seattle to victoria roundtrip
Apr 26th, 2006, 02:35 PM
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seattle to victoria roundtrip
i've read with interest everything posted recently about this jaunt. i am coming to sea-tac from boston, with vicotoria as the goal, where i'll be picked up by family for a week, returning to seattle to shuttle to oakland for a week, before heading back east. nothing will be booked until i get a better sense of best ways to travel and time involved.
as a jaunty single mom with two kids ages 10 and 14, i thought i should rent car to take scenic route down 106 and up 101 to port angeles but don't know if i can drop off (going), and rent (coming back), a car in port angeles. sister in victoria says port angeles ferry much nicer than from vancouver ferry, plus seemed like a chance to see rain forest scenery on way up or way back.
could even stay overnight outside port angeles if scenery excites enough to drive up hurricane ridge or up hoh river road.
am i getting a sense to take in sights going, not on the return. sounds like just traveling back as quick as possible in order to catch flights out of sea-tac is adventure in timing.
does anyone know how long the scenic route i mentioned from sea-tac to port angeles is? is it worth the journey? is hurricane ridge or hoh river road going to wow us? we live in coastal new england and feel both accoustomed to and interested in breath taking nature. i may never get that far northwest again.
the focus of the trip is supposed to be a week on vancouver island with family and a week in oakland with family, but would never forgive myself if i missed an opportunity to expand my children's grasp of this part of the world.
i am travelling on a budget, but know how to make concessions to make things worthwhile. if teen cranky, we skip scenic and go fast or delight her with floatplane.
open to any and all advice.
corwin
as a jaunty single mom with two kids ages 10 and 14, i thought i should rent car to take scenic route down 106 and up 101 to port angeles but don't know if i can drop off (going), and rent (coming back), a car in port angeles. sister in victoria says port angeles ferry much nicer than from vancouver ferry, plus seemed like a chance to see rain forest scenery on way up or way back.
could even stay overnight outside port angeles if scenery excites enough to drive up hurricane ridge or up hoh river road.
am i getting a sense to take in sights going, not on the return. sounds like just traveling back as quick as possible in order to catch flights out of sea-tac is adventure in timing.
does anyone know how long the scenic route i mentioned from sea-tac to port angeles is? is it worth the journey? is hurricane ridge or hoh river road going to wow us? we live in coastal new england and feel both accoustomed to and interested in breath taking nature. i may never get that far northwest again.
the focus of the trip is supposed to be a week on vancouver island with family and a week in oakland with family, but would never forgive myself if i missed an opportunity to expand my children's grasp of this part of the world.
i am travelling on a budget, but know how to make concessions to make things worthwhile. if teen cranky, we skip scenic and go fast or delight her with floatplane.
open to any and all advice.
corwin
Apr 27th, 2006, 05:42 AM
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just heard about olympic hot springs south of elwah practically untouched by man and not to be missed. that's a go, sol duc hot springs looks awful.
still trying to find out how long a drive it is from sea-tac taking scenic route to port angeles. and where is best place away from airport by bus to get a car rental i can drop of in port angeles?
help! i'm such a travel novice.
corwin
still trying to find out how long a drive it is from sea-tac taking scenic route to port angeles. and where is best place away from airport by bus to get a car rental i can drop of in port angeles?
help! i'm such a travel novice.
corwin
Apr 27th, 2006, 06:32 AM
#3
Budget and Enterprise have PA locations; don't know about any others.
I'm a bit confused - are you driving one way to PA, dropping the car, taking the boat to Victoria, then returning to PA, renting another car and driving back to the airport? If so, check the math - it might be cheaper just to park the car in PA (if you'll be driven about in Victoria) and then take it back to Sea-Tac, rather than paying for two dropoff or one-way rental charges.
To get to the SR 106 (Hood Canal) road from the airport is a good hour, depending on whether you take a ferry, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, or drive all the way down to Olympia and double back on 101. A lot can also depend on timing - if you head south from the airport in the afternoon you risk hitting a fair amount of traffic in the Tacoma area. Once you hit 106 and go down to the bottom of Hood Canal around Union, the drive from there to PA on 101 is around 90 min., maybe a bit less. So allow at least 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours from the airport if going that route.
The rain forest scenery is on the west side of the Olympic peninsula, so if that's a priority (and I think it ought to be) then you could/should head south from the airport to Olympia, then out to the coast, then north to Quinault or Hoh along US 101. Note also that there are some magnificent beaches along the national park's coastal strip that are well worth a linger - Ruby Beach, Rialto Beach among the best.
The east side of the peninsula (for your return) is more heavily traveled and while the Hood Canal road (SR 106) is attractive enough, I don't think it compares to the experience of the west side. If you need to get to Sea-Tac from Victoria, you'll need to take the first boat of the morning to PA, then down to the Hood Canal bridge, ferry to Seattle (from Bainbridge Island) without wasting too much time.
Hurricane Ridge is a short drive from Port Angeles. In the area, don't miss Crescent Lake.
Also don't underestimate the crowd factor if your trip is in the height of the summer. Some of these areas (like the coastal strip) have very limited motel/accommodations, so booking ahead, or planning your trip so you can overnight in larger places, like PA or Ocean Shores, is essential.
I'm a bit confused - are you driving one way to PA, dropping the car, taking the boat to Victoria, then returning to PA, renting another car and driving back to the airport? If so, check the math - it might be cheaper just to park the car in PA (if you'll be driven about in Victoria) and then take it back to Sea-Tac, rather than paying for two dropoff or one-way rental charges.
