Help with itenerary
 

Hi,

We are planning our first 6 night trip to Seattle at end of August. We have never visited 'above' San Francisco on West coast. Were thinking to combine Seattle & Vancouver (BC), arriving in Seattle for 2 nights, drive to Vancouver (stay there for 3 nights), drive back to Seattle (stay 1 night)

We would like to combine active vacation (mild hiking, site seeing, driving to ???,etc) with passive (wineries, beach side cafés, beaches, etc)

Is 6 nights reasonable to for Seattle/Vancouver trip? How should we spend our time? Would you change above itinerary?

Thanks,
Mike.

Sounds good to me. I like both places. You might see if you have time to drive around the Olympic Peninsula while you are in Seattle and maybe get out for a short hike. And maybe you could hire bikes for a ride around Stanley Park in Vancouver. Beautiful views. The University of British Columbia has a great ethnic museum...outstanding, in fact.

going to Mount Rainer is worth the drive!Great hiking for all levels A great day! Woodinville right outside Seattle has a couple really nice wineries. Alki Beach in West seattle is fun.If you want to do a city tour do the Duck Tour fun for the whole family!

Thanks for recommendations.

Which route would you recommend between Seattle and Vancouver? Any side trips along the way? What about on the way back?

The best route to Vancouver is straight up I-5.

There is a lot of interest between Seattle and Vancouver, such as Mt. Baker, North Cascade Highway, and Whidbey Island. However, none of this is a quick or easy side trip along the way (IMO).

I would recommend a trip that includes Victoria; however, that would involve travel on very busy ferries.

For the "active" part, consider going to Heather Meadows/Artist's Point at the end of Hwy 542, in Washington just south of the border near Mt. Baker. There are some very short, easy hikes (as well as longer ones), and the scenery is spectacular even from the parking lot. It's a couple hours out of the way from the Seattle-Vancouver drive, but less out of the way than Rainier or Olympic, and worth it. North Cascades NP is another detour, but there are fewer mild hikes there, so I think the Mt. Baker area would be better for you.

On the way to or from Seattle-Vancouver, a detour along Chuckanut Drive would be very scenic, and there are some very nice state parks with beaches-Larabee, Bayview-that are worthwhile stops. La Conner is a nice little detour for lunch. As someone else pointed out there are some nice beaches in Seattle-Alki, Lincoln Park, Carkeek Park-if you wanted to visit those instead.