Planning for late July/early August 2008 12 to 15 days with WF and 16 months old baby.

Flying from GDL, Mex to Seattle. Then Victoria and Vancouver and either flying back from VC or driving back to Seattle if a car is rented.

Our fist question is if we`d be better with a car for the whole trip. That way we`d just install the baby seat once. Or can we just use public transportation?

Other option is not renting a car other than for a few day trips from Vancouver and Seattle.

I like very much outdoors and wife is more urbanstyle but baby is our first priority in planning the itinerary. We`ll try to make it as relaxed as possible for our little one.

Our basic itinerary at this point is 4 nights in Seattle, 2 in Victoria and 4 in VC and one more back in Seattle if we rent a car.

What else should we include for the other days Mt Rainer, OP?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Carlos

I think that with all the stuff you have to carry around for your baby, it will be much easier to have a car for the whole time. I also think minimizing the number of times you change hotels would be a little easier on you.

So I'd do Mt Rainier as a day trip from Seattle. You could spend a night or two out on the Olympic Peninsula and take the ferry between Port Angeles and Victoria (and do a big circle). Or another alternative would be to stop in the San Juan Islands for a couple nights and take the ferry from there to Victoria (or vice versa). But you could also add a night or two to each of Vancouver and Seattle and just do day trips to the scenic areas.

You could include a day or two in Olympic National Park as part of your trip, going to Victoria via ferry from Port Angeles.

NWWanderer and happytrailstoyou,

Thanks for super fast and useful replies!!

We`ll rent a car for the whole trip and make Mt Rainier a day trip.

We concur on minimizing changing hotels too.

The two days in OP and doing a big circle seems fine. I`ll do some research on OP, on hotels and activities. Your suggestions are very much appreciated.

If your wife can be persuaded to go with something that's emphatically not "urbanstyle" for 2 nights, and if you can get reservations, I'd suggest staying at Lake Crescent Lodge--the rooms themselves are nothing special but the location on the lake in the National Park is gorgeous.

And you'll be well positioned to drive to some of the highlights of the park, such as Hurricane Ridge, Rialto Beach and the Hoh Rainforest from there.

I'm sure your baby would get a kick out of seeing deer up at Hurricane Ridge and elk in the rainforest (no guarantees of course but sightings of both are quite common). Are you going to bring a stroller or a baby backpack so you can do a bit of walking/hiking on the trails? Some are fairly flat and wheelchair accessible so a stroller would work.

Indeed.

My quick introduction to the Olympic Peninsula for visitors with little time includes Port Townsend, Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, and the easy hike to Marymere Falls from Lake Crescent Lodge which passes through what isn't officially designated a rain forest but which looks much like one.

We love Lake Cresent Lodge, but if you want a place with everything for baby's comfort, I suggest Best Western Olympic Lodge which has beautiful rooms and a great breakfast (for a small extra charge).

Wife liked Lake Cresent Lodge website very much and crib was available so weŽve just booked two nights. Great.

Hotel in Victoria is almost decided.

So now we need hotels in Seattle for 5 nights and Vancouver for 4 nights in a nice neighborhood (downtown maybe) and -if possible- a small kitchen and free parking.

We would sacrifice the last two for a good location.

Thanks for your suggestions.

In Seattle, investigate the new Homewood Suites by Hilton (on Pike Street), which will open in late April.

Great, I'm glad you were able to get a reservation at Lake Crescent.

I agree with the suggestion of the Homewood Suites (currently called Pike Street Suites) in Seattle if you prefer a suite hotel with a kitchen. But there are lots of great centrally located hotels if you decide that a kitchen isn't crucial. What type of hotels do you generally prefer and what's your budget?

In Vancouver, look into a 1 BR apartment at La Grande Residence at the Sutton Place Hotel. Centrally located and quite nice.

Doubtful you'll find any place downtown in either Seattle or Vancouver with free parking but IMO it's worth it to be downtown. You could wait to pick up your car until after you've been in Seattle for a few days and save on both parking and the rental costs that way (just take a cab from the airport to your hotel). You could see the Seattle sights that are in walking distance on the first couple days then pick up the car and see the sights that are outside of downtown.

We booked Homewood Suites on Pike and Sutton Place. They are perfect for our needs.
Thanks for these suggestions and your advise on staying downtown.

Do you have a recommendation on where to stay in Victoria for 2 nights? A kitchen is not indispensable for such a short stay there.

Thanks.

Great!

