Road Trip San Francisco to Seattle
May 8th, 2017, 12:39 AM
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Road Trip San Francisco to Seattle
Hi, I am trying to plan a road trip from San Francisco to Seattle for my husband, my 16 yr old daughter and myself this July/August and I am totally overwhelmed by all the information out there so really need some help.
For a starting point, I have taken Gardyloo's itinerary from another post (thank you Gardyloo!) but have a number of questions.
1 SF - Eureka via Avenue of the Giants. Dinner at the Samoa Cookhouse.
2 Bandon
3 Hood River (This is a longish day drive; Mt. Hood and the Gorge could also be included as a day trip while you're staying in Portland.
4 Portland
5 Portland
6 Portland
7 Lake Quinault
8 Forks, stops at Ruby Beach and Hoh rain forest - Hall of Mosses walk.
9 Port Angeles
10 PA (Victoria day trip)
11 Seattle
12 Seattle
13 Seattle
Map - https://goo.gl/maps/ueLTMaQjqYK2
Let me start by saying we are Brits currently living in the middle east who know nothing about the scale of driving in the States.
We are planning to fly in on 18th July and out on 5th August so, depending on flight times, we will have 17 days. We will need a couple of days in SF to get over the 11 hour time difference.
1. For some reason it seems to make sense to do SF to Seattle, are there any advantages to doing it the other way round? It doesn't matter to us which city we fly in to/out of and yes, we are aware of the different location hire car drop off fees!
2. Where/how would you suggest we spend the extra days from the above 13 day trip, we don't want to spend all of them in SF, maybe 2 or 3 days there.
3. Do we need 3 days in Portland? We are not 'city' people and unless there is something there you would really recommend we would probably prefer to spend the time elsewhere. But where?!!
4. Is there anyway we can adapt the above itinerary to include the Oregon coast but keep in the Hood River and gorge which sounds amazing?
5. We would like to get some horse riding in whilst there. Does anyone have any ideas where would be a good place to go for a day or two?
6. We would like to see something of the Napa wine region - have heard Pullman train trips and balloon rides are recommended! Can we actually go to any wineries with a 16 yr old? Obviously she wouldn't be drinking.
7. Finally (!), any advice on actual places to stay would be hugely appreciated as I am now worried we have left it a bit late. Small, clean and friendly probably sums up what we are looking for.
Thank you so much for helping to get me at least this far!
For a starting point, I have taken Gardyloo's itinerary from another post (thank you Gardyloo!) but have a number of questions.
1 SF - Eureka via Avenue of the Giants. Dinner at the Samoa Cookhouse.
2 Bandon
3 Hood River (This is a longish day drive; Mt. Hood and the Gorge could also be included as a day trip while you're staying in Portland.
4 Portland
5 Portland
6 Portland
7 Lake Quinault
8 Forks, stops at Ruby Beach and Hoh rain forest - Hall of Mosses walk.
9 Port Angeles
10 PA (Victoria day trip)
11 Seattle
12 Seattle
13 Seattle
Map - https://goo.gl/maps/ueLTMaQjqYK2
Let me start by saying we are Brits currently living in the middle east who know nothing about the scale of driving in the States.
We are planning to fly in on 18th July and out on 5th August so, depending on flight times, we will have 17 days. We will need a couple of days in SF to get over the 11 hour time difference.
1. For some reason it seems to make sense to do SF to Seattle, are there any advantages to doing it the other way round? It doesn't matter to us which city we fly in to/out of and yes, we are aware of the different location hire car drop off fees!
2. Where/how would you suggest we spend the extra days from the above 13 day trip, we don't want to spend all of them in SF, maybe 2 or 3 days there.
3. Do we need 3 days in Portland? We are not 'city' people and unless there is something there you would really recommend we would probably prefer to spend the time elsewhere. But where?!!
4. Is there anyway we can adapt the above itinerary to include the Oregon coast but keep in the Hood River and gorge which sounds amazing?
5. We would like to get some horse riding in whilst there. Does anyone have any ideas where would be a good place to go for a day or two?
6. We would like to see something of the Napa wine region - have heard Pullman train trips and balloon rides are recommended! Can we actually go to any wineries with a 16 yr old? Obviously she wouldn't be drinking.
7. Finally (!), any advice on actual places to stay would be hugely appreciated as I am now worried we have left it a bit late. Small, clean and friendly probably sums up what we are looking for.
