With regard to the ferry... You would go up the Washington coast... turn inland at Aberdeen, and then northward from the Olympia area on Hwy #101... and finesse your way to Bainbridge Island, or Bremerton, to take the ferry across Puget Sound, to Seattle.

With so little time IN Seattle, I think you would do best to NOT go the long way around the Olympic Peninsula (northwestern Washington).


Hey, before I forget, you should maybe look-up where to find the exact house that Bella Swan lived in, at the start of the Twilight series, if you're into that. It is in the town of St. Helens, OREGON, which is out Highway 30 North of Portland.


When you go BACK from Seattle to Portland, just take the relatively boring, yet quick-ish drive down Interstate 5.

Everything else about your revisions sounds good.

Spend 1 day in Downtown Portland instead of 2 then carry your plan forward tacking the "extra" day on the end to see what you missed the first day.
As for Seattle, when you are done seeing the city, take the ferry to Bremerton and maybe see the Naval museum before heading back south through Gig Harbor to get back on I-5 at Tacoma.
Make sure to see the Astoria Column and the waterfront as well as the Goonies house.

Sweet, thanks for even MORE great advice! I knew this was the place to go for the expert's opinions.

I'm thinking I will just spend just the one night around Cannon Beach to have an extra day in Seattle. I also like the idea about heading out of Portland a day early and then spend the last day in Portland. I wouldn't feel as rushed to get back into town that way.

So far all of your replies have been very helpful in planning our trip. We arrived in Portland yesterday. We had a wonderful, sunny day exploring the city today.

Tomorrow we get a rental car and will venture to the coast. First we will head for the Evergreen Museum for hubby to see the Spruce Goose. From there we will head for Cannon Beach. The online map has us taking 47 to 26 to the coast. A second route would be to take 18 to 22 to the 101. Would the second (longer route) be worthwhile to see more of the coast? I'm just not sure if that extra stretch will have that much more to see.

@NorthWestMale- Is there a preference to taking a ferry from Bainbridge Island or Bremerton to Seattle?

I suspect I'm too late with this, but I'd take 47 to 6 to 101 before the 18 to 22 route. Might take longer, but the scenery along 6 is quite nice, with even a nice waterfall 75 yards off the left side just past milepost 30.

Hope our lovely spring weather doesn't foul things up for you.

Have to admit that I don't know enough data about 'the other side(s)' to be fair to your question.

I would just go with the timing, and the ferry schedules... also, maybe even the "Kingston to Edmonds" ferry... just do what it takes not to get delayed by traffic, or whatever... (Kingston-to-Edmonds should be just fine at any point aside from MORNING rush hour)... then you land just north of Seattle, and get a nice 'intro' to central Seattle...

On the other hand, the ferry landing IN central Seattle certainly has its appeal, but in a car, you'd still have to find parking in order to take-in what Seattle offered you IMMEDIATELY.

OK, go by the weather... IF IT IS CLEAR, or clear-ISH... take EITHER Bremerton OR Bainbridge into central Seattle. If rainy, then let your schedule and the ferry schedules dictate your option.

**************

I need to CLARIFY something, about the ferries:

IN a perfect, rain-free world, with clear skies and (violins playing softly)... THEN you might be going up the Washington coast, and PAST Aberdeen, continuing NORTHWARD, and around on Hwy #101... to see plenty of nature (and "Forks, WA", of "Twilight" movie fame).

IF the weather is a dreary mess... THEN it might be inspiration to bag the trip north of Aberdeen, WA... and instead cut INLAND, to Olympia, and then north on Interstate #5 (NO FERRY involved).

THE FERRY option was mainly in the event you did indeed take the "loop" around Highway 101 in northwest Washington, and then wanted to take a more direct path to Seattle.

As of this moment, I don't know which way you should lean on all that. It may depend, also, on whether you have 'saved' any days/time for the last part of your journey.

Alas, Forks was chosen for the movie in large part due to it being the rainiest town in the lower 48... (I'm sure you can sense what that may mean, with regard to your probable weather scenario)

(but SOMEtimes the northwest just surprises you!)

@islandaze- Thank you. I did get your post in time. We were going to take that route, but spent more time then we were planning at the air museum. We wanted to get to the coast while it was still daylight and see the beach before it got dark. We got drizzled on and really sandy feet, but it was worth it. We stayed the night at the Surfsand Inn and it was so nice seeing Haystack Rock right off the balcony.

@NorthwestMale- Thank you for all the options. We got a later start in the day because it was raining in the morning and we figured what's the rush. We decided to give Ecola Park a shot anyway. Eventually the rain subsided and we were able to explore the trails, Indian Beach and hike up to the Tillamook Lighthouse viewpoint. Next time we will know to bring better shoes and clothes for hiking. lol.

After the park and checking out Astoria, it had started raining again and getting late so we opted out of the ferry option and took the 5 into Seattle.

We had a day with lots of rain today. We went to the Boeing plant for a tour in Everett to escape some rain. Tonight the rain surprisingly stopped and we went up the Space Needle for a great view of the city lights. Tomorrow we are going to Pike Market and to get a new raincoat too! :)

If it stops raining long enough visit the Washington Park Botanic Gardens Arboretum. http://depts.washington.edu/uwbg/gardens/wpa.shtml
Plenty of trails there if they are not flooded.

Thank you all once again for your invaluable help on our NW trip! We covered a lot of area and now know the areas we would like to go back to and spend more time there.

I look forward to doing more exploring in the Columbia Gorge area. At the end of our trip, we spent one night at the cutest cabin overlooking the mountain and river that I found on airbnb.com. The nature in the NW is heavenly. We had a sunshine filled day hiking the waterfall trails. The perfect finale for our trip.

Here are some photos from the trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennrat...th/7623011344/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennrat...7629385585376/

Thanks for getting back to us. If you have the time, a few of us would like to see a trip report with details on what you liked etc.

Tom- Would I put the trip report in this thread or start a new one?

Start a new thread. Click on the "Trip Report box" when you are done typing.

This is great! I am about to book airfare into portland for a coastal scenic drive 1st week in September. Not sure if to fly both in and out of portland. I have just 4-5 days. Would love any tips on where to stay with great views etc. It's our anniversary so want to make it special. Thanks!

Hi again!

with just 4 full days in and out of Portland do you have any suggestions?
We really want to see canon beach/goonies, mt. hood, gorge area, waterfalls, mt. st. helens, and get some hiking in too! That's a lot, so we will have to ditch St. Helens likely.


We are thinking 2 nights at one location 3 at another and just cramming tons in. Awesome views are our favorite and a bit of good moderate hiking.

Unfortunately the flights out are early am so need to be fairly close to the airport the departing am.
Thanks so much!