) on Sunday Sept. 2, which is the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, and our visit will be that first week in Sept.

The March trip would be March 10-17, of 2019. I'm trying to plan far enough in advance that I can get lodging inside the parks.

janisj

Just a quick note: Labor Day weekend will be a ZOO at Tahoe - and worse at Yosemite if you went straight there..

(You ain't arriving in 'Cali' BTW. Cali is a city in Colombia )

druss4171

Ok, CA ��

If we were to go to arrive in Yosemite the day after Labor Day, still a zoo or will we be right behind the zoo?
We were super lucky this year. We were in Lake Powell, AZ over the Labor Day weekend and went to Zion the Tuesday afterwards. No crowds at all, but we heard we missed a terribly crowded weekend! I was kind of hoping our timing would work out again.

tomfuller

Take an Amtrak Cascades train from Seattle King St. station (next to CenturyLink Field) to Portland. Rent a car in Portland and head for the coast. Drive as far as Reedsport on 101 and then take 38 east from there. About 5 miles east of Reedsport you can see elk at the Dean's Creek viewing area. At the east end of Elkton take 138 to get to I-5 north of Roseburg. Take I-5 south to Roseburg and 138 east up the Umpqua to the north entrance of Crater Lake NP.
If you cant get a reservation at Crater Lake Lodge, the Diamond Lake Resort will be OK.
After you have seen Crater Lake, return to the north entrance and take 138 east to US 97 and go north to Bend.
While in the Bend area, see the High Desert Museum and some of the Cascade Lakes.
Return to Portland via US 26 from Madras and over the Hood Mountain Pass.
The Columbia River Gorge is not as beautiful as it was 3 months ago. The 40K+ acre fire is still only 46% contained and will remain that way until lots of rain/snow fall.
If you return a rental car in downtown Portland you can take the TriMet red line light rail out to PDX to fly home.

janisj

>>If we were to go to arrive in Yosemite the day after Labor Day, still a zoo or will we be right behind the zoo?