San Francisco to Seattle
 

My wife and I are planning to fly into SF, rent a car and drive to Seattle. We have a total of 10 nights. We are thinking 3 nights in SF. Any suggestions on where to go and stay on the trip? Is 3 nights in SF not enough,but if we spend 4 nights there would that leave us with not enough time to take in the sites on the way to Seattle?

Hard to answer that, it's a pretty wide open question :-)

What sights are you wanting to see between SF and Seattle? Do you want to go over to the coastal route? Or just drive it straight up the freeway? Do you want any time in Seattle at the end of the trip?

We want to take the coastal route. We want to see the redwoods, find some good seafood along the way, possibly detour off to crater lake, spend a day in the Portland area and probably just a day in Seattle. Not really sure what else there is to do along the way.

Also time of year matters. Can we assume summer?

Here's the route I've taken more times than I can remember - https://goo.gl/maps/TN8uTbDn5Ym . It includes the redwoods along US 101, the impossibly scenic southernmost part of the Oregon coast, then inland to the Willamette Valley and north to the Portland area. I've included a brief detour so you can experience the beautiful Columbia Gorge, then it's a straight 3-4 hour shot up I-5 to Seattle.

The Google map says 18 hours wheels turning but I think 20-22 is closer to the mark, i.e. three days or four comfortably. With a total of ten nights that would give you three in SF, four on the road, and three more in Seattle, totally doable.

I would make my overnight stops somewhere in the Eureka area (Ferndale and Trinidad CA are the beauty spots) followed by Bandon in southern Oregon and somewhere in the Portland area. You could add a night on the coast or, depending again on the month, in the Columbia Gorge area (I really like Hood River and the Hood River Valley area) or of course you could add or subtract nights in SF or Seattle.

Is three nights enough for SF? Depends.

Our posts overlapped.

Crater Lake is a helluva long way from the coast; the zigzag across Oregon is very time consuming and not all that lovely. Plus the full rim of Crater Lake is closed by snow until well into the summer, and this has been a very snowy winter in the mountains, so it might be even later this year. Again, what month are you coming?

I agree, considering your time available for travel, you will have a more satisfactory trip if you don't do the long (and not very interesting) drives to and from Crater Lake and focus your attention on the redwoods, the Oregon Coast, and the Columbia River Gorge.

For me, another great experience is to stand at the foot of majestic Mt. Rainier and to enjoy the waterfalls and Cascade views in MtRNP.

HTtY

Thanks to everyone for your help. We are planning to arrive in SF on July 12 and depart Seattle on July 22

I'm no road trip expert (but I do live in Seattle and have done the drive a few times)... Crater Lake doesn't really fit in with a "coastal route". Certainly you can fit it in if it is a priority but it is quite a distance out of the way from the rest you mention.

Why not fly to SEA to start? Do the coast southbound and then drive north on I-5 to pick up Crater Lake on the way back north to SEA.

I don't think 10 nights is sufficient to do a round-trip on this route (Seattle to SF and back to Seattle).

I'm pretty sure they are planning a one-way road trip?

>>Do the coast southbound and then drive north on I-5 to pick up Crater Lake on the way back north to SEA.<<

Yhey only have 10 night, not enough time to drive R-T.

With only 10 nights we are flying into SF and out of Seattle. I decided to fly into SF first so I could book my hotel there ahead of time.