Planning a visit to ONP
 

Hello from sunny French Riviera.

We are planning a trip in your part of the world that should happen in may next year. We'd arrive in Seattle from Nice and wish to visit ONP.
We do plan to reach Port Angeles or its area WITHOUT renting a car but taking a bus.
After having visited ONP, we shall take a boat to Victoria and continue our visit through British Columbia and fly back home from Calgary.
We'd rent a car in Port Angeles for three or four days and visit the park. What are your recomendations regarding lodging. Is Port Angeles a good place to stay or do we have to go elsewhere ?

Merci pour vos réponses !

Port Angeles is a good base for visiting ONP, especially if you are renting a car and taking the ferry to Victoria.

Ordinarily I would recommend staying at the Best Western Olympic Lodge, but it is not within walking distance of the ferry terminal. The motel most conveniently located to the ferry, is Red Lion Inn, but we thought it was not a good value the last time we stayed there. Perhaps Port Angeles Inn would be an acceptable choice.

When you return from Victoria, I suggest you divide your stays between Lake Quinault Lodge and, especially, Crescent Lake Lodge.

Once you have a car, there are two very nice B&Bs just a few miles outside of Port Angeles.... Domain Madelin and Colettes.
In the city, I think the PA Inn is Ok because you can walk tothe ferry. The Best Western is nicer, but likely too far to walk. And I agree with happytrailstoyou that the RedLion is not a good value, but a good location.

I should mention that you may do much better renting a car in Seattle than in taking a bus to and form Port Angeles and renting a car there.

If you rent in Seattle, you could drive to the ONP via the Edmonds-Kingston ferry and visit the quaint towns of Port Gamble and Port Townsend on your way. You would have more choices of where to stay in the Port Angeles area, and you could return to Seattle on a scenic route the bus does not take, such as on Highway 101 which hugs the west shore of Hood Canal.

The only bus to Port Angeles is operated by Olympic Bus Lines and leaves twice a day from Sea Tac airport or downtown Seattle. It is a long ride (3.5 hours) but because you will not be returning to Seattle it makes sense. Renting a car in Seattle for drop off in Port Angeles may be impossible.
The car rental agencies in Port Angeles are Budget and Enterprise.
You could arrive in Port Angeles by air by using Kenmore Air. It will cost more than the bus but the fight is scenic and the schedule may be more convenient. The flight is a quick 30 minutes and Kenmore Air provides a shuttle to Boeing Field (where the flight departs) from Sea Tac.

Sorry, I forgot about your departure from Calgary. I hope you will visit Banff and Jasper.

In case you don't know, May is not a summer month in the NW.