Gardns/Drives/WA/Vancouver
 

My sister (from SC) and I (from nchorage) plan to meet in Seattle on 6/9 for a week. In addition to the regular sites (Pike Street, etc) we want to see all the gardens we can, we would like to drive along the coast towards Portland, and we plan to drive to Vancouver. We will be staying in Tukwila. Does anyone have suggestions or directions? Thanks.

That should be "Anchorage!"

It seems the best use of your time would be as follows:"Do "Seattle then drive to Port Angeles and take ferry to Victoria. Buchart Gardens <BR>in Victoria will take better part of a day. ( would rather see it than many small gardens) After Victoria, drive north and take ferry to Vancouver. <BR>Note: there isn't really a "coastal" drive going toward Portland. There are some great" water views" if you go to Port Angeles via Tacoma and stop by Port Townsend. <BR>Jusr remembered -- a few years ago I did go through a nice but small garden near Univ. of Washington. Had a remarkable Japanese garden. <BR>Good luck.. <BR>Oops!! Do you mean Vancouver Wa.??? <BR>

Hi. No, I meant Vancouver, BC. And our drive doesn't have to go to Portland necessarily. We're just interested in the coast and if we end up in Portland eventually, that's okay and if not, that's okay, too. Thanks for the tips. <BR> <BR>Anne

Kay is correct about Buchart Gardens. It is the best of all the gardens and definitely worth a trip to Victoria. The gardens are actually 10-15 miles outside of Victoria.

If you don't want to travel to the island, the Queen Elizabeth Park gardens in Vancouver are similar to the Butchart Gardens in that they're developed in a former rock quarry and are very beautiful. They're more accessible and cheaper (and way less commercial and crowded) than Butchart. The Bloedel Conservatory at QE Park is wonderful... <BR> <BR>Same name, different place, the Bloedel Reserve, located on Bainbridge Island (ferry from downtown Seattle) is a world-class garden reserve, largely unknown outside the region - see their web site at http://www.bloedelreserve.com <BR> <BR>Leave plenty of time for the gardens in Portland, especially at Washington Park. <BR> <BR>A loop from Seattle through Bainbridge, then around the Olympic Peninsula (day trip to Victoria via the high speed passenger ferry from Port Angeles an option), followed by following the coast down to Astoria and on to Cannon Beach will give you lots of coast. It's doable in 7 days but there won't be a lot of time left for hanging out. Have fun! <BR>

Portland has some great gardens. The rose gardens at Washington Park are wonderful. And while at Washington Park, you can also go visit the Japanese Gardens. A Chinese garden also recently opened in Portland, though I haven't been up there to visit it yet.

Thanks for the information. It sounds like we're going to be very busy! <BR> <BR>Anne