Help plan family trip to Seattle and Portland for 8 days
 

First time trip for my family traveling to Seattle and Portland for 8 days and need some ideals. Also wondering if going to Canada for 2 days is worth the extra time.

It would help if we knew more about you. Do you have kids and what are their ages? What do you like to do as a family?

Is the ocean a priority? Hikes? What time of year are you going? Do you snow ski? Like water sports?

My husband and I will be traveling with our 10 year old son this June. We love to sight see and take photos, take in the local area and we love good food. We are not an outdoors family so no hiking or water sport. We would like to go to San Juan Island and Whale Watch as well as taking in a baseball game.

Taking to figure out how many days to stay in Seattle, do we travel the coast down to Portland and for how long.

With only 8 days, I would not try to fit in Canada as well. Either do Seattle and Portland OR Seattle and Canada (assumming Vancouver or Victoria areas). Also, San Juan Island really isn't a day trip. You need to factor in ferry time and driving time and you will see why.

I would not travel down the coast to Portland. That highway is inland so you won't see anything, especially since neither Seattle nor Portland are on the coast. If you want to do the coast, head to the OR coast. Many places on the northern OR coast require a 2-3 night minimum at this time, so you would need to get on that if you think this is something you really want to do.

A Mariner's game is a fantastic idea! They are a lot of fun. If it works with your schedule, try for a night game as you can see the lights of the city later in the evening.

The question is whether or when you need a rental car.
If you decide to go to Vancouver use the Amtrak train or Amtrak bus to and from Vancouver.
When you get to Portland you should rent a car to go east to see the falls and the Columbia Gorge. You should also try to see either Mt. Rainier or Mt. Hood (or both).
Inside the cities you will not need a rental car since they have great public transportation.
Remember your passports in any case.

When we visited Washington, we really enjoyed Mt. St. Helen's, we went to Mt. Hood national forest (to an area called Lost Lake which was beautiful. We enjoyed going up the space needle and going to both the Pike Place Market and music fans will love the EMP museum. Alot of interesting info about the Seattle music scene and tons of things for any Jimi Hendrix fans. In Oregon, we spent time in Portland and went to the Chinese gardens and then ate doughnuts at the Voodoo Donuts which has been feature on Food Network and the Travel Channel and did not dissapoint. We also visited the Oregon coast and saw Haystack rock but the water was really cold. We loved this area of the country and can't wait to go back.