My husband and I are leaving to go to Seattle for 5 days. What are the Must See, Must Eat, Must Do things there? We are renting a car, but is it worth it to go to Canada, if so, as in my previous question...What are the Must See, Must Eat, etc there

The Victoria Clipper to Victoria leaves in the morning, you can be in Canada early afternoon and have a nice day there. Spend the night and return midmorning the next day. The drawback is that the boat ride is a little long, but it is nice.

Vancouver is also awesome if you can make it there for a quick trip. I know that you can catch a train a do a similar day trip. Joe Forte is a great place to eat!

Seattle is great! There is so much good food that it is hard to go wrong! You can see a lot by car in 5 days, and a drive to Olympic National Forest is worth it. Beautiful! The Washington coast is also nice, but different than other coast lines, as it is covered with driftwood- but really beautiful.

For a pricey but excellent meal, try the Herb Farm

http://www.theherbfarm.com/

Poppy and La Bastille are two other places I would recommend.

I thinkthat driving to the Pacific coast is a little far for the time that you have.

You tagged this as a trip report, which it is not. Do one when you get back.

I live in Seattle, both Seattle and Vancouver are certainly great cities to visit. But 5 days is a pretty short amount of time. As to whether it's "worth it" for you to get up to Canada, I can't really answer for you. It's at least a 3 hour drive on I-5 freeway each direction, plus border crossing time (remember your passport). Taking the Victoria Clipper up to Victoria is another possibility (leave the car in Seattle, walk on).

For must do's in Seattle I like:
Space Needle/Seattle Center
Pioneer Square historic district/Smith Tower/Waterfront
The Pike Place Market
Chinatown/International district
Seattle Art Museum/Frye Art Museum

What time of year is your trip? I ask because recommendations for winter/rainy cold weather are a bit different than for summer/warm clear weather.

A day trip to Mount Ranier is an enjoyable day. Take a picnic lunch to have a meal nearby a waterfall or superb mountain scenery. Have time to hike a trail.

Vist Snoqualame Falls, have breakfast or lunch next door at the excellent Salish Lodge. Drive through Snoqualame Pass for spectacular mountain (and maybe) winter scenery.

Chateau St. Michelle is just across Lake Washington.

I like Duke's for clam chowder. The McCormich & Schmick's downtown is in an historic building and an enjoyable meal.

Many people take a ferry to one of the islands for hiking and biking.

We are actually leaving on Wednesday. Thank you all for your responses. We now have some options.

nukesafe - sorry about tagging it as a trip report...this was the first time i have done this and wasn't sure what that meant. I know better now

no problem. welcome to the forums. Hope you have a great trip to Seattle. Fall weather has finally arrived here, today is sunny but cool and breezy.

Sorry if I snapped at you, nat, must have been grumpy. I'm serious about posting a trip report when you come back to tell us how things went, however.

I echo the ideas above, about it being a bit of a stretch to include Vancouver in your limited five days. If you are willing to spend an entire day, a trip to the San Juan Islands could be an alternate possibility. It is about an hour and a half drive from Seattle to Anacortes and the ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. No long waits for border crossing. Perhaps a ferry to Bainbridge Island from Seattle for a bit of shopping and lunch would be a better choice.

It is a pity you were not here in Anacortes yesterday. It was a lovely warm day for our annual Oyster Run. It is the largest gathering of motorcyclists in the North West; police estimated some 25,000 bikes were in town over the weekend. They close off the main street for parking the bikes, and it is a sea of black leather. Really gets wild and wooly in our tiny town of 15,000 people.

You should check on local events in Seattle and the surrounding communities for the days of your visit.

In Seattle: Tilth, Lark, Canlis and in nearby Kirkland, Cafe Juanita.

Weather should be good for a day trip to Mt. Rainier.

Other ideas: A night at Crescent Lake Lodge on the Olympic Peninsula and ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria or (my choice) the Cascade Loop driving west on Highway 20 with a night in Winthrop, return to Seattle via 97 Alt and Highway 2 over Stevens Pass.

HTTY

Watch the weather if you're planning excursions into the mountains. 3" of snow this morning at Stevens Pass (US 2.) Autumn has arrived with a vengeance in Seattle (thunder and downpours yesterday) and winter is on its way in the hills. Snow level is 3500' today; Paradise Lodge at Mt. Rainier is at 5400'.