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Oregon, Washington, British Columbia

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timthedeac

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Never been to the pacific northwest and thinking of planning a trip there for the summer. There's way more that I'd want to do than I'd have time for in just one trip. Pit, give me your must sees and must dos.
 
I lived there 5 years. A lot will depend on what cities you will be in, transportation, and how long you are willing to drive. Some very vague highlights while I was there.

Washington:
Mt. Rainier National Park (Hike or just visit, unbelievably gorgeous)
San Juan Islands (Specifically, Canoeing with the killer whales and sailing)
Pikes Market: First Starbucks there as well
Space Needle: If you are there, why not.
Jimmy Hendrix Experience
Mariners Game: awesome park, right next to downtown.
Sounders Game: Won't find an atmosphere that energetic about Soccer in the US
Salmon Fishing, If you are there at the right part of the year

Eateries (all in Seattle)
Seastar (Best Seafood resturant I've ever been to)
Saltys on Alki Beach (The best Sunday brunch you will ever have)
The Metopolitan Grill (My favorite Steak spot in the US.)
For Atmosphere, Waterfront Seafood Grill. Fish is better at Seastar though.

Portland:
Powell's Bookstore - Largest Bookstore in the world.
Amazing Micro Breweries, and a lot of them
 
For how long can you go and what month? From what I understand, Mt. Ranier NP and presumably Whistler are best in late July/early August, when the snowpack is at minimum and wildflowers are at peak. If you're going earlier, you might want to prioritize the beaches and coastal forests.

I'd probably prioritize Olympic National Park above all else. As they say, it's like three parks in one -- rainforests, mountains, and coast. The variety is pretty incredible, so you can see a lot in a shorter period of time then say, hitting Cannon Beach for the coast and Mt Rainer for the mountains.

There are tough choices to make because there's probably 6 weeks worth of stuff to see. Roughly from south to north:

Southern Oregon Coast (Bandon Beach area)
Crater Lake NP
Northern Oregon Coast (Cannon Beach area)
Portland
Columbia River Gorge
Mt Hood
Seattle
Mt Rainer NP
Olympic National Park
San Juan Islands
Victoria BC
Vancouver
Whistler
Pacific Rim NP

A few years ago I did a 2 week driving trip from San Francisco (1 day)->California Redwoods (2 day)->Oregon Coast (3 days)->Portland/Columbia River Gorge(2 days)->Olympic National Park (4 days)->Seattle (1 day). It was awesome. If I had to cut it to one week I'd probably do Portland/Gorge (2 days)->Olympic NP (4 days)->Seattle (1 or 2 days).
 
Spend a day in Victoria.

Echo San Juan Islands.

Lots of things to do in and around Vancouver.
 
faxmachineanthem said:
For how long can you go and what month? From what I understand, Mt. Ranier NP and presumably Whistler are best in late July/early August, when the snowpack is at minimum and wildflowers are at peak. If you're going earlier, you might want to prioritize the beaches and coastal forests.

I'd probably prioritize Olympic National Park above all else. As they say, it's like three parks in one -- rainforests, mountains, and coast. The variety is pretty incredible, so you can see a lot in a shorter period of time then say, hitting Cannon Beach for the coast and Mt Rainer for the mountains.

There are tough choices to make because there's probably 6 weeks worth of stuff to see. Roughly from south to north:

Southern Oregon Coast (Bandon Beach area)
Crater Lake NP
Northern Oregon Coast (Cannon Beach area)
Portland
Columbia River Gorge
Mt Hood
Seattle
Mt Rainer NP
Olympic National Park
San Juan Islands
Victoria BC
Vancouver
Whistler
Pacific Rim NP

A few years ago I did a 2 week driving trip from San Francisco (1 day)->California Redwoods (2 day)->Oregon Coast (3 days)->Portland/Columbia River Gorge(2 days)->Olympic National Park (4 days)->Seattle (1 day). It was awesome. If I had to cut it to one week I'd probably do Portland/Gorge (2 days)->Olympic NP (4 days)->Seattle (1 or 2 days).
Click to expand...

Definitely forgot the Oregon Coast. Amazing.
 
No love for my old stomping ground Bend, Oregon? Very cool area, but not easy to get too. 3+ hours from Portland over the Cascades.

As another poster said, Crater Lake is cool.
 
Buttermaker said:
No love for my old stomping ground Bend, Oregon? Very cool area, but not easy to get too. 3+ hours from Portland over the Cascades.

As another poster said, Crater Lake is cool.
Click to expand...

Drove through it once....yep, that's about it. ;-)
 
This thread is only increasing my desire to do a vacation out that way. I've been wanting to do that for about 7 years now.
 
was talking to someone about a train that runs up the coast from SF to Vancouver with stops in Portland and Seattle. really want to do that at some point.
 
This summer I will hit the critical point where I've officially lived in Oregon longer than I lived in North Carolina. Crazy stuff. If you need ideas of things to do in the Pac NW, hit me up. Like several people have already said, there are enough attractions here to keep you busy for months (or years), so if you're only planning a short trip you'll need to budget the hell out of your time.
 
Agreed on budgeting time. Let me know if you want some Portland restaurant recs. I wrote a pretty good recap for someone a few months ago, I'll forward the PM if i can find it.
 
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