We are planning a trip to Seattle for about two weeks in mid to late July. We plan to spend about 5 days in the city and then hire a car and do some travelling. We would be very pleased to hear anyone's ideas for places to stay in Seattle (clean, central and not too expensive) and for the best places to visit in Washington state. Thanks in advance.

Hi Peter & Susan, there have been some good discussions about things to do in the Seattle area on here in the past; you might try doing a search to get some ideas.

What's your budget for downtown Seattle? Most good places in central downtown locations go for $125-150 a night and up in July, but there are a couple of decent places that might be a bit less expensive, such as the Pacific Plaza and the Wall Street Inn. Did you have any places in mind?

It's so hard to recommend places to go outside Seattle without knowing your interests. Are you hikers? Kayakers? Antique buffs? Foodies? Some of my favorite places are the San Juans, the North Cascades and the Olympic Peninsula. You could make a nice 9 day or so loop trip linking those places, without rushing too much.

Sheri,
Thanks for your reply. Hotel budget for Seattle would be about $100 to $150 at the most. Outside Seattle, well we like to walk and cycle and like to find out of the way places without too many tourists.

Um, no tourists...in July...in Washington?? Hmm...You do know that's just about the busiest month here, right ;-)?

The North Cascades tends to get not quite as many visitors as some other scenic spots because it's a longer drive from Seattle, and if you can schedule your trip to avoid things like visiting Mt. Rainier on a Saturday or Sunday, you should be able to minimize the impact. And I've found that as long as you are willing to get out of your car and walk, you will get away from the crowds VERY quickly. It's amazing how many visitors drive all the way out to the Visitors Center at the Hoh Rain Forest, for instance, but never venture more than 100 yards from their cars. If you get a mile out one of the trails, the number of people drops dramatically.

For cycling, I'd recommend Lopez Island in the San Juans. It's the least busy of the "big three" islands, and the roads are relatively flat. Just be sure not to go TO the islands on a Friday or come back on a Sunday.

You should try the hotels I mentioned in Seattle. The Seattle Visitors Bureau website has a listing of hotels and their rates which is good for comparison purposes; if you want to email me directly, I happen to know someone who gets good rates on nice hotels ;-).

Dear Peter & Susan:
Check out
www.seeseattle.org
This is the web site of the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau which has a long list of Seattle hotels and, best of all, a link to lodging discounts, which makes many downtown hotels much more affordable.
By the way, Sheri is soliciting. She charges for her hotel reference services, as you'll lern when you do go to her web site.

Oops! Make that "learn."(This forum needs a spellchecker!)

John, just for the record, I did mention the Seattle Visitors Bureau website in my post above. However, you should keep in mind in referring people to that site that their hotel discount program is only in effect during the winter (until March 31) and the rates available through their Hotel Hotline 800 number for summer stays are often no better than what is available from the hotels directly (and in fact sometimes the hotels themselves will offer better deals). It’s a good idea for people visiting Seattle in the summer to explore several sources to find the best rate.

Cheers,
Sheri

Peter & Susan, did you know that this week's hosted forum is on Seattle?! I'd check that out and ask the host your questions. Just click on "forums home" above.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you take any of the car ferries anywhere, like to Victoria, B.C. for instance, make sure you're prepared to stay overnight there or can guarantee that you can get back that evening. We went from Seattle area to Victoria, and had to spend the night there (which was fine, since we had all our luggage in our car) because there was no room on the car ferry back to Seattle that night. Just something to think about.