Seattle
 

My husband & I are traveling to Seattle in mid-Oct. and staying two nights, then one night in Victoria and 5 in Vancouver. (He has a conference in Vancouver.) We will be renting a car. I need help in figuring where to stay in Seattle and what to do for 1 1/2 days. Also since we are spending the night in Victoria, do you recommend taking an early ferry? We like to walk and hike. We have never been to Seattle, so we want to see a few highlights but probably not any museums.

What is your price per night for hotel in Seattle? Also, do you like chains hotels or smaller boutique hotels etc?

We are just back from our second trip and we enjoyed going to Chihuly Glass and Garden. The EMP [music] is fun too. The Needle if you haven't been. These are all in Seattle Center.
http://www.empmuseum.org/

Pike Place Market - we did a free [donation only] walking tour. That one needs reservations, but Jake does a few others that are on walk up basis -
http://www.seattlefreewalkingtours.org/

We did a day trip to Mt Ranier, not sure what it would be like at that time of year, but it was amazing.

We stayed at The Alexis which is in a great location and is a super nice hotel. http://www.alexishotel.com/

If a hotel includes breakfast, that would be great. Also, if it is in a good location for sightseeing. There are many places that look interesting to see as I've been researching online: Seattle Aquarium, Underground tour at Pioneer Square, The Needle, Discovery Park, Chihuly Glass & Garden, Bainbridge Island, etc. We arrive around 1PM, have the next day, and then the following morning we'll go to Victoria. What places do you recommend we visit in that time frame?

If you plan to rent a car in Seattle and to take the car on a ferry to Victoria, you will need to rent from an agency that allows its cars to be taken into Canada and your options would be to take a Black Ball Ferry from Port Angeles or a Washington State Ferry from Anacortes.

Another possibility is to take the Victoria Clipper to Victoria and to rent a car in Canada.

Top sightseeing attractions in Seattle are the Pike Place Market, the Space Needle at Seattle Center, the ferry that goes to Bainbridge Island, and the Argosy Cruise that goes through the locks. Mt. Rainier National Park is the most popular day trip from Seattle.

Some good urban hikes are:

*To Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill for the famous view of Seattle with Mt. Rainier in the background.
*To the Waterfront including Myrtle Edwards Park and the Olympic Sculpture Garden.
*To Pioneer Square and Chinatown (also known as The International District).

Woodland Park Zoo is also a beautiful place to take a walk.

HTtY

I seriously doubt you are going to find a hotel that includes breakfast. IF you book a AAA rate at the Alexis, they give you a $20 per day food/bar credit.

We took the ferry to Bainbridge. Without a car, you are pretty limited in what you can see of do via walking. If you go on weekend, I guess there are buses but none on the Friday we went. Since you are going to be on a boat, on the water, I don't think I would bother on the ferry to Bainbridge.

The Underground Tour was fun, we did that first trip.

You have some good suggestions above and since we have no idea what YOUR likes are, I suggest you do some research on the suggestions and then try to narrow down your picks. Then you can come back and ask more specific questions.

Hi, I live in Seattle. Everything on your list is worth doing. Discovery Park is quite a distance north so would require a car. Everything else you can do from downtown on foot.

Downtown Seattle hotels I like are: The Warwick, Mayflower Park, Hotel Andra, Inn at the Market, Hotel Max, the Roosevelt, Ace Hotel (these are across all price ranges and styles, since you don't give us a budget or preference). I don't know of any hotels that offer free breakfasts.

Homewood Suites by Hilton, on Pike Street, is conveniently located for sightseeing and rooms come with breakfast every day and a light meal and beverages on Monday-Thursday evenings. However, the hotel is usually fully booked.

SpringHill Suites by Marriott, on Yale Avenue, also serves a complimentary breakfast, but the hotel is a little farther away from the heart of the retail core.

HTtY

We stayed at the Edgewater down by the water and really liked it.

post alley rat shooting with a bb gun at 3 in the morning is great fun. Probably better to do the things that appeal to you..

thanks for all of the hotel tips. Breakfast isn't a necessity and since we are only staying two nights, the price doesn't really matter. I'll look into it. Since I didn't know about renting a car in Seattle and dropping it off in Vancouver might pose a problem, what are your suggestions about getting from the airport to downtown Seattle, to Victoria and Vancouver. If we wait until we get to Canada to rent a car, where would we go to get it?