Thank you so much for helping to get me at least this far!
May 8th, 2017, 06:16 AM
#2
Y'know, I've talked about this route so many times that I'm in danger of contradicting myself or suggesting that that Gardyloo guy is full of it.
So with that disclaimer (my wife used to call it a "prebuttal") here's what I'd do.
Go north-to-south rather than south-to-north, and start if possible by flying into <i>Vancouver</i> rather than Seattle. Why? Because while Vancouver will give Seattle a run for its money in terms of congestion in mid-summer, in my view it's a better place to walk around, get rested, overcome jetlag, etc. than Seattle. In mid-summer Seattle is incredibly crowded and expensive; hotel costs are at London/New York levels. The Pike Place market (a national treasure to be sure) is un-visitable after 10:30 AM; the queues at the "orginal" Starbucks (it isn't) snake down the street like there was a rock concert about to start...
Oh for sure, Vancouver is no walk in the park in terms of cost and crowds, but, actually, it can be. Get a hotel or B&B in the West End, spend a day (or more) walking around Stanley Park - a huge, forested, coastal park with no Seattle equivalent. Visit Granville Island with its own farmers market (not as old or diverse as Pike Place but still pretty good) or attend a performance at the very cool Bard on the Beach Shakespeare festival...
Anyway, then jump on the train (2 a day, early morning and early evening) for the scenic 4-hour ride to Seattle. Spend a couple of days here - maybe visit the Museum of Flight or some of our funky/scenic neighbo(u)rhoods like Alki or Fremont, do a boat tour of Elliott Bay, the Ballard Locks and Lake Union... then take off.
Do something like the trip I suggested in reverse. Here's the outline route - https://goo.gl/maps/idsE2ETCZj22
You'd loop around the Olympic Peninsula, then inland to Mt. St. Helens and on to Portland. Visit the Columbia River Gorge and Hood River Valley, then head out to the coast via Mt. Hood. I'd start with Yachats ("ya-hots") and go south on US 101 all the way to San Francisco from there. This misses the northern Oregon coast, but the central and southern portions will more than compensate in terms of scenery.
I would look at Yachats and Bandon for possible overnight locations on the Oregon coast, with Newport, Gold Beach or Brookings as your backups, and Trinidad or Ferndale in the redwoods, with Eureka or Arcata as backups. You will need to make some bookings, especially on the Oregon coast, pretty soon.
Horseback riding - there are several operators around Hood River and White Salmon, e.g. http://nwstables.com/
Wine country - I've included a stop in Sonoma, north of SF. In my opinion Sonoma is a convenient and quite attractive town as well as being surrounded by great vineyards and wine tasting opportunities. Note there are also major winery opportunities in the Hood River Valley and Willamette Valley (near McMinnville, which I've shown the route passing.) Yes, you can take kids into the wineries but obviously they won't be served. I will mention however that the Napa/Sonoma wine country can be quite crowded and the climate can be quite hot in August; of course if you're coming from the Middle East that's all relative.
In terms of driving time, don't take the Google estimates too seriously. The mileage is accurate, but the time assumes no traffic, no road construction delays, etc. Most people find that there will be times when you want to go slow and make a lot of stops, and on other days you'll just press down on the right-side pedal and let 'er rip. But I don't think this route is going to present huge issues if you have most of two weeks to accomplish it. If you did north-to-south you could probably reduce your days in SF to two (it's also <i>very</i> crowded and expensive in the summer) or eliminate Portland <i>City</i> altogether in lieu of more time in the Gorge etc.
Hope this helps.
So with that disclaimer (my wife used to call it a "prebuttal") here's what I'd do.
Go north-to-south rather than south-to-north, and start if possible by flying into <i>Vancouver</i> rather than Seattle. Why? Because while Vancouver will give Seattle a run for its money in terms of congestion in mid-summer, in my view it's a better place to walk around, get rested, overcome jetlag, etc. than Seattle. In mid-summer Seattle is incredibly crowded and expensive; hotel costs are at London/New York levels. The Pike Place market (a national treasure to be sure) is un-visitable after 10:30 AM; the queues at the "orginal" Starbucks (it isn't) snake down the street like there was a rock concert about to start...
Oh for sure, Vancouver is no walk in the park in terms of cost and crowds, but, actually, it can be. Get a hotel or B&B in the West End, spend a day (or more) walking around Stanley Park - a huge, forested, coastal park with no Seattle equivalent. Visit Granville Island with its own farmers market (not as old or diverse as Pike Place but still pretty good) or attend a performance at the very cool Bard on the Beach Shakespeare festival...
