Finalizing plans for mid-July trip to Seattle/NP with Fodorites/Gardyloo's help, but having difficulty deciding on accomodations. Starting from the SEA airport midday going north, would like to get out of city traffic and be situated for a Boeing tour in AM. Where to stay? Will have part of the day left for some sightseeing. Plan the next day to take advice doing the Mulkiteo ferry to Whidbey (spend some time) then to Keystone, ferry to Port Townsend. Would like to stay in Port Townsend for 1 night, take a whale watch trip from there, then move on to Port Angeles. From there a day trip to Victoria. Any recommendations from anyone re accomodations in PT (Palace, Manresa, Belmont Inn, Swan Hotel, etc?) or Port Angeles (Best Western Olympic Lodge has availability, Red Lion, Port Angeles Inn,etc.) ? Then I would like to spend 2-3 days hiking/viewing Olympic NP. Is it feasible to do this while staying in Port Angeles? Had wanted to drive to/stay at Kalaloch Lodge, but it is is booked. I definitely want to get to the Pacific coast. There are a few B & B's listed in Forks and Clallam Bay. What is the driving time at that time of year from PA to the Hoh Rainforest, Kalaloch or Lake Quinault area on the average? I would like to get back to Seattle with at least a day left for Mt. Rainier. Feasible? Or better to do it in reverse, going to Olympic via the southern approach, and doing the Whidbey island/Boeing part last.

You are asking way too many questions. I think I previously told you that Crescent Lake Lodge is the best and most convenient place to stay for all activities. The drive on 101 is, for the most part, not scenic. If you were my house guests I would not take you on the loop unless we were to spend a night at Ocean Shores. I would drive to Hoh via Port Angeles and return the same way.

At day trip to Mt. Rainier from Seattle is feasible, but, again, it is a long drive and most of it is not scenic--I regret to say. When I take friends to Mt. Rainier, to beat the crowds, we spend the night in Yakima, get up early and go to Sunrise via Chinook Pass and then to Paradise before heading home. If time permits, we stop at Northwest Trek.

Jimshep is right (as usual)and if you do a search here you'll find many other threads with his on-target info, and others, also.

I'd add that IMO you should choose pt. townsend over pt. angelos. Pt. Townsend is a quaint, victorian town that is also very tourist friends. Nothing wrong with pt. angelos but we just loved pt. townsend. The Harborside Inn is on the harbor with a wonderful view.

Oops, that would be tourist FRIENDLY!

I posted this earlier in reply to your very similar question posted separately, so here it is again in response to this question and hopefully most people will post their replies here for continuity's sake...

In Port Townsend, the Swan is right down at the end of Water Street (the main street), you're on top of the marina. Very nice early in the morning. The Harborside Motor Inn is modern and the rooms don't have a lot of atmosphere, BUT...if you can get a waterside room (with its own balcony), you'll have an unbeatable view.
Manresa was recently sold...check out
http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?Sea...ctionID=55&S=1
PT has some excellent Asian restaurants, like Khu Larb (Thai) and Sentosa (Japanese). www.ptguide.com will fill you in on the details. Port Townsend's Marine Science center sponsors educational, small boat wildlife tours and I highly recommend them.
As you will be in the OP in July, take a detour through Sequim--it's the height of lavender season and Sequim is the lavender capital of the U.S. Some beautiful photo ops.
My sister-in-law lives in Mulkiteo, not too far from the ferry, and the lines can be LONG on summer week-ends. Hopefully you aren't planning to head out on a Friday or Saturday or come back on Sunday or Monday morning.

The Silver Cloud Inn is on a pier perched right over the water half a block from the Mukilteo ferry terminal. Okay restaurants walkable from the hotel.

Correct, try not to schedule your Whidbey ferry first thing in the morning on a weekend, else you'll have a 1+ hr wait for the boat. But only an hour. Note the Keystone-PT ferry is one of the smallest boats in the fleet and the weekend lineups there can also be long.

The Port Townsend accommodations scene is very compeititve and you probably won't go wrong with any of the available choices.

Port Angeles IMO is quite a soul-less place to stay; go for something modern and cheap and don't worry.

Although jimshep is a strong advocate of Lake Crescent Lodge, and its location is indeed very nice, I tend to shy away from National Park concessionaires (especially ones whose parent company sells diet supplements and weight loss packs through "distributors"). There aren't a lot of, say, restaurant choices, in NPS concession operations. If not an issue for you, go for it.