There is a light rail from SEA TAC to Downtown that takes about 30 minutes and costs either $2.25 per person or $.75 if you are a senior. Easy to use and a deal! We didn't have a car except for the day trip we did to Mt. Rainier which we picked up in early morning and dropped off at the end of the day to save on overnight hotel parking fees, which would have been as much as car rental for the day!

There are ferries that can take you as passengers to Victoria [Victoria Clipper] and then take the train to Vancouver; we did that on our first trip. Again, easy to do. Not sure about car rental once in Vancouver, we didn't rent one.

If I were in your circumstances, I would take a taxi from SeaTac to my hotel in Seattle and I would take the Victoria Clipper from Seattle to Victoria.

There is public transportation between Victoria and Vancouver: http://www.pacificcoach.com/Bus-Coac...a-to-Vancouver

HTtY

Teeny correction, LightRail is $2.75 and takes 40 mins. (Metro Busses are $2.25 or $2.50).

We stayed at the Pike Street Homewood Suites for several days pre and post cruise this past June. It does offer free breakfast daily and while I was expecting the typical continental breakfast offerings with just cereal and pastries, I was pleasantly surprised with daily hot offerings in addition.

Since it is close to the convention center, the hotel did seem full all of the time we were there.

LOL! I guess I was too busy focusing on the senior fares! Sorry for the misinformation. And I guess the time from SEA TAC depends which downtown station you exit. Per the website, 34 minutes to Pioneer.
http://www.soundtransit.org/Schedule...ink-light-rail

Exactly (no biggie DebitNM!)

And yes the 40 mins. is SeaTac to Westlake (the very last stop and end of the line)

Thanks. Now on to booking a hotel. Any favorite excursions from Vancouver?

I'm envious! You're about to visit two of the most beautiful cities in the world. Blue skies would be especially nice, but not required. I second the recommendation to visit the Chihuly Glass & Garden underneath the Space Needle; incredible, especially at night. Mt Rainier is a great trip but would take up the whole day and you'd miss getting a feel for Seattle. If you get a clear day, you'll be startled to see Mt. Rainier from lots of spots in Seattle...it's truly breathtaking, even from 60 miles away. Pike Place Market is a must see, and you might visit one of the good restaurants there too. The Athenian is a little quirky and casual, nice for lunch and a great view of Elliot Bay. Etta's Seafood is great, and there are lots more that other Fodorites might recommend, all within a couple of blocks of 1st and Pike. I like the idea of visiting the locks on an Argosy Cruise. Finally, I'd walk on the ferry to Bainbridge Island and get off on the other side, turn around and ride it back. It's an unforgettable experience, especially if you're not from an area that's on or near salt water. It's just a half an hour ride, and they leave every 40 minutes or so. http://www.wsdot.com/ferries/schedul...x?route=sea-bi
In Vancouver, Stanley Park and Pacific Spirit Park are great for a hike.

We did the Duck tour and LOVED it. It's a great way to see Seattle and hear about some of its history.

We also did the Victory Clipper up to Victoria. We LOVED Victoria and could easily have stayed two nights there. Don't forget to do Butchart Gardens. The boat ride up can get rough so consider taking seasick pills.

Vancouver: Try to go to Vanier Park for some great views of the city and mountains from a beach.

