Help with ONP/Victoria/Vancouver tripi
 

My husband and I will be travelling to Seattle on July 20th for 9 days. Our preliminary itinerary is as follows:

- Arrive at Seattle : one night
- Drive to Port Angeles and stay in the area for 3 nights. We like to stay at or near a sandy beach. Any suggestions for beach and hotel?
- Ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria: 2 nights. Is 2 nights too long at Victoria?
- Ferry from Victoria to Vancouver: 2 nights
- Drive to Seattle and fly home.

We are interested in outdoors: beach, hiking, canoeing. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Do the easy 3 mile hike from Lake Ozette to Cape Alava in ONP. Gorgeous wilderness beach.

I'm not sure there are beach accomodations in Port Angeles-you might need to look at smaller towns on the OP. You might consider staying at La Push. I've not stayed in the cabins there but I know people who love it, and there are sandy beaches galore.

Your apparent plan to drive back to Seattle from Vancouver and board your flight home in a single day...makes me a little nervous. The drive from Van to SeaTac is 2-3 hours at optimum, but the border crossing fol-de-rol these days could easily add a couple hours to that. If you leave Vancouver very early in the day, and your flight leaves SeaTac very late, you might manage it, though. Much safer and less stressful, my opinion, would be to plan to arrive in Seattle the day *before* your flight home and spend the evening in a fine restaurant or other entertainment in the city.

Also, sandy beaches in the Northwest are relatively rare, especially so on the northern Olympic Peninsula. There are some decent hotels on or near the Port Angeles waterfront, though, and a walk out to Dungeness Spit could give you your ocean-beach fix, even if it's a little rocky.

The recommendation to look into La Push...I dunno. It's a charming little village, but a hard and long drive away from Port Angeles. It's not so much a matter of the mileage, but the fact that US 101 is mostly a 2-lane highway, and several mile of the distance between PA and LaPush are around Crescent Lake, which is beautiful, but especially slow going.

I'd actually recommend overnighting instead in Port Townsend, east of PA just off 101. Charming little town, with a lovely waterfront and beaches (some are even sandy!), and an easy 45-minute drive away from PA. Book early, though, because July is definitely the 'high season' in PT.

Hope this helps.

Fritzl

Book in the ONP area as soon as you can. There aren't all that many places to stay and you're getting kind of a late start.

Not sure what your interests are. Here's an alternate schedule that mixes up the beautiful mountains, quaint Victoria, relaxing Gulf Island and very happening Vancouver:

Day 1: Drive to Port Townsend
Night 1: Port Townsend. Stay at B&B. Explore town.
Day 2, Hike Hurricane Ridge. See Victoria across the Stait of Juan de Fuca. Awesome views!
Night 2: Port Angeles.
Day 3: Ferry to Victoria in morning. Visit Victoria, Museum of BC, Go to Buchardt Gdns at night (Summer days are very long in the PNW).
Night 3: Victoria.
Day 4: Victoria, Then ferry to Gulf Island - Either Pender or Galiano. Go hiking, kayaking, visit art galleries, beaches, bicycle. (Ask for suggestions on Canada Board)
Night 4,5: Stay on Island.
Day 6: Ferry to Vancouver.
Nights 6,7: Vancouver
Day 8: Drive to Seattle
Night 8 Seattle,
Day 9: Leave Seattle.

Here's an alternate schedule that mixes up the beautiful mountains, quaint Victoria, relaxing Gulf Island and very happening Vancouver. As others have noted, our beaches are different. You don't hang out and sun at the beach. You might fly a kite, hunt for rocks, walk and picnic.

Day 1: Drive to Port Townsend
Night 1: Port Townsend. Stay at B&B. Explore town.
Day 2, Hike Hurricane Ridge. See Victoria across the Stait of Juan de Fuca. Awesome views!
Night 2: Port Angeles.
Day 3: Ferry to Victoria in morning. Visit Victoria, Museum of BC, Go to Buchardt Gdns at night (Summer days are very long in the PNW).
Night 3: Victoria.
Day 4: Victoria, Then ferry to Gulf Island - Either Pender or Galiano. Go hiking, kayaking, bicycle, visit in-home art studios, beaches, bicycle. (Ask for suggestions on Canada Board) We love Montague Harbor on Galiano Island. There is a great place to rent kayaks there.
Night 4,5: Explore island.
Day 6: Ferry to Vancouver.
Nights 6,7: Vancouver
Day 8: Drive to Seattle
Night 8 Seattle,
Day 9: Leave Seattle.

Sorry about two posts above. I thought the first hadn't taken, so I went ahead and edited it. Then posted and discovered the first had gone through. What can I say? Just read the second, I guess.

Thanks everyone for your very helpful advices. I have been using Fodor's site for a few years now and I find it to be the most useful tool for planning a trip. Thanks again.

I would recommend more than 2 nights in Victoria. I would stay at least 3 by knocking off 1 day from the Port Angeles stay. I've been to Victoria more times than I have fingers and toes (Yes, I have ten of each). A must to stay at the Empress and an glad you are taking the Black Ball ferry from P.A. to Victoria. Great introduction to the city. Make sure that you take the Swartz Bay ferry to Tswassen (sp). It leaves every hour on the hour and travels through some islands to the mainland. Have fun.