I have read your options on this trip for a UK couple Can I please pit forward our case to see if we have left enough time. We are arriving on 10Th October from Christchruch New Zealand at 10 am and plan to at this stage to leave on the 13th October and depending on weather travel up either the coastal route or the inland route to Seatle and we have at this stage allowed 4 days for the inland route and 5 days for the coastal route, Bearing in mind we will be returning the opposite route to which we travailed up returning to San Fran on the 26th to catch a late flight in the evening out. We have been to San Francisco twice before so there is no rush to see things as we have done a lot ofr the attractions like Alcatas and walkinf the Golden gate Bridge etc . We planned to spend the extra days in Seattle as there appears to be uite aot to do and one of our main interest is the Boeing Museum and factory. From NZ Seattle is not a standard route for other destinations so this will be a one only trip for us so we want to make the most of this area while in it

Sorry, I am not seeing your question (s).

So you basically have 13 days (13-26 October) for a return trip to Seattle from San Francisco.

It's doable, but one consideration is weather. By the middle of October *most* years, the weather in the Pacific Northwest can be turning wet, possibly diminishing your enjoyment.

Let me propose an alternative. Fly from SF to Seattle (under US$100 per person in October) and rent a one-way car. By October the horrific one-way surcharges on rental cars on the west coast have dropped; the car will cost more per day than a return rental from SF, but not a lot.

Visit your sites around Seattle, then head south, but now with enough time that you can visit some of the locations along the route that might have been passed by on the longer road trip. For example, visit the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood/Hood Valley area east of Portland, Oregon - spectacular orchards in autumn color, waterfalls, Mount Hood looming above.

Then head out to the Oregon coast and follow it south to the redwoods in northern California. With more time you could travel out to the spectacular Mendocino/Sonoma coast along Calif. Hwy 1, then back through the wine country (around harvest time) to the Golden Gate.

By driving one-way you could stay ahead of the poorer weather (and diminishing daylight) as you head south, and have enough time to see the amazing variety available on this route.

Possible route map - https://goo.gl/maps/cfSACx1VtCv

A possible variation on Gardyloo's plan would be to take the Amtrak Coast Starlight from San Francisco/Emeryville north overnight. Take it only as far as Portland OR and go from there with a rental car.

The problem with the Coast Starlight is that it often runs late - not by 20 minutes or an hour, but by 6 or 8 hours. So I've vote for flying from SFO to SEA, then exploring Seattle and driving via Portland so you can explore that city as well.

Kathie exactly how many times have you ridden the Coast Starlight? Today's CS into Sacramento arrived 14 minutes early. The northbound train arrived at Chemult 3 minutes early and is expected into Portland on time if not early.
On time performance on the CS for the past year exceeds 80%.
If you didn't want to go all the way to Portland before renting a car, get off the train in Eugene about 12:30 PM.

I would definitely consider flying one direction and driving the other -- otherwise it will be a very rushed trip . . . and I would not take the train.

The Coast Starlight has an 'official' on time performance (per Amtrak) of 85%. The problem is that when things go bad they can go really REALLY bad -- like 6 or 7 hours or a day late.

Why would you take a train that costs more than flying (way more if you don't want to sit up all night,) requires 24 hours (or more) and isn't especially scenic?

'specially since the stoooopid schedule has one traveling through the best scenery in the middle of the night.

tom, I haven't ridden the Coast Starlight, but I have picked up my sisters from the train many times over the years. Never once did it arrive in Seattle on time - or even within an hour of the scheduled time.

Today the #14 Coast Starlight arrived in Seattle 36 minutes early. It did not leave Portland or any other station early.
Why do your sisters keep riding it if it is always late for them?
The best view I ever got of the east side of Mt. Shasta was when the CS was about 2.5 hours late getting out of Dunsmuir.
My last 2 trips on the CS were in roomettes and we were within 15 minutes of on time performance.

Hurrah! The train was on time today. But tom -- the train does not make sense for this OP. It misses the best scenery (unless like in your example, it is running hours late), is usually more expensive - and is slower than dirt . . .

Thank you all so much for your fantastic advice and and insight into the train system. As stated by Gandyloo the train is more expensive than flying so we will now consider the option of flying to Seattle and driving down at a leisury pace,but most likely would spend one day in San Fran as we would have just spent 23hrs traveling and although a short flight might be the last thing we want to do after getting off the last leg of 13.5hrs flying.