My wife and I want to fly into Seattle, go down to Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, and go up the OR and WA coast to Port Angeles, take a ferry to Victoria for a day, back to Port Angeles, see Hurricane Ridge, Mt. Olympus, etc. We'd like to do this 8 full days of travel. Any suggestions? Thanks! Mike

Any way to squeeze in a night in Victoria? As planned, you won't have much time to explore the city...the Butchart Gardens are a must-see. If you just want to see the area around the Inner Harbor (where the PA ferry lands and departs from), you could do it in a day. Hurricane Ridge will work...not sure about Mount Olympus, because no roads go into it according to my map. You can see it from Seattle on a nice day, though. Time to see Mount St. Helens, our local volcanic crater?

Whidbey Island is a great day trip as well. Langley and Coupeville are both lovely quaint little towns with lots of charm, and depending when you will be traveling they have various festivals and events that are a lot of fun. It's about 2 hours and a short ferry ride from the Seattle area.

Also, don't skip Pike's Place Market, if you haven't been before. Lots of locals selling various goods, awesome fish, great fruit, and the Chukar chocolate cherries are to die for.

It would help to know how many nights you will be in this area. Assuming you have nine nights, here is a possible itinerary:

1 Seattle
2 Mt Rainier (Portland)
3 Columbia River Gorge (Timberline Lodge)
4 Oregon Coast--driving to Florence (Yachats)
5 Oregon Coast (Cannon Beach)
6 Olympic National Park (Lake Crescent Lodge)
7 Victoria for the day (Port Angeles)
8 Hurricane Ridge, etc. (Port Angles or Port Townsend)
9 Seattle

HTTY

Thanks for all the tips! And Mt. St. Helens is on our tentative itinerary. We're mainly interested in scenery and wildlife and hope to do some birding along the way. And see whales! We could possibly spend an overnighter in Victoria or at least a full day if we arrived there early enough in the a.m. I'll check out Whidbey Island (a new suggestion) as well as Langley and Coupeville. The 'possible itinerary' sounds like a great plan. We've been to AK, Banff/Jasper, Glacier, etc., and wonder if Mt. Rainier, etc., is more striking,or should be focus on the coast and the Olympic Peninsula more since we've seen other great mountains/peaks?

It would also be useful to know when you'd be visiting.

Mt Rainier is comparable to Banff - striking. Coast is also. Since you are already planning on Rainier and Hurricane Ridge, I'd spend more time at Rainier and pass on Mt. Hood.

1. Seattle
2. Rainier, stay the night
3. St Helens to Portland
4. Columbia R. Gorge, Portland
5. Oregon Coast - Canon Beach
6. Olympic Peninsula - Hoh Rain forest, Lake Crescent Lodge
7. Victoria evening
8. Victoria Buchardt Gdns, Museum of BC, town
9. Back to OP, visit Hurricane Ridge. Return to Seattle

As Gardyloo says, when?

You could fly into Portland and out of Seattle (or vice versa). I drew out the following, but I didn't know if you wanted to stay IN Portland; that can fit in.

1. Portland to Cannon Beach (note: many places require 2-nt stay, but sometimes you can work out a deal)
2 Cannon Beach to St Helens, short stop at Nisqually Wildlife Refuge for some birding (stay en route to Rainier)
3. Mt Rainier
4. Olympic Peninsula
5. Hurricane Ridge (Port Angeles)
6. Victoria
7. Seattle

Note that in my itinerary I brought you up I-5 from St Helens. There are other routes from there to Rainier, but I like the improvements made to Nisqually. Our local Audubon groups have worked hard to preserve that land.

We've been to AK, Banff/Jasper, Glacier, etc., and wonder if Mt. Rainier, etc., is more striking

Mt. Rainier is a beautiful sight, but a visit there is a very different experience from driving the Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper. Also, Mt. Rainier is frequently hidden in clouds.

HTTY

I'm quite impressed with all the helpful suggestions for our Pacific NW trip. I've printed out all the responses and feel I now have a fairly detailed itinerary. In thanks, if anyone would like info on our 8 day land tour (two day cruises) to AK or info on our trips to Yellowstone, I'd be glad to send you our itineraries. My email is: [email protected]

Thanks again!!

You should try to see Mount St. Helens and go to the visitor center. See the movie and the exhibits. It's really something - even 30 years after it's eruption. The force of Nature is very impressive.