Seattle in April?
 

My wife and I are flying in from Scandinavia to visit friends in Seattle for a couple of days in mid April. After a few days with our friends we will have 7 days before going back home.
Now to our question, is Seattle and the north east best place to spend a week in April, or shall we pick up a real bargain offer that we have and fly down to San Francisco for 5 days? Neigther of us has been there before, (nor in Seattle eigter).
If we stay northeast we have planned to hire a car, see some wine country, a bit of the Oregon coast, Colombia gorge, Mt Rainer, etc. But are we completely out of season, will anything be open or will we be the only couple traveling around?

Please give us some advice, it´s a long trip from Scandinavia and it migth be many years to come before we have a chance to get back to the Pacific US.

Mt. Rainier and the high Cascades will still be extremely snowy. The Columbia Gorge and greater Portland will be in early spring, which can be very beautiful around Hood River - many orchards with flowering fruit trees.

North of Seattle, the tulip fields of the Skagit Valley will likely be in full color or getting close. However that is close enough to Seattle that you can easily visit it on a day outing. The same goes for ferry trips across Puget Sound, visits to botanical gardens, and things like that.

All that said, I'd probably go down to SF for two or three days at least, four or five would be great too. The city is a marvelous place to visit, and the countryside around the vineyard areas (Napa and Sonoma counties, and the Marin and Mendocino county Pacific coastlines) are very beautiful and green at that time of year. Win - win.

I might suggest taking the train from Seattle to Portland - quite a scenic 4-hour ride - and renting a car in Portland for a one-day excursion up the Columbia Gorge. Then fly from Portland down to SF for a few days. It will be good use of your time.

I assume you mean to say the Northwest, rather than the Northeast ;-).

It's a tough choice--it really depends on whether you want to focus on cities, or get out into the scenic areas that the Pacific NW is known for.

April isn't perhaps the optimal time to visit here, as there will still be lots of snow up in the mountains (so no hiking up at Mt Rainier, for instance) and there will almost certainly be some spring showers but I think it's a great time to be traveling around the NW--not nearly as crowded as the summer months. I drove down the coast from Seattle to SF and back last year in late March/early April and had great weather and did a ton of hiking. I don't know if that would be an option for you (driving down the coast then spending a couple days in SF) but that's something to consider.

It just depends your interests. April is not idea weather in either places (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco). Would you rather see things out in the country-side? Or focus on the cities?

If you have a real bargain offer, I'd fly down and spend the 5 days in San Francisco.

7 days is barely long enough to do everything on your list (car hire, oregon coast, columbia gorge, mt rainier, wine country, etc.).

Thanks for input and good advise. Of course I meant northwest, but I wrote it at 12 minutes after midnigth local time, and after sharing a bottle of nice Chateau St Michell wine. Not used to write and think in english dosn´t help eigther.
Anyhow, our plan may be like this:
3 days in Seattle and surrounding areas, fly to San Francisco, stay there 4 nights, fly to Portland and hire car for 2 days and drive back to Seattle. Depending on weather and mode we go up Colombia gorge or up by the coast. I´ve been told this time of year we don´t have to book hotel in advance. We are flying out late in the evening.
I know this trip will include a lot but we can get a bit of Seattle, see San Francisco and get a hint of wine with a oneday winetour to Napa. Then a bit of Oregon, coast or Columbia gorge.
Any comments on this?

My only comment would be to avoid driving I-5 between Portland and Seattle if you can--it's a pretty boring drive so that's a reason to opt for the OR coast then come up 101 and then cut over to Olympia so you're only on I-5 for an hour.

So long as you're traveling mid-week, yes you shouldn't have a problem getting lodgings at the Gorge or the coast last minute that time of year. I would book your city hotels ahead however to get better rates.

Considering it may be many years before you will return to the west coast, I suggest you take the opportunity to visit San Francisco.

It would be excellent if, while in San Francisco, you could rent a car and explore some of the Pacific Coast Highway south of Monterey.

I think your new plan sounds good... a few days in Seattle, fly San Francisco (include Napa) 5 days, fly to Portland with a 2 day drive back to Seattle.

But you might want to check airline ticket pricing? A round-trip SF/Seattle ticket might be more economical, than 1-way Sea/SF and 1-way SF/Portland.