You can make day trips to the Hoh valley (Quinault farther but still doable) from a base in PA or Lake Crescent; couple of hours each way. The weather is always drier and warmer in PA/Sequim because of the "rain shadow" effect of the Olympic Mountains.

Doing a full loop of the Peninsula is only worthwhile if you're ending up in the South Puget Sound area (Olympia, for example) or Mt. Rainier, otherwise just come back the way you went (using the Seattle ferry rather than Edmonds or PT/Mukilteo.)

RE: Lake Crescent Lodge -- LOVED the location and rooms were great, ask for a lakefront room with a balcony, but agree the dining room is waaay overpriced with very little ambiance. Nothing like other nat'l park lodges IMO. We (along with several other families) had a little picnic on the lodge grounds overlooking the lake. It was perfect, right at sunset.

Hey Gardyloo, jimshep and other pacific-northwest experts:

When we took the ferry from whidbey island there was a little cafe (dive!) on the water serving the most incredible clam chowder. (to us, anyway!) I think it's a regional chain as we then found one in seattle. We've had chowder seemingly everywhere but still think that was the among the best. Anyone know the name?

There's an Ivar's right next to the ferry in Mukilteo. That the one?

Thanks to all for your help, and sorry for the double posting (I tried to search out my original post and couldn't find it?) I am trying to design my visit to avoid Friday PM/weekend/Monday AM ferry crossings, so Mulkiteo to Whidbey would be on a Wednesday late AM, and Keystone to PT in late afternoon same day. I am also not a huge fan of NP concessionaires (though the Yosemite Lodge was an exception), and there is a problem with availability at Lake Crescent Lodge anyway, so sounds like staying at Port Townsend, and doing day trips to Hurricane Ridge, and Hoh, etc. will be the answer. Thanks for all the recommendations re lodging. I guess the stay at Port Angeles wasn't for ambiance, so much as for ease of getting to Victoria for the day, and may still consider BW Olympic Lodge for that purpose. Gordyloo, considering my timing, I thought I would avoid the Seattle area at the end of the weekend (Sun/Mon AM), and instead go to to Ocean Shores for a Saturday day and night prior, returning Sunday via the southern route to Olympia and hopefully Rainier....or getting as close as possible Sunday evening, so I can visit on Monday. Would you have a recommendation as to a route to get there, and accomodations on the west side of the Rainier area? Yakima sounds neat, but would be north and farther east than I may have time for, UNLESS I bag the southern Olympic peninsula return, and just come back to Seattle Saturday PM and travel to Yakima Sunday, visit Rainier Monday with Jimshep's suggestion. I have heard little of Ocean Shores. Is it a place to spend a weekend?

Hi Gardyloo, yes i think it was ivars. Perhaps not the best but at the time it was wonderful! Possibly because we were in such a wonderful area on vaca!

Philbert - we stayed in Ocean Shores at the Best Western Lighthouse Inn. It is totally oceanfront with private balconies and definitely a step up from the average BW. Also went horseback riding on the extemely W I D E beach! It was perfect after spending most of the day at Hoh Rainforest but i wouldn't stay there for an entire weekend.

Thanks for the Ocean Shores advice. If it isn't a true destination/beautiful shoreline/recommended drive, I may just return to Seattle via the northern route. I had seen a (your?) post on another section re the BW Lighthouse Inn---sounds like you had a great visit. I have seen casinos listed in the area...I assume this is a designated gambling region.

Lots of great advice! When we lived in the area we stayed at the BW in Port Angeles just as a stopover on our way for backpacking. So just in case you do stay there...it is a good place to stay. Nothing fancy...but much more than bare bones...and very well kept, good selection at breakfast (actually lots of healthy fare instead of usual donut type of things), and just a good location to get to the Olympics a bit quicker than from PT. We have stayed in PT as well...really a cute little town and does have a lot of personality.

Philsbert - To some, ocean shores may be a resort type location, altho you can't swim in the ocean - waaaay too cold. We however, were on a 3 week roadtrip of Banff, Jasper, Kamloops, Vancouver, Seattle and the Olympic Pennisula so it was just the place we stayed after exploring Hoh Rainforest. We were happy to have arrived early enough to ride horses on the beach! We also found a few cute shoppes after dinner, too.