Suggeston for Seattle visitors

[tetleytea]

Speaking of Lake Union, the (Bellevue?) Parks dept. puts on some nice guided canoe trips on Saturday mornings. I think they're $10/pp.

[chewap]

Update to last years Thread. The snow pack this year is over 30 feet and still building, therefore the road to Mt St Helens will not be open until sometime in June. Also the Mt Rainier snowpack around Paridise lodge will not melt until Mid August, but the trip to Mt Ranier and Mt St Helen is well worth it any time of the year when the weather is clear.

[hopelea]

We are flying in on May 26 arriving around 12:15 @ SEA. Figure we will be at the Grand Hyatt by 1:30. Any suggestions on what to do for the afternoon/evening? I know we should check out Pikes Place, is it open late?

I need to take the family to the space needle. We also have time to sight see in the AM before we board the ship. Any suggestions on what we should do Saturday morning? Should we wait and do the space needle on Saturday AM? Oh, but we will have all of our luggage. That leads to another question, what should I do with all of our luggage after we check out? What time do most people get to the port to stand in line??? :D

[cwestbrook]

It is a nice drive - you won't find beaches like you would in California or another (warm) coastal state though. You can go through Olympia and see the state capital before you head over to Hwy 101 and follow that to Ocean Shores, Westport and around. You can drive over the bridge right on the coast that connects Washington to Oregon, head east and get back in Washington at Longview and drive up I-5 back to Seattle. You'll pass Mt. St. Helens on the way and if the weather is nice you can stop at a look out area. It's a loooonnnnnggggg drive and you'll want to stop to stretch your legs and walk on the beach in Ocean Shores, climb up the Tsunami look out in Westport....

 

How long does it take?

[chewap]

For those that can't get lodging in Seattle, try Morton or towns around MT Rainier and Mt St Helens which is only a 80 minute drive from SeaTac airport. You can go to Mt St Helens (only 1/2 hour from Morton) which has been erupting since last July and also see the Blast area and the destruction that Mt St Helens caused. You can also visit Mt Rainier National Park and see and hear the moving glaciers up close, plus all of the other sites that the park has to offer.

[momthecruisedirector]

Wow - these are old posts! I'd consider it a full day trip, depending on how many stops you want to make to explore. It's a good six hours drive. If you belong to AAA you can do a triptik - I keep AAA these days just for the 'free' travel information.

[Gardyloo]

On another board a visitor from the UK enquired about conditions for camping/hiking at Mt Rainier, and I looked up the stats on the National Park Service's website - as of yesterday there was still 119 inches of snow on the ground at Paradise on Mt. Rainier (around 7200 feet elev. if memory serves.) I recall that the Johnston Ridge visitors' center at St Helens is around 4000' or a bit lower, so while there's not going to be that much snow around, I wouldn't count on it being bare just yet.

[mimi6]

Has anyone taken the Sightseeing of Seattle tour? It is advertised as a 6 hr tour for approx. $50.

 

Would you recommend this tour or the Duck tour? Thanks for the help.

[DALSAL]

Seattletripadvisor is a great site with lots of info for you... add a . com after that...

[chewap]

Forgot to ask...I read somewhere that Mt Rainer is about 70 miles from Seattle and St Helens was 90...would these be in the same direction so that we might check them both out?? Dot

 

Head SE toward Mt Rainier to the town of Morton

Yes, that is the easy way and closest from Seattle to go and see both Mt St Helens and Mt Rainier

From Morton, Mt St Helens is 28 miles south and Mt Rainier is 10 miles east, if you stay in Morton.

[poohbeargirl06]

Hi. We would love to go to snoqualmie falls but do not want to rent a car. Are there any other options for transportation? The only thing we have found are tours that combine this and a winery which is too much. Thanks for the wonderful info on Seattle!

 

Poohbeargirl06

[Gardyloo]

Hi. We would love to go to snoqualmie falls but do not want to rent a car. Are there any other options for transportation? The only thing we have found are tours that combine this and a winery which is too much. Thanks for the wonderful info on Seattle!

 

Poohbeargirl06

$2.25 and 2 hrs on the bus from downtown Seattle - use this site, put in your hotel's address and "snoqualmie falls" in the to/from boxes. http://tripplanner.metrokc.gov/cgi-bin/itin_page.pl

[chewap]

Update for Mt Rainier. Mt Rainier was hit with a rainstorm in early Nov. 2006 Over 30 inches of rain in a 2 day period. All the roads were destroyed going to Paridise. The Federal govt just authorized $40 million to fix the roads and they say that the roads will be open by May 1st. The snowfall has been heavy with over 1,000 inches of snow since that rainstorm in ealry Nov. If you have a chance this would be the best thing to do when you visit Seattle. See first posting

[44disney]

Thanks for bringing this thread back to life. Is there a place to stay in Morton or elsewhere if we do both Ranier and St. Helens in a loop? Paradise sounds great (remember it from hiking there before our first trip to Alaska in 1992) but advanced reservations aren't likely to work for us. My unknown work schedule is going to force us to randomly pick a day to head out, sometime between 2-12 days before our cruise.

[Gardyloo]

Thanks for bringing this thread back to life. Is there a place to stay in Morton or elsewhere if we do both Ranier and St. Helens in a loop? Paradise sounds great (remember it from hiking there before our first trip to Alaska in 1992) but advanced reservations aren't likely to work for us. My unknown work schedule is going to force us to randomly pick a day to head out, sometime between 2-12 days before our cruise.

They wouldn't work for Paradise anyway as I believe the lodge is closed for remodeling until 2008.

 

Google for Morton lodgings or nearby. Frankly, I'd do MSH as one day trip and Mt Rainier as a second, spending both nights in some place like Tacoma, or else stay in Portland the night before MSH, then overnight in Tacoma before heading to Rainier for the day, then either back to Tacoma or up to Seattle.