I have been trying to quickly throw together my trip for Seattle. I have about 12 tour guide books on Seattle, San Juan Islands, Victoria, Olympic Peninsula and the Pacific NW. I am so confused and need help to decide on the side trip that I would like to take. Everything appears to be worth visiting. Looks like we may be fortunate with our weather--the forecast says it will be sunny until next Friday. We will leave this Sunday (the 20th of Novemerber) and will return Monday the 28th--I have to work only one day (the 21st) and then we are free to do whatever we want. We have never been to Seattle. I don't want to try to squeeze too much in, but then again, I want to maximize our trip. If you had to choose one of the above side trips--say for 2 nights or so--which would you choose and why?

Teo side trips I would personally take are not on your list. They are Lake Crescent for the stunning beauty of the area, and Port Townsend for it's quaintness and charm.

Mine, also not on your list, would include heading over to the North Cascades highway to Wintrop/Mazama area, out to the ocean (Graylands, Long Beach, Ocean Shores) or Whidbey Island.

Well the reality check must be (a) any out-of-town travel the weekend following Thanksgiving is going to be pretty hectic, especially if ferries are involved; (b) the weather is not all that predictable, and if it's not raining this time of year there is a high chance of fog instead; and (c) a couple of unique problems have cropped up recently, most especially the reduction of Interstate 90 over the Cascades to one lane in each direction, caused by rock slides that have revealed very unstable mountainsides above the highway.

Now, it's not Thanksgiving week in Canada (theirs is earlier) so Vancouver or Victoria might be good ideas, with the caveat that returning to the US across the mainland border will be a zoo throughout the weekend of the 26th/27th - as in, figure a couple of hours' delay, exacerbated by ski folk returning from Whistler (it's one of the earliest ski seasons in years).

So... where does that leave you?

Olympic Peninsula - the north shore (Pt Townsend, Port Angeles, Crescent Lake) tends to be drier than most other areas, and can be reached by road in a pinch (via Tacoma and the bridge) if the Seattle ferries are backed up. If the weather cooperates you can take the Coho ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria for a daytrip; if not you can still find things to do on the Peninsula. Even the rain forest areas (Hoh in particular) and the best Olympic National Park beaches (Ruby, Rialto...) are reachable in a couple of hours from Port Angeles or Lake Crescent, so, again, if the weather's okay, a trip out to the coast can be done in a day, using PA or vicinity as a base.

Or, heading south, you could aim for the Columbia Gorge and Portland areas, both of which are truly worth seeing, even at this time of year.

Or, except for the busiest days (23rd, 27th) you could just do day trips from Seattle - Whidbey Island is an easy and fun altenative to the San Juans, and much cheaper and quicker, or Vashon Island (accessible from West Seattle) which will still have some good autumn color (as does the city at the moment, BTW.)

The Tiffany exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum is very good; the Museum of Glass in Tacoma is fun, the Museum of Flight in Seattle is a must-see IMO, there are a ton of great movies, a ton of restaurant specials, good theatre, good (well, not yet) basketball... You could find lots of in-city activities to balance out day trips into the country.

Or, say two nights on the Peninsula, and the rest in the city. Yeah, that's it.

I have gone to all those places and I would choose Victoria or the Olympic Penn, but it depends what you are interseted in. If you want to hike and be outdoors...no city stuff, then go to ONP. The Lake Quinault Lodge is where we stayed. There is a nice ferry ride from Washington to Victoria...we went in November and saw whales and seals...it was really fun. We stayed at the Empress and really enjoyed the beauty or Victoria and Vancouver Island.

I also love the San Juan Islands, camped there one year in June. We saw loads of Orca whales, but I don't know what it's like there this time of year.

Other places I've gone on side trips in Seattle are Bainbridge Island (Bloedel Reserve is lovely), Mt. Rainier (I think some parts will be closed by then), Vancouver and LaConner (tulips are amazing in spring). My mom loves Whidbey Island, but I've never been.

Gardyloo, thank you for the correction and clarification... my bad suggestion sending anyone over the North Cascades right now.

How about taking the Victoria Clipper round-trip to Victoria and staying over one night. That trip would be less ruined by bad weather than many of the other ideas.

Although, I do really enjoy going down to the ocean in the wintertime (~3 hour drive head toward Olympia then thru Aberdeen and onward), the Washington coast is not as spectacular as Oregon, but I love it nonetheless.

^^^

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions.
I am thinking of staying in either Port Townsend or Port Angeles as a base--which is more charming or makes the most sense?
I guess I have ruled out doing the San Juan Islands and Victoria for now as I do get sea sick quite easily.

Port Townsend is charming but Port Angeles is much better situated for visiting the Olympic NP. Vancouver--140 miles north of Seattle--is a fascinating city in a spectacular natural setting.

If you go to the Olympic Peninsula, don't miss Hurricane Ridge (find out about road conditions first, though). Port Townsend is the nicer town with better accomodations, but it is an hour further from the park.

Now, I don't get seasick, and so I am not the expert on the subject, but I haven't heard of anyone getting seasick on the Washington state ferries through the San Juans to either the islands or to Sydney (from which you would drive to Victoria). The boats are so big and the water isn't rough-does this still disqualify those destinations? I have heard about seasickness on the (small) Victoria Clipper.

You don't say where you're coming from... and that is important for what would seem most unique to you.

If you're from far away and far south, then consider staying mainstream with a 150-mile drive NORTH to VANCOUVER, Canada.

NOTE: IF you are traveling TO CANADA, you MUST bring your BIRTH CERTIFICATE and Driver's License, mostly for re-entry into the USA.

Some of the drive north is really attractive, and if you want to improve it, try "Chuckanut Drive", which would take you off the main freeway (interstate 5) at about exit 230 or 231 (60 miles N of Seattle)... and then on back roads to Bellingham.

Vancouver is gorgeous, even from the middle of downtown, in most every direction. It is relatively easy to get to vs. many other options, and weather wouldn't really matter or hinder you too much.

Consider...