To get to the SR 106 (Hood Canal) road from the airport is a good hour, depending on whether you take a ferry, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, or drive all the way down to Olympia and double back on 101. A lot can also depend on timing - if you head south from the airport in the afternoon you risk hitting a fair amount of traffic in the Tacoma area. Once you hit 106 and go down to the bottom of Hood Canal around Union, the drive from there to PA on 101 is around 90 min., maybe a bit less. So allow at least 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours from the airport if going that route.
The rain forest scenery is on the west side of the Olympic peninsula, so if that's a priority (and I think it ought to be) then you could/should head south from the airport to Olympia, then out to the coast, then north to Quinault or Hoh along US 101. Note also that there are some magnificent beaches along the national park's coastal strip that are well worth a linger - Ruby Beach, Rialto Beach among the best.
The east side of the peninsula (for your return) is more heavily traveled and while the Hood Canal road (SR 106) is attractive enough, I don't think it compares to the experience of the west side. If you need to get to Sea-Tac from Victoria, you'll need to take the first boat of the morning to PA, then down to the Hood Canal bridge, ferry to Seattle (from Bainbridge Island) without wasting too much time.
Hurricane Ridge is a short drive from Port Angeles. In the area, don't miss Crescent Lake.
Also don't underestimate the crowd factor if your trip is in the height of the summer. Some of these areas (like the coastal strip) have very limited motel/accommodations, so booking ahead, or planning your trip so you can overnight in larger places, like PA or Ocean Shores, is essential.
Apr 27th, 2006, 08:41 PM
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thank you, thank you, gardyloo. i devoured all your info. it's exactly the feedback i was hoping for on my first time using fodor's talk forum. jazzed to get your personal feedback.
our trip is july 18 arrival at sea-tac, depart PA a day or so later, as soon as i determine what how much time we'll take to see and do whatever is worthwhile. have to keep up a certain pace, the 14 year old bores easily, but i do love her.
on your suggestion, i will reorient myself to traveling from sea-tac to pacific coast route, up to PA en route to victoria-- how much time do i need...?...
then i'll plan on eastern route back with NO STOPPING.
have not looked into car rental drop off rates as was still researching flights and reading old fodor's talk threads about this area. you really thing it'd be cheaper to park a rental car for a week in PA rather than do two drop offs? i never rent cars, so i need to look into it. thanks for the heads up.
on return leg of journey, do you think i could i coud bypass the car rental altogether and take floatplane from victoria to seattle and some sort of public transport from terminal to sea-tac? don't know if i can afford it yet, haven't researched any costs for that idea.
the return trip from victoria will begin in tine for whichever july 25 departure from sea-tac i book. er'll do whatever is quickest, even if we have to stay overnight in PA area to be able to a get to sea-tac on time.
will study my AAA map to visualize your suggestions, surf the net for some cottages on west coast and info on beaches you recommended. unfortunately can't take the tent for the two week+ trip, it's just too much baggage.
how long will car trip from sea-tac to PA take if we went up pacific side and didn't stop (even though we will stop to do hoh river entrance and elwah area for olympia hot springs. that takes us right by crescent lake. is the lake a "view from the car" or an actual stop?
hope i can return the favor. thanks again and i look forward to hearing from you again.
corwina
our trip is july 18 arrival at sea-tac, depart PA a day or so later, as soon as i determine what how much time we'll take to see and do whatever is worthwhile. have to keep up a certain pace, the 14 year old bores easily, but i do love her.
on your suggestion, i will reorient myself to traveling from sea-tac to pacific coast route, up to PA en route to victoria-- how much time do i need...?...
then i'll plan on eastern route back with NO STOPPING.
have not looked into car rental drop off rates as was still researching flights and reading old fodor's talk threads about this area. you really thing it'd be cheaper to park a rental car for a week in PA rather than do two drop offs? i never rent cars, so i need to look into it. thanks for the heads up.
on return leg of journey, do you think i could i coud bypass the car rental altogether and take floatplane from victoria to seattle and some sort of public transport from terminal to sea-tac? don't know if i can afford it yet, haven't researched any costs for that idea.
the return trip from victoria will begin in tine for whichever july 25 departure from sea-tac i book. er'll do whatever is quickest, even if we have to stay overnight in PA area to be able to a get to sea-tac on time.
will study my AAA map to visualize your suggestions, surf the net for some cottages on west coast and info on beaches you recommended. unfortunately can't take the tent for the two week+ trip, it's just too much baggage.
how long will car trip from sea-tac to PA take if we went up pacific side and didn't stop (even though we will stop to do hoh river entrance and elwah area for olympia hot springs. that takes us right by crescent lake. is the lake a "view from the car" or an actual stop?
hope i can return the favor. thanks again and i look forward to hearing from you again.
corwina
May 1st, 2006, 10:21 AM
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Olympic Hot Springs are a very well known and heavily visited site-by no stretch of the imagination are they "practically untouched by man." Here's a couple threads about them from another message board if you're interested:
http://tinyurl.com/zqegx
http://tinyurl.com/g8z6q
http://tinyurl.com/zqegx
http://tinyurl.com/g8z6q
May 3rd, 2006, 02:46 PM
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well, they still look nice to me. thanks for the info. my kids may not like it much, but tough tooties, i want to go. unless you can suggest some nicer ones. sol duc looks yucky to me. corwin
