My husband and I are planning a trip out to Washington in the middle of August. We are planning about 8 nights/7 days ,although that is somewhat flexible, and I would like to get some feedback on my current ideas about the itinerary. We will fly into Seattle and spend at least two days there. Then we will drive to Port Townsend and spend a day in the Olympic National Park (is it better to stay in Port Angeles?. From there we have two options: 1) we could take a ferry over to Victoria and stay over there a night or head to the San Juan Islands, or 2) we can head south to through the southern Cascades through Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens. We need to end up just below Mt St. Helens in the Columbia River Valley where we are meeting friends on Day 5. We will spend two nights there and then leave out of Portland. Any comments are suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We are into hiking but also love to walk around little towns and sight see. Last question...would we really be missing out if we only flew out of Portland and did not take the time to explore it? Thank you!!

Alison

ttt

So if I have it right, your itinerary is as follows:

Days 1 & 2, Seattle
Day 3, Olympic NP, overnight Port Townsend or Port Angeles
Days 4 and 5, en route to Columbia R. area south of Mt St Helens (I presume on the west side of the mountains rather than the east side; the Columbia passes through the mountains via the Columbia Gorge)
Days 6-8, around the Columbia River with friends
Day 7 or 8, leave from PDX.
Is that right?

If so, you have two nights to use up, plus you need to get from the Olympic Peninsula to say, Longview/Kelso or some such.

If that's so, then I think you ought to eliminate Victoria from the running right away, reason being it's a major hassle getting back into the US from Canada unless you take a ferry back to PA or through the San Juans, both of which are very crowded and infrequent service in peak summer periods. Scenic to be sure, but they'll consume more time than I'll bet you'd like to spend.

If you were to pass on Mt. Rainier you could, if you wanted to, still get some pretty decent mountain-scenery-with-old-lodge time by spending an afternoon on Mt. Hood once you've linked up with your friends. The Columbia Gorge between Portland and Hood River is very scenic, and the valley and roads between Hood River and Mt. Hood are beautiful. Mt. St. Helens is also an easy day trip from the Portland/Vancouver area, so that could also be added, or substituted, for a mountain high.

So my suggestion is a third choice, one you didn't list. Visit more of Olympic National Park, especially the Pacific coastal side, and loop around to Portland via the Long Beach peninsula and the lower Columbia.

The closest part of Olympic NP you can see from Port Townsend or Port Angeles is Hurricane Ridge, just inland from Port Angeles. This is lovely but it's only one aspect of the park.

On the Pacific strip of ONP, a couple of hours west of PA, are a couple of the most beautiful rocky beaches imaginable - Rialto and Ruby Beaches (get a map). You should also experience the Olympic Rain Forest in the Quinault or Hoh valleys (preferably both); these offer great hiking through eerie and wonderful forest, probably some big critters (elk) and a unique experience in North America. There are accommodations at Kalaloch and Quinault, or you can go on down to the Ocean Shores area (outside the park hence more commercial).

From there continue south on the western part of US 101 (it loops the peninsula) to the Long Beach peninsula, stopping if you like along Willapa Bay. Long Beach itself is a funky seaside taffy sort of place; up the road is Nahcotta, with the famous Ark restaurant, then a bit further the historic town of Oysterville, built on the harvest of...

From there, the highway heads down to Astoria (take the bridge back and forth over the mouth of the river just to get a sense of the immensity of the big river), then Washington SR4 hugs the north bank of the Columbia through some historic villages (try Puget Island for a cute covered bridge) until it links up with I-5 at Longview, which happens to be - ta da - where you wanted to get in the first place.

Thus the itinerary would go like this -
Day 3, overnight Port Townsend (much cuter than PA) - go via the Mukilteo ferry to Whidbey Island, then the Port Townsend ferry. Stop in Langley while you're on Whidbey - killer cute village.

Day 4, tour Hurricane Ridge and the beaches (full day); overnight somewhere along the coast - Lake Quinault Lodge would be my first pick - funky but amazing location.

Day 5, visit the rain forest valleys, take a spin over the river, and end up linking up with your pals. Another long day, but, like the previous one, well worth the time.

Psyasc, I agree with Gardyloo, you've got to do some picking and choosing. I have a different proposal though.

Do your two days in Seattle (though I'd recommend cutting that one day, since your time is so limited- if you have that choice).
Day three, go from Seattle to Victoria on the high speed ferry (walk-on). Spend two nights in Victoria.
Day five, return early to Seattle and make your way to Longmire or Paradise Lodge on Mt. Rainier. Spend as much time there as you can before joining your friends. (Preferably two nights, but one will have to do if you run out of time.) On Rainier, take a hike with a ranger near Paradise; visit Paradise lodge, visit Ohanapakosh with its old growth forests, see Sunrise if Paradise is clouded in (it's also spectacular and on the sunny side, if Paradise is clouded).
Mt St. Helens requires one day also. And seeing the Gorge takes a good day, also. The Mt. Hood loop is nice, but Mt. Rainier is in a different class than Mt. Hood.
Then Portland and you'll have spent a busy and varied week.

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate your suggestions.

Any other suggestions?