Anyway, then jump on the train (2 a day, early morning and early evening) for the scenic 4-hour ride to Seattle. Spend a couple of days here - maybe visit the Museum of Flight or some of our funky/scenic neighbo(u)rhoods like Alki or Fremont, do a boat tour of Elliott Bay, the Ballard Locks and Lake Union... then take off.
Do something like the trip I suggested in reverse. Here's the outline route - https://goo.gl/maps/idsE2ETCZj22
You'd loop around the Olympic Peninsula, then inland to Mt. St. Helens and on to Portland. Visit the Columbia River Gorge and Hood River Valley, then head out to the coast via Mt. Hood. I'd start with Yachats ("ya-hots") and go south on US 101 all the way to San Francisco from there. This misses the northern Oregon coast, but the central and southern portions will more than compensate in terms of scenery.
I would look at Yachats and Bandon for possible overnight locations on the Oregon coast, with Newport, Gold Beach or Brookings as your backups, and Trinidad or Ferndale in the redwoods, with Eureka or Arcata as backups. You will need to make some bookings, especially on the Oregon coast, pretty soon.
Horseback riding - there are several operators around Hood River and White Salmon, e.g. http://nwstables.com/
Wine country - I've included a stop in Sonoma, north of SF. In my opinion Sonoma is a convenient and quite attractive town as well as being surrounded by great vineyards and wine tasting opportunities. Note there are also major winery opportunities in the Hood River Valley and Willamette Valley (near McMinnville, which I've shown the route passing.) Yes, you can take kids into the wineries but obviously they won't be served. I will mention however that the Napa/Sonoma wine country can be quite crowded and the climate can be quite hot in August; of course if you're coming from the Middle East that's all relative.
In terms of driving time, don't take the Google estimates too seriously. The mileage is accurate, but the time assumes no traffic, no road construction delays, etc. Most people find that there will be times when you want to go slow and make a lot of stops, and on other days you'll just press down on the right-side pedal and let 'er rip. But I don't think this route is going to present huge issues if you have most of two weeks to accomplish it. If you did north-to-south you could probably reduce your days in SF to two (it's also <i>very</i> crowded and expensive in the summer) or eliminate Portland <i>City</i> altogether in lieu of more time in the Gorge etc.
Hope this helps.
May 8th, 2017, 06:34 AM
#3
Great advice Gardyloo! If you do go with your plan from SF, make it Bandon to McMinnville then Hood River. Drop at least one day in Portland
The Evergreen Aviation and Space museum is near McMinnville if you wanted to see the "Spruce Goose".
I like the southbound route along the Oregon and California coast so that all of your turns are to the right to go see the ocean views. I hope you have no trouble driving on the right side of the road.
There are also several Amtrak buses daily between Seattle and Vancouver if the train schedule doesn't work for you.
The bus also takes 4 hours each way.
The Evergreen Aviation and Space museum is near McMinnville if you wanted to see the "Spruce Goose".
I like the southbound route along the Oregon and California coast so that all of your turns are to the right to go see the ocean views. I hope you have no trouble driving on the right side of the road.
There are also several Amtrak buses daily between Seattle and Vancouver if the train schedule doesn't work for you.
The bus also takes 4 hours each way.
May 8th, 2017, 06:49 AM
#4
Gardyloo has given some excellent advice if you want to re-organize your itinerary.
Of your original plan this jumps out >>1 SF - Eureka via Avenue of the Giants. Dinner at the Samoa Cookhouse.<<
That will be one loooooong day. Just the drive will be over 6 hours car time with no stops. IRL it would be about a 9 hour drive. And you would miss all of the coast below Eureka.
May I ask why so much time in Portland? If you cut say 2 nights from Portland and 1 night from Seattle you could spend a couple of extra days exploring the Mendocino coast and the Redwoods
Of your original plan this jumps out >>1 SF - Eureka via Avenue of the Giants. Dinner at the Samoa Cookhouse.<<
That will be one loooooong day. Just the drive will be over 6 hours car time with no stops. IRL it would be about a 9 hour drive. And you would miss all of the coast below Eureka.
May I ask why so much time in Portland? If you cut say 2 nights from Portland and 1 night from Seattle you could spend a couple of extra days exploring the Mendocino coast and the Redwoods
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