Highlights of Washington State

United States | Washington

Highlights of Washington State

Welcome to Washington! On this trip you will visit Washington state’s most famous city, Seattle, and travel along part of the Olympic Peninsula, visit the beautiful San Juan Islands, and head to Mount Ranier, the tallest mountain in Washington. The tour takes 9 days and requires a rental car.

Transportation: car

Length: 10 days (suggested ways to make it shorter below)

Guide Book: Fodors Pacific Northwest

Day 1 – Seattle

Day 2 – Seattle

Day 3 – Mount Ranier

Day 4 – Quinault and Ruby Beach

Day 5 – Olympic National Park

Day 6 – Mount Storm King and Port Townsend

Day 7 – Whidbey Island

Day 8 – Orcas Island

Day 9 – Orcas Island

Day 10 – Seattle

  • Ferry to Anacortes (1h30 min ferry)
  • Drive to Seattle (1h30 drive)
  • Fly home

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 – Seattle

Welcome to Washington! From the airport grab the Arrive at your hotel and walk over to Pike Market and Pioneer square. Grab lunch along the way – recommendations include Country Dough or the deli at DeLaurenti Food & Wine, or for seafood head to Market Grill in the Main Arcade where you can try the region’s clam chowder or blackened salmon sandwich.

It’s Seattle, so you must drink coffee. The original Starbucks is located on Pike Place, and while it’s the oldest Starbucks in the world and has some old-school decor, it’s still at Starbucks. Instead, go to Storyville Coffee in the Corner Market Building or Ghost Alley Espresso with its disgustingly famous Gum Wall.

At Pioneer square consider the quirky Underground Seattle tour where you can learn about how the city was once lower and a new city sprung up on top of it. It’s entertaining and historical.

Live it up tonight and have dinner at the remarkable Art of the Table. We suggest adding the wine pairing because it was so good (best take an Uber or cab as it’s 7 courses and 7 flights of wine).

For lodging, it’s a good idea to stay downtown which gives you more access to restaurants, bars, and the downtown Seattle city vibe. Consider Hotel Andra, Inn at the Market, or Arctic Club which all are considered boutique hotels but in a great location. A more hum drum option is the Hyatt Regency Seattle which is also in a great locale (night 1/1).

Day 2 – Seattle

Today we recommend visiting the fantastic Chihuly Museum and Gardens. The museum is not large but the art is stunning and the gardens are beautiful. Chihuly is a Washington-born artist famous for his glass works. The museum offers a series of movies showing how the massive glass creations are made. Depending when you’re there, you can also see a demonstration of glass blowing.

Chihuly museum

From here consider heading over to the Ballard Locks and fish ladder. It’s interesting to watch the boats traversing the elevation change from the ocean to Union lake some 15 feet higher. Then wander over to the fish ladder – set up with glass so you can see the salmon making their way upstream to spawn.

By now it’s likely lunch time and Ballard is a cute neighborhood of Seattle with quite a few places to eat, we recommend Ballard Annex Oyster house. If you’re there on Sunday, visit the farmer’s market downtown.

If you aren’t interested in Salmon migration, other diversions include nearby Discovery park, the largest park in Seattle that offers great views, the lovely Lake Washington Arboretum, the iconic Space Needle, and/ or the REI flagship store – one of the best places anywhere to stock up on your outdoor gear for your next adventure.

In the mid to late afternoon drive to Mount Ranier National Park (1h45 drive). Either grab sandwhiches in Portland in anticipation of your hike the next day, or you can some groceries on the way up the mountain at Gateway Inn at Mount Rainier or Ashford Valley Grocery.

Grab dinner at Paradise Inn Dining Room, while you enjoy watching the sun set over the mountain.

For lodging we strongly recommend Paradise Inn which is actually designated one of the “Great Lodges of the West” and is perfectly situated for all of your hiking. Make sure you make your reservation extremely early. If that’s full you can try National Park Inn (night 1/2). Try and stay within the park if at all possible.

Day 3 – Mount Rainier

Today is your day to explore Mount Rainier and all the scenic beauty the mountain has to offer. After breakfast we recommend venturing out on the 5.5 mile Skyline Trail.

Skyline Trail is one of the most quintessential hiking trails in the whole of Washington State. It circumnavigates the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park and offers amazing scenery of wildflowers, lakes, and the Nisqually Glacier. On a clear day at Panorama Point (about 1/2 way around) you can see Mount Saint Helens, Mount Adams, and Mount Hood.

If you’re still up for more hiking after, you can try nearby Alta Vista Trail or visit Myrtle Falls. There are tons of hikes in the National Park and with additional time or inclination you can drive to more trailheads like Naches Peak Loop or Glacier Basin Trail.

Enjoy dinner again at Paradise Inn Dining Room or try something new at National Park Inn Dining Room.

Day 4 – Quinault and Ruby Beach

Say goodbye to the mountains and head to Washington’s capital, Olympia (2h11 drive).

Olympia is a beautiful city with a growing culinary scene, so it’s a perfect place for lunch a great way to break up your drive. Try The Bread Peddler, Dockside Bistro, or Fish Tale Brew Pub.

If you need to stretch your legs wander along the waterfront and Percival Landing Park, wander 222 Market Place’s culinary scene, or take a self guided coffee tour and re-caffeinate for the rest of your drive.

Drive to Quinalt Lake located in a dense rainforest (1h40 drive). There is an old resort which is cute, a scenic loop drive around the lake to some falls on the Quinalt river and a short walk in the rain forest (not very interesting but fine if you want to stretch your legs).

Next stop at Ruby Beach. The beach was named for red crystals that wash up on the sand – you may not see many of those but the beach is really spectacular.

You’ve got some options for lodging. We actually recommend you stay near Ruby beach at Kalaloch Lodge for a few reasons: 1) you can enjoy the sunset from Ruby beach, 2) it offers the best dining in the area, 3) it’s already a fairly long day of driving and this shortens it. However, you do have some other options including Misty Valley Inn B&B or Miller Tree Inn B&B in Forks itself, Hoh Valley Cabins, or Sul Duc Cabins depending on how far you feel like driving today versus tomorrow. They