Seattle/Vancouver Trip Planning Help
 

My girlfriend and I are planning a 9-day trip to Seattle and Vancouver for the week of Memorial Day.

In my research so far, I have a rough outline of things we'd like to see/do:

Seattle
- Pike Place Market
- Space Needle / Seattle Center
- Bainbridge Island
- Snoqualmie Falls
- Mt. Rainier (day trip)

Vancouver
- Stanley Park
- Capilano Suspension Bridge
- Whistler (day trip)
- Victoria (day trip)

I realize this is a lot to pack in 8 ~ 9 days. Can we reasonably expect to do all these things?

We plan to have a car with us the whole time. What's the simplest and best way to route the Seattle - Victoria - Vancouver triangle? We're flying into and out of SEA.

Our preliminary itinerary is as follows:

- Fly into SEA on Fri, 5/25. Our flight arrives at night, so this is just a sleeping night.

- Sat, 5/26 in SEA. Seattle sightseeing.

- Sun, 5/27, drive SEA -> YVR.

- Mon - Thu, 5/28 - 5/31, YVR. Vancouver sights. Day trips to Whistler and Victoria.

- Fri, 6/1, drive YVR -> SEA.

- Sat - Sun, 6/2 - 6/3, SEA. Bainbridge Island, Snoqualmie Falls. Day trip to Mt. Rainier.

- Mon, 6/4, departure.

This essentially gives us 2 full days each to exploring Vancouver and Seattle. 3 day trips to Victoria, Whistler, and Mt. Rainier. I figure that since drive time between Seattle and Vancouver is not that long, we could do some additional sightseeing on those days where we see fit.

We are mainly looking for natural beauty and city wandering. Thanks in advance for any help and advice!

Rather than doing a day trip to Victoria from Vancouver and backtracking, I'd take the BC ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, stay the night there, then take the Coho ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, coming back to Seattle via the Olympic Peninsula and Bainbridge Island.

Note that many of the roads into Mt Rainier National Park were damaged by flooding in November. The main road to Paradise is projected to open by May 15 according to the Nat'l Park website, but that may be delayed so be sure to check current status before you drive from Seattle down there.

I would wait to pick up your car until you leave Seattle--that way you won't have to pay for more extra days over a week long rental than necessary, won't have to pay for parking and you'll save close to 10% on taxes by picking it up downtown rather than at the airport--so the savings will outweigh taking a cab from the airport to Seattle your first night.

Hi karmasalad,

Victoria is not an easy day trip from Vancouver. Since you will have a car, you might do better to make a loop of it---Seattle to Vancouver to Victoria, and back via the Coho ferry to the Olympic peninsula. That area is lovely in May, and the route will bring you back via Bainbridge Island. You could add a day on the Olympic Peninsula and omit Mt. Rainier---the road up to Paradise is closed due to storm damage, and not projected to be open until August or so. You could get into the park via the Greenwater entrance, but there will still be a lot of snow around (I've skied up there as late as mid-June!)

NWWanderer and I were posting at the same time! Glad to hear the road to Paradise may open in May. But it's still going to be covered with snow up there Memorial Day weekend. Good for snow play and skiing, but not for wildflower and meadow walks.

Use this to check on conditions at Mount Rainier:

http://www.mount.rainier.national-park.com/

That's a lovely website, but unfortunately it doesn't address the current situation. Under "Activities and Calendar", it says Paradise is "open all year"--no mention of the fact that you can't get there now. And the "Travel Guide" gives driving directions, with no mention of the fact that the road up from the Longmire entrance is closed.

A beetter site for current information is the NPS website:

http://www.nps.gov/mora/parknews/nov...6-flooding.htm

AS NWWanderer mentioned, the projected opening date for the road up to Paradise is May 15---still in time for spring skiing!