Glacier National Park via Spokane
May 22nd, 2016, 10:19 AM
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Glacier National Park via Spokane
We are flying into Spokane and renting a car to see Glacier and Waterton Parks.
We have four nights at Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and four nights in Waterton. Our flight gets in late Sunday morning . We would appreciate advice about where to spend one night enroute to Glacier because we do not want to do the entire 300 plus miles the day we fly in. Coeur d'Alene sounds nice but it is only about 25 miles from Spokane- maybe we should go further but where ? Likewise we are considering how to return to Spokane . We have given ourselves one extra night to get back to Spokane- if we return via Crowsnest, Canada, where to spend a night ?
Thanks for your help !
We have four nights at Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and four nights in Waterton. Our flight gets in late Sunday morning . We would appreciate advice about where to spend one night enroute to Glacier because we do not want to do the entire 300 plus miles the day we fly in. Coeur d'Alene sounds nice but it is only about 25 miles from Spokane- maybe we should go further but where ? Likewise we are considering how to return to Spokane . We have given ourselves one extra night to get back to Spokane- if we return via Crowsnest, Canada, where to spend a night ?
Thanks for your help !
May 22nd, 2016, 10:33 AM
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Guess it depends on which way you're driving. If you come through Montana you could stay at Quinn's Hot Springs. There are nice places along Flathead Lake at Lakeside or Kalispell. On the other side of the lake there's Big Fork which has some good cottages and hotels. Coeur d'Alene is very nice but as you say it's so close to Spokane. There are nice places in Sandpoint if you drive that way.
May 22nd, 2016, 11:30 AM
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How I'd do it: YMMV
Fly to Spokane and rent the car for about 12 hours. Drive to Coeur d'Alene and see the town and lake. Drive back to Spokane and drop the luggage at the train station. Buy coach tickets on the Empire Builder from SPK to Whitefish MT.
Turn in the rental car and get back to the train station before midnight.
The Empire Builder leaves Spokane at 1:30AM. (You may be loaded before that time).
The Empire Builder gets to Whitefish about 7:30AM MT.
You can tolerate 5 hours in a coach seat.
Have breakfast in Whitefish and then rent a car there for the rest of your trip.
If you have to return by way of Spokane, the westbound train leaves WFH in the evening and gets into SPK in the early AM.
Spokane once had a World's Fair so they have a nice park along the river.
Fly to Spokane and rent the car for about 12 hours. Drive to Coeur d'Alene and see the town and lake. Drive back to Spokane and drop the luggage at the train station. Buy coach tickets on the Empire Builder from SPK to Whitefish MT.
Turn in the rental car and get back to the train station before midnight.
The Empire Builder leaves Spokane at 1:30AM. (You may be loaded before that time).
The Empire Builder gets to Whitefish about 7:30AM MT.
You can tolerate 5 hours in a coach seat.
Have breakfast in Whitefish and then rent a car there for the rest of your trip.
If you have to return by way of Spokane, the westbound train leaves WFH in the evening and gets into SPK in the early AM.
Spokane once had a World's Fair so they have a nice park along the river.
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