After researching many different trips to the Pacific Northwest, my boyfriend and I have decided that we would like to vacation in Washington. We will be arriving late on a Friday night, and will have the entire week until our flight out the following Saturday at 11pm (8 nights, 8 full days).

This is the rough itinerary:

Saturday: Seattle
Sunday: Rent a car and do a VERY long day trip to Mt. Rainier or Mt. St. Helens (Which one makes for a better day trip?)
Monday: Take the 7:45am ferry to San Juan Island
Tuesday: San Juan Islands
Wednesday: San Juan Islands
Thursday: Ferry back to Seattle at 4:30, drive to a hotel in the Wine Country (any good recommendations? I read of the Willow Inn which looks really nice, any others on this caliber?)
Friday: Wine Country
Saturday: Seattle

My major question right now is car rental. Is it imperative that we have a car on the San Juan Islands? I keep reading that it is necessary to really explore the islands, but if we are planning on taking a kayakying trip one day, renting bikes another day, and renting mopeds to explore the island a final day, is a car really necessary? Also, are there good beaches that people lay out at in the Islands? I know the water is too cold to go into but are there nice beaches to just lay and rest at? If not, are there hotels with pools on the island?

Please let me know what you think of this itinerary.

Thanks!

Oh, and any good recommendations for nice hotels/B&B's in the San Juan Islands? Looking to stay on San Juan Island, not Orcas or Lopez.

How far is Orcas and Lopez from San Juan Island? A quick boat ride? Are there ferries that run often between them?

It is imperative to have a car on SJI for kayaking. The kayacking area is at the other end of the island from where the ferry is. Here is the company we used:

Crystal Seas Kayaking

A couple of comments:

--In order to get the 7:45 AM ferry you'd have to leave Seattle by 5 AM (Anacortes is a 2 hour drive from Seattle). I'd plan on taking a later ferry--on a Monday the way shouldn't be too bad.

--Yes a car is a really good idea--otherwise you're stuck where you're staying, unless you are very strong cyclists.

--American Camp has a long sandy beach but generally it will be too cool and windy to lay out for long.

--Roche Harbor has a pool and its new Quarryman Suites are probably the nicest rooms in the islands.

--Orcas and Lopez are less than an hour ferry ride from SJI and there are several interisland ferries each day.

--Willows Lodge is the place to stay in Woodinville. I'm not sure I'd stay 2 nights though--seems like you're giving short shrift to Seattle itself.

Yes you really do need a car to explore the San Juans. Unless you want to only ferry into one place and stay in town like Friday Harbor.

Yes you can do either Rainier or St. Helens as a LONG day trip. Rainier being the shorter/closer.

There's not really "wine country". It's more an outlying area of Seattle with a number of wineries it's true, but no vineyards or rustic "country-side". I'm not sure what you'd do for 2 days there.

I agree with Suze...one day in the Woodinville area will pretty much take care of your "wine country" needs.

Thank you for the quick responses.

It would only be one day in "wine country" we would arrive late on Thursday night, around 8:30 or so and have Friday in the area then drive back to Seattle and have the night and all day Saturday there.

Is there any public transportation on SJI? Taxis? Buses? Anything? We are really not interested in having a car. The 7:45am ferry is out of Seattle, not Anacortes, so it won't be that terrible to wake up for.

Oh, you mean the Victoria Clipper to Friday Harbor? That's not what immediately comes to mind when we think of ferry to the San Juans here, sorry ;-).

Yes, there are taxis and shuttles available on SJI--it's just much easier and more fun with your own car IMO. A big part of what is so enjoyable about the islands, for me anyway, is exploring the back roads and finding things like an unexpected artist studio, llama farm or gorgeous vista.

How are you planning to get over to Woodinville without a car? Take a bus or taxi?

We have zipcar so we were thinking of using that on the days we needed it, much cheaper than renting a car. We'll look into renting a car for SJI, though Victoria Clipper doesn't allow cars...

Oh, good, so you will have a car to get to Woodinville.

And yes, you'd have to drive to Anacortes to take the WA State Ferry to the San Juans with a car. That's what I was thinking you were talking about in the first place--what most people do to get there. So long as you're not going to the islands on a Friday or coming back on a Sunday the line ups shouldn't be too bad.

Zipcar is great!

Willows Lodge is very nice- I love staying there.

Most of the smaller wineries are only open on the weekend- only Ch St Michelle and Columbia are open daily and honestly they don't really produce the best wines out there. Check the hours on the one's you want to visit or make a list of the one's open on Fridays:

http://www.woodinvillewinecountry.com/wwc.php

I've never done St Helens but have done Rainier as a day trip- it's not that bad unless you hit nasty traffic

have fun!

I just read about moped/car rentals on SJI so I think we will stick with that when we need a car.

I will definitely take a look into the winery situation, are there good wineries that you recommend?

Is the Pan Pacific hotel a good location in Seattle? Is there a lot of construction in the area? I can't seem to get a good grasp on the hotel from tripadvisor or other reviews I read. I'm wondering why it's so much cheaper than every other hotel in Seattle, there must be a reason.

Willow Lodge is excellent. If you really want to treat yourself, try to have dinner at the Herbfarm. Expensive, but worth it.

Barking Frog is also excellent for any meal (had a fab brunch there).

Both Herbfarm and Barking Frog are basically in the parking lot of Willow Lodge. Red Hook Brewery is just a few steps away as well.

In "wine country", consider a visit to Novelty Hill wines. It's a newer (and small) winery with gorgeous space and pretty decent wines.

I'm not sure when you're planning on visiting, but Chateau Ste. Michelle winery has a summer concert series if that's something you'd be interested in. Here's the schedule:

http://www.ste-michelle.com/Sub_Concerts.cfm

I'm confused... There's no ferry that leaves from Seattle and goes direct to the San Juan islands.

Yes, there is, suze. The Victoria Clipper has (passenger only) "ferries" to both Victoria and Friday Harbor.

The location of the Pan Pacific isn't as central as other hotels downtown and that's part of the reason they are having to discount. And yes, there is a lot of construction in the area.

What other hotels are you considering in Seattle and what are the relative rates?

You can arrange to visit at least some of the smaller wineries by appt during the week (but in that case some people feel more pressure to buy).

I'm not sure why so many seem to think the word "ferry" indicates that it takes cars. Hasn't everyone heard of the Staten Island Ferry?

We once took a passenger ferry (it's been a long time ago, so not sure if it was the Victoria Clipper) from Seattle to Friday Harbor. We couldn't wait to go back a couple of years later WITH a car -- and we ended up spending a full day on Orcas with the car. Loved it.

I'm not sure that anyone answered your question about the better day trip -- Ranier or St. Helen's. I found Mount St. Helen's far more interesting.

The Staten Island ferry doesn't take cars??? Huh. For some reason I thought it did (and I lived in Manhattan for years and even took it a few times, not with a car obviously ;-)).

Kidding aside, yes, of course "ferry" covers passenger ferries--it's just that here we are used to thinking of the WA State ferry from Anacortes as the ferry to the San Juans, that's all.

I would agree that Mt St Helens is more interesting but I think the hiking at Mt Rainier is more beautiful, and it's closer for a day trip. So it really depends on what the OP is looking for.

Nah, it's not that Patrick (taking cars or not).

It's that I don't think of the Victoria Clipper as a "ferry" per se, I've never hear it called that. It's always referred to as "the Clipper".

When people speak of taking a ferry somewhere I think of the Washington State ferry system boats... ya know, ferries