First time in Seattle and Portland
 

My husband and I are planning a trip to Seattle and Portland in October from a Wednesday night or early Thursday to Monday. We know this isn't a lot of time, but we're flying out there and would like to see both places if possible. I was thinking Seattle from Wed. night or Thursday to Friday and Portland from Friday to Monday. Let me know if you think this is in no way doable. If so, which one should we skip. We are both in our mid-twenties and active. We've never been to either place, so I have quite a few questions...

-Do we need to rent a car? Or are most attractions walkable? If they're walkable, I'm thinking we would take the train from Seattle to Portland.

-How long is the train ride in comparison to car?

- Where is the best place to stay in Portland? Is it the city center?

-Where is the best place to stay in Seattle? Is it the market area?

-anything we shouldn't miss seeing in either place? We aren't really into art/historical museums, but we love to explore and enjoy great food, breweries, ambiance and good scenery.

Thanks for all your help!

<i>...but we love to explore and enjoy great food, breweries, ambiance and good scenery.</i>

Here's what I'd do:

Fly into Portland, get a car, and spend two nights at McMenamin's Edgefield - http://www.mcmenamins.com/Edgefield - around 15 min. from PDX airport. The Edgefield is a marvelous complex - brewery, distillery, winery, umpteen bars and places to eat, movie theater, golf, spa, vineyards...

On one day use the car to visit the Columbia Gorge, immediately to the east of the Edgefield. Breweries in Hood River, drive past farm stands through glorious fall-color orchard country up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood, see the many waterfalls along the Historic Gorge Highway, visit Herman the Sturgeon at the Bonneville Hatchery... an incredible day.

The next day, drive into Portland and hit the food trucks, Powell's Books, brewpubs, etc. Downtown is around 30 min. from the Edgefield.

Train to Seattle (takes around an hour longer than the car, but way more scenic) and stay someplace in the downtown core. Depending on budget, I'd recommend looking at the Mayflower Park hotel, which has the advantage of being very close to downtown attractions like the Pike Place market, but also to the trolley to Lake Union, the monorail to Seattle Center, and next door to the Westlake light rail station, with direct service to the airport for your flight home.

While in Seattle, walk around downtown, take a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island or a harbor/locks cruise (highly recommended - http://www.argosycruises.com/sightse.../locks-cruise/ ) and dive deep into the local food/booze scene, listen to music, whatever.

You could also do this in reverse, depending on budget, lodging availability, etc.

In Portland you might enjoy the Epicurian Walking tour. You will walk to a variety of places and try local foods plus get a little history of the city.

I enjoyed very much


https://tickets.portlandwalkingtours...%20tour/info/2

I think you need to look at what all you want to do. I think you could spend that entire time in one city or the other. We found Seattle very walkable and, when not, their public transportation is excellent.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-questions.cfm

I would probably rent a car for the entire trip, since your time is so short and you want to see both places. While some parts of both cities are certainly walkable, I just think it would maximize your time.

In Seattle I would definitely stay downtown (yes around the Pike Place Market general area). Mayflower Park is a solid suggestion. I also like The Warwick or Hotel Max. Look at the Ace or Pension Nichols for 'funkier' alternatives.

If you fly into SeaTac it's easy to catch LightRail into downtown (if you wanted to wait and get the rental car a couple days later for driving to Portland, or take the train to Portland and pick up the rental car just for that portion of the trip).

With just a couple days I'd probably stick to the main sights downtown... Space Needle, Seattle Center, Olympic Sculpture Park, Pike Place Market, the Waterfront, Pioneer Square historic district.

Hm. I love both cities. Both are walkable- but Portland is a little more spread out and I prefer to have a car there if I don't want to bike all over. You could do both cities, and if you do, skip the train, keep the car, and splurge a little on a central hotel. If you really do want to do without a car, I'd just to Seattle this trip. It would be less hassle traffic wise and there is plenty there that could keep you occupied for 4 days.

In Seattle, I try to stay as close to the market as possible because that is where I eat breakfast. But a hotel anywhere in the downtown area is ok. Hotels near westlake station tend to be higher end while hotels near seattle center tend to be the lower end or mid range chains.

Traffic in Seattle can be a bear, so we recently skipped renting a car and used Uber to get around. Not to save $$$, but to avoid the stress of driving in a busy city that we don't know well.

I'll pass along the recommendation for a very special Seattle dining experience with fantastic water views, as recommended to me by Fodorite DebitNM. It's called "Six Seven" at Edgewater Hotel. Pricey, excellent food and wine list, gorgeous setting, great service.

Take a look at my thread about visiting Seattle, where locals like suze and Gardyloo give very detailed recommendations about things to do in Seattle.

Thank you all so much for the detailed info!! This is really helpful in planning our trip, which I hope to book in the next few days.