I'm still working on transportation. I have hotels all booked. We are going to take a taxi in Seattle to our hotel. I'm thinking we will take the Victoria Clipper to Victoria. How do we get there from our hotel in Seattle to the ferry. We are staying at the Edgewater (great deal on Priceline!) Is there a place on the ferry to stow our luggage? We are staying one night at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria. Can we walk it with our luggage or how do we get there? I called the concierge at the hotel in Vancouver and they recommended taking the bus (pacific coach) from the depot at Victoria to the depot in Vancouver. I believe the depot in Victoria is behind the Empress Hotel. Would you recommend this or a train and if so, where do we take the train? I'm guessing we can take a taxi from the depot in Vancouver to our hotel. We might then rent a car at the hotel for a day or two. Thoughts, please. Thanks

Only 3 weeks away and now I'm trying to narrow down activities. I'd like to go to the Chihuly Glass & Garden Sat. evening. I'm not sure if we need to return on Sunday. I want to go to The Needle, Pike Place Market and maybe do the Underground tour at Pioneer Square. I will see what time permits to see if we want to do the free walking tour called Seattle 101 or if we want to take the ferry to Bainbridge Island and back. We have Sat. afternoon and evening and all day Sunday. Any thoughts on the order of what to do so I don't have to backtrack since we'll be mostly walking. (no car).

We're taking the 8am Victoria Clipper to Victoria on Monday and we'll walk with luggage to the Empress Hotel for the night. We have all day and most of the day on Tues. I booked with the Pacific Coach Bus from Victoria to Vancouver hotels which leaves 5:45PM on Tues. We'll walk around the village and see the gardens in Victoria. I can book the bus that takes us to the Butchart Gardens from our hotel for either day.

I have a car reserved to drive to Whistler's Mt on Weds.

For Thurs-Sat., I can't start excursions until after 1PM. Thurs. I'll go to Stanley Park.

Lastly, I need help in making a decision about Vancouver. The conference offers excursions on Fri. and Sat. afternoons. I can't decide if I should let someone else be my guide or do it myself. They have an excursion to the north shore that includes a walk across the Capilano Suspension Bridge, stroll through the rain forest, take Cliffwalk cliff-side walkways in park, and board a gondola up to Grouse Mt. Another excursion in called Canyon Crawl in Lynn Valley which includes hiking trails with views of waterfalls from suspension bridges.

Thanks for your help.

You might want to post again with a separate heading for your Vancouver and Victoria questions, because you will get more BC responses that way. With a Seattle heading, mostly Washington residents will reply, and they have probably been to both places but might not be experts.

As mentioned earlier by someone else, taking the Bainbridge ferry might not be your highest priority, since you are doing the Victoria Clipper. If one day or the other looks like better weather, you might want to use that one for the Space Needle because it will impact your view.

Get a map of the downtown and Seattle Center from your hotel, so you can see how far apart everything is. Seattle also has hills to factor in. The Space Needle and the Chihuly Museum are in Seattle Center (which was the 1962 World's Fair grounds), so do those two on the same day. They are quite a distance from Pike Market and Pioneer Square, so maybe do the market and the underground tour on the other day, although you could easily do the market and the Seattle Center stuff all in one day, as long as you don't mind a lot of walking and get started relatively early.

Don't think anyone answered your previous post about getting to the Victoria Clipper from your hotel, but you can probably walk from the Edgewater, as long as you don't have too much luggage to haul. Otherwise, you can take a very short taxi ride from the hotel. You should be able to get the information about luggage handling on the boat from the Victoria Clipper website or other info they might have sent you after your reservation.

You don't mention this at all, but you might want to take part of your second day and do some walking around in one of the more far-flung Seattle neighborhoods like Ballard or Fremont...will give you a different flavor than the downtown. Some of the best restaurants are in these outlying areas, so you could take a taxi or bus to Ballard for lunch and walk around a bit afterwards before returning downtown. Just a thought.

Since you are walking a lot, bringing lightweight rain jackets or ponchos to layer would probably be a good idea...it will be October and fall seems to be starting with a bang this year...

Thanks for your advice. I also just posted under Vancouver.

<<in Seattle Center ... They are quite a distance from Pike Market and Pioneer Square>>

Not really, it's barely a few miles. Maybe a bit too long to walk practically, but easy by bus or taxi.

Using the main entrance of the Pike Place Market as the mid-point: 1.5 miles to Seattle Center heading north. And 0.8 miles to Pioneer Square heading south.

You could also just take the Monorail from Seattle Center to Westlake Center and walk from there to Pike Place Market. I think it's maybe a four block walk. And the Monorail has that George Jetson retro coolness going for it.

That sounds great!