portland-vancouver-trip help
 

We have 11 days between a family event in Portland and our plane home from Seattle. We want to see the scenery, see the cities briefy, do some hiking, and get a sense of the Pacific NW. The current plan is: Portland, Cannon Beach to Port Angeles (is the western route more scenic than the eastern route?), daytrip from Victoria to Sooke/Port Renfrew, Nanaimo ferry to Vancouver, and finally to Seattle. There's so much to see, such a huge area, and so little time! Is this reasonable? Comments and suggestions would be really appreciated.

It's a great trip. I'm not sure about driving all the way to Naniamo. You might want to take the ferry from Swartz Bay (nearer Victoria) to Vancover. You could stop at Saltspring Island along the way.

Yes, take the western route around the Olympic peninsula to Port Angeles. It ain't the Oregon Coast, but you can visit the Hoh Rain Forest on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula. You may want to stay at Lake Crescent Lodge. Also, visit Hurricane Ridge to see across the Straits of Juan de Fuca to Victoria. The vistas and mountains you will see are magnificent and that will make up for your missing the Cascades.

So, here goes:
Day 1 Canon Beach - Visit Ecola Pk
Day 2 Canon Beach
Day 3 L. Crescent (visit Hoh Rain forest on the way)
Day 4 Pt. Angeles (Visit Hurricane Ridge)
Day 5 Victoria (Museum of BC, Victoria, Buchardt Gds)
Day 6 Ganges on Saltspring Island
Day 7,8,9 Vancouver (awesome city!!!)
Day 10,11 Seattle

Cannon Beach has Mo's for great views of Haystack Rock, very casual but nice for a quick seafood meal.

We enjoyed dinner at Cafe Mango, sit out on the deck for more atmosphere and nice views of downtown. The halibut here was really good and the grilled summer veggies were cooked just right!

CB has some nice shopping and Ecola State Park is worth a look. Take the scenic drive back to Indian Beach, very pretty.

If you want more to do, go to Astoria & Seaside, just minutes away. Astoria boasts the Maritime Museum, Fort Clatsop, some wonderful places to sample PNW wines, a tea house and a VERY nice spa if you like spa treatments. Also, the best food in the area is to be found in Astoria and over the bridge on the WA coast. www.oldoregon.com

If you like theatre, the Coaster Playhouse in CB usually has some good ones going on. There is also the Liberty Theater in Astoria that is gorgeous, and in the process of being completely renovated. We enjoyed Pink Martini there in December. Have a nice trip! ***kim*** :)

Great stuff. Thanks for the tip on Ganges, Orcas. Sounds like just the right touch. We need to add a day in Portland, and would appreciate feedback, insights, recommendations on the latest itinerary: 1-portland; 2-Cannon Beach/Ecola-drive north to outside Hoh (need a recommendation on a place to stay. Also-Is this a very long drive? I can't tell from the maps); 3-Hoh, Hurricane Ridge, night in Port Angeles (is this too much for 1 day?); 4-Victoria; 5-Victoria day of rest; 6-Ganges; 3 nts. in Vancouver and 2 in Seattle. Again-thanks to all for your help!!!

Hi j,
I can't remember how long it takes to drive up to the Hoh Rain Forest from the Canon Beach area, but I'm sure you can do this in a day. The drive up 101 will not be fast, though, nor particularly scenic, as it doesn't hug the coast like in Oregon.
We've stayed at Kalaloch Lodge before, south of the Hoh Rain Forest. However, you might want to go to the Hoh Rain Forest that first day and go north to Forks for the night. You might run a search for Forks in Washington on this website for reviews of places to stay. My NW Best Places book suggests the Eagle Point Inn, Huckleberry Lodge and Shady Nook Cottage in Forks. You can probably check these out on the internet.

Maybe someone else could tell you whether or not to include the Hoh rainforest that first day, stay in Forks, and leave for Hurricane Ridge the next. It gets more interesting after the Hoh Rain Forest. I'm sure you can get both sites into two days, but you might want to count on one a day, instead of both the Hoh and Hurricane Ridge the second day.