Seattle to Mt. Rainier or other sights?
 

We are going on an Alaskan cruise roundtrip from Seattle in July. We will arrive back in Seattle Sunday morning around 8 or 9 am but our flight does not leave until 8 am the following day. Is it possible to rent a car and see some of Mt. Rainier in just one day? Or should we try to see some of the sights in Seattle? Before we leave for the cruise, we are planning on going to Pike's market and the Space Needle. We used Priceline to get a room at the Red Lion Hotel on 5th Ave. Has anyone stayed there? Is there anything else we should see in Seattle with limited time? Thanks!

Yes. Mt. Rainier is generally done as a day trip from Seattle. The only question is how long it will take you to disembark - and get your rental car. You could end up getting off to a late start - but the days are long in July so you should still have time.

Ken

As Ken said, it's easily a day trip if you can get a car in time. There is one main road that more or less dead ends at a spot that is nice for lunch and a great view. It's interesting to watch the mountain climbers if you have a pair of binoculars.

That said, my first choice would be to forego renting a car altogether and see Seattle. It's a great city. For us the highlights were the public market, science museum and fine arts museum.

Either way you'll have a great time.

It depends. If you like cities and the sights, visit more of Seattle. For me, I'd go to Mt. Rainier. We visited it two summers ago on a day trip out of Seattle. We were so pleased to have made the effort - even our teenagers were thrilled with the scenery. We ate a nice lunch at the lodge there (in Paradise, I think) and did a short hike. It was wonderful!

You might want to take in the aquarium or drive up to Everett and tour the Boeing plant. The view from Queen Anne Hill showing the skyline with Space Needle and Mt. Rainier in the distance is a great sunset location. Stay around for the city lights to come on after dark.

If you want to go to Mt. Rainier from the cruise, be sure to get in the first group to disembark, so you have the day. I'm not sure how you manage this - say you have a flight a couple of hours after the ship arrives, or something. Otherwise, if you say you are staying in Seattle, you will be in the last group to get off and it will take hours.

I visited friends staying at the Red Lion and it was fine. It's not fabulous, but the location is perfect and you will be happy if you got a good rate.

I agree with those who have advised you to investigate Seattle more thoroughly than to try to squeeze in a trip to Mt. Rainier. For one thing, if it happens to be cloudy you could go all the way up there and see nothing! For another thing, the drive up there isn't all that beautiful. There are a lot of places to find out what is in Seattle, and much of it is bound to appeal to you and your family. Have fun.

If you are art fans at all, there's going to be a special show at the Seattle Art Museum called Van Gogh to Mondrian with 75 works by artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Seurat and Mondrian. If you decide to go, you should certainly get tickets in advance, which I you probably could do online (seatlleartmuseum.org).

While I love Mt.Rainer, you will have seen so much great scenery in Alaska, you might want something different, and Seattle is a terrific city to explore.

I am not a big baseball fan so I don't know if they will still be playing, but you could see if the Mariners have a game that night. You could drive out to Snoqualmie Falls, go to Boehms candy store in Issaquah while you are out there. It is the best :-)
In late July the Bellevue Art Fair is going on or also one of the largest pow wows i believe is in July at Morning Star ( i think that is the name). You could go on a ferry ride, although you just got off a boat. There should be all kinds of festivals going on. Rainier is great, but if it is cloudy you will not even see the mountain you are on and it does take all day.
I hope this helps.
Lori

I forgot about the EMP. If you like music that is a great place to visit.
Lori

Thanks everyone for your input!