olympic peninsula to seattle?
 

We plan to drive Route 101 around the Olympic Peninsula and then visit Seattle. What is the best route to get into Seattle?

When you write, "around the Olympic Peninsula", I'm assuming that you mean clockwise, i.e. you will be driving eastward out of Port Angeles. If so, then you drive across the Hood Canal Bridge, then take the ferry from Kingston to Edmonds. Then I-5 down to Seattle.

An alternative would be to go south to Bainbridge Island after crossing the Hood Canal Bridge, then taking the ferry from Bainbridge into downtown Seattle.

Wow, I am going to be doing this in 2 weeks and hadn't thought ahead to the drive from Port Angeles to Seattle.

Thanks for the info and for posting this question grandmajudy!

Do any special arrangements or reservations need to be made for the ferry? Do they run continuously or is the schedule important? I think we will go the Bainbridge Island way, but are flexible.

Sorry, I should have been specific. We are planning to go clock-wise from Olympia. We had thought maybe we would go down to Shelton and see more scenery and then up to the Southworth ferry. Would it be worth it to go that far south before going north again? We love scenic drives.

Hello - I'm a Bainbridge Islander and wanted to address the ferry issue. No reservations are necessary and both the Kingston / Edmonds as well as the Seattle / Bainbridge boats run regularly. You may want to check out http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/ to get a better feel for hours - note that the schedule changes on holidays / weekends. Additionally - if you are planning to sail during commuter hours - or God forbid on a Friday afternoon or Sunday afternoon, be prepared to sit through a couple of ferries before you board - the lines to drive a car on the ferries in the summer months can be a wait of hours at those peak times. Have a marvelous time and happy travels :)

If you want scenic drives, then from Port Angeles, I would head east and then turn onto Route 20 to Port Townsend. It is a picturesque town in its own right, and then you can take the ferry to Keystone, on Whidbey Island.

From Keystone, you can head southward on Rte 525 going down Whidbey Island, and ending up in Clinton, where you would take another ferry to Mukilteo, and then down I-5 to Seattle. There are lots of stops to make along the way to look at bluffs, beaches at places like South Whidbey State Park, and quaint towns, such as Langley.

Alternatively, continue northward on Route 20, going up Whidbey Island, stopping along the way at scenic spots, such as Fort Ebey State Park. Visit Deception Pass State Park at the north end of Whidbey before crossing the spectacular Deception Pass bridge onto Fidalgo Island. The State Park continues on the Fidalgo side, with some nice beaches and short trails. Take a side trip onto Campbell Lake Rd and Heart Lake Rd, before driving to the top of Mt. Erie (Erie Mtn Drive). On a clear day, this has to be one of the best views in the state. Continue on Rte 20 to I-5 and back to Seattle. This one is more out of your way, but I think it would be a much more scenic route than the Shelton/Southworth route.

Thank you so much. The Whidbey Island route sounds great.

If you are visiting during the summer you should know that any routing that involves a ferry also may involve long waits and delays of various kinds.

The ferry from Winslow (Bainbridge Island) to Seattle departs most frequently, the trip only takes 30 minutes, and, on a clear day, you will have views of the Cascades, the Olympics, Mt. Baker, and Mt. Rainier--which will appear to rise from Puget Sound.