My favorite hotel in Victoria is the Laurel Point Inn. The nicer rooms are in their south wing. Great wate views and a quiet parklike setting about a 10 minute walk from the Empress. They don't have kitchens however.

If that's not available or it's more than your budget post back and I can give you some other suggestions--or what have you looked at so far?

At the Laurel Point Inn our only concern is that the rooms seem -from the reviews- not very well sound isolated. Other than that it looks fine.

Other places we looked at are the Marriott and the Royal Scot Suite.

What do you think?

Hmm, that's interesting--I've never had an issue with that at the Laurel Point and room to room noise is a particular pet peeve of mine ;-). Were the reviews referring to the south wing rooms, do you know? I've only stayed in those rooms.

It doesnŽt say in which part. ItŽs only a couple of reviews. WeŽll think about it and make a decision.

This is the itinerary. IŽll need to work on the tentative agenda for each city and let you know.

Day one SAT: Flying into SEATTLE 4pm. Rent car there and go to HS in Pike.
Days 2-5 Seattle. Day trip to Mt. Rainier. Would Sunday be better because of traffic?
Day 6-7: Lake Crescent Lodge.
Day 8 : Do we need reservations for the ferry from PA to Victoria?
Day 9 : Victoria
Day 10: Ferry to VANCOUVER, staying at the Sutton
Day 11-13: VANCOUVER.
Day 14: Driving back to SEATTLE.
Day 15: Flying back home.

I'd normally recommend waiting to pick up the car downtown later in your trip, as it's less expensive than doing so at the airport (the tax rate at the airport is really high). But I guess it depends on how much baby stuff you have with you and whether taking a cab would be a huge hassle.

I would go to Rainier during the week--fewer crowds than on the weekends, and go early in the day.

YES, definitely make a reservation between PA and Victoria.

It seems we have pretty much completed the hotel and ferry reservations.

Next is the itineraies for Seattle.
The first day, Saturday, we expect to be at the hotel around 5pm. So we might just go to the Westlake Center to relax.
Or is there a nicer area nearby for a light walk, coffee, maybe shopping?

The next 2 days -w/o car- weŽll go to Pike Place Market, the waterfront, Aquarium (or we could skip it for Vancouver’s), Pioneer Sq. and Seattle Center.
Is it too much for 2 days with the baby, do we need 3 days for this?

The third day, tuesday, weŽll rent the car and go to Mt. Rainier.

The fourth day is open. With the car, we could go to other neighborhoods.

Thanks,

cmmtac,

Have three kids. We've done Seattle a few times over the years and enjoy their aquarium. Parts of it do feel a bit dark and dated. The highlight: There is a dome that you stand in, where the fish are above and around you on multiple sides. Your little one would love that.

My daughter also enjoyed the seahorses and seadragons, but they are small and less eyecatching to small eyes.

Seattle Center would be fun for your child and you could indeed spend a long time there. This summer we went to the Pacific Science Center, as our children were too old by that point for the Children's Museum.

However, the Science Center also had many things of interest to a young child--digging in the sand in the dinosaur area...squirting water at the huge metal flowers in the outdoor courtyard.

Since you mentioned your child's interest is a priority, I'll mention also that we did enjoy the Woodland Park Zoo, and spent a lot of time there too. We had the option to feed the giraffes (for a fee). We also really loved the gorilla exhibits.

Incidentally, if you have a membership to your home zoo, children's museum or science musueum, you may have rights to visit the ones in Seattle for free. It depends on the museum.

Enjoy!

Thanks a lot for your comments 5alive, weŽll include the Aquarium the Sunday weŽll go the the Market.

And it seems weŽll need the whole Monday for Seattle Center and Pacific Science Center.

If we tour Pioneer Sq. the next day we have half a day open. What do you suggest for that afternoon?

cmmtac,

This may be a bit nitpicky, but I just wanted to warn you that Pike Place Market can get packed on the weekends - It's almost impossible to navigate with a stroller. It might not be too bad if you get there first thing Sunday morning, but by mid day it will be pretty crowded. It would probably work to go to the market for breakfast/looking around and then head down to the aquarium when it starts to get busy. We go to the aquarium on Sunday a lot and it's not too crowded. They just remodeled it and the new entrance with a huge tank in front is beautiful. Have fun.

Good tip idgyeaw. We may leave the market for a weekday, my back wouldnŽt last a day w/o the stroller.

WeŽll fly next saturday but we still have this last question:

When we head for Lake Crescend, which ferry route is more scenic, Brainbridge island or Kingston. Travel times seem to be about the same.

Regards.