kgb727

We are flying from Atlanta to Seattle July 21-30. I wanted to get advice on our itinerary and see if we should change anything. We really wanted to be able to see Victoria or San Juan Islands but I don't know if there will be time. Also, is there a whale watching tour that anyone recommends? It looks like most of them are close to 5 hours and we were hoping for a shorter option.

Thurs 7/21: fly to Seattle, land at 10am and explore Seattle
Fri 7/22: Seattle in morning, drive to Lake Quinault Lodge and stay there
Sat 7/23: ONP, stay at Lake Crescent Lodge
Sun 7/24: ONP, stay at Lake Crescent Lodge
Mon 7/25: drive or ferry to Vancouver
Tuesday 7/26: Vancouver
Wed 7/27: Vancouver/whistler (stay in whistler)
Thurs 7/28: Vancouver
Fri 7/29: Seattle
Sat 7/30: fly home from Seattle

Let me know if we are spending too much time or not enough time in a certain place. We have never been before and are trying to see as much as possible without rushing around too quickly. Thank you!

tomfuller

You don't want or need a US based rental car in Canada IMO.
Late Sunday afternoon, drive the 3 hours back to SeaTac and trade the car back in. Spend Sunday night somewhere in Seattle near the King Street station (near Century Link field).
Take the Amtrak bus #8948 from the station at 10:45AM.
Customs is usually quick and easy and you will be in Vancouver before 3PM.
There is public transportation out to Whistler from Vancouver.

kgb727

Ok that is good to know, thank you!

Do you think we have time to do a whale watching cruise at some point? We really would like to see whales if the cruises are worth the time and money during this time of year.

garyt22

Keep the rental car... Tom is a train guy, and it's not as easy or cheap to use public transportation in strange cities, especially when traveling across international borders and carrying luggage around... Why would you want to drive back to SeaTac to dump a rental car and the take a bus, when you can just drive to Canada...?

Gardyloo

Lake Crescent to Vancouver - drive to Port Townsend and take the ferry to Coupeville on Whidbey Island. You'll need to book ahead as this is a small ferry - https://secureapps.wsdot.wa.gov/Ferr...e/default.aspx

Drive north from the ferry dock (stop in Coupeville itself - cute) on WA 20, stopping at Deception Pass State Park - amazing views, incredible if you're there at tide change. Then follow WA 20 back to the mainland, then take Chuckanut Drive (WA 11) into the historic Fairhaven district of Bellingham before connecting to Interstate 5 and on to the border. Map - https://goo.gl/maps/8zyK4Vicg7B2

Allow a full day for this terrific drive.

Be sure you let the rental car people know you're taking it into Canada - no big deal.

Kathie

Whale watching cruises take time. If you don't have the time for it, skip it. Is it worthwhile? I expect if you see whales you'll say yes, if you don't see whales, you'll say no. No guarantees.

kgb727

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I think we will skip the whale watching tour for now based on the amount of time it will take.

Gardyloo, thank you for the driving route. It looks like a beautiful drive and we are looking forward to it.

If anyone else has any restaurant suggestions or things to do, feel free to share. Thanks!

Luciaroo

I am also interested in suggestions for our trip July 9-16. There will be 5 of us - my husband, myself, and our 12 year old son are flying to Seattle - meeting my daughter and her boyfriend who will be driving from Colorado - they are in their 20's. We are thinking of either renting a car big enough for all of us (my daughter's car won't work for all of us) or we are thinking of renting an RV and skipping hotels. We are mostly interested in hiking and all the various park and rainforest areas - there are so many it's hard to choose!

So far I'm thinking - spend the day in Seattle on July 9 (we arrive very early) - drive to either Vancouver or Victoria that night (or ferry?) - but then I'm not sure how much time to spend in what places - and we don't totally want to skip all city sites - just not primarily interested in that.

If we rent an RV, will it be difficult to find camp grounds this close to our trip? Should we make reservations or just wing it?

These driving routes - or some combination of them look interesting:

http://www.hellobc.com/driving-route...cle-route.aspx
http://www.hellobc.com/driving-route...cle-route.aspx
http://www.hellobc.com/driving-route...to-tofino.aspx

Any suggestions from people familiar with the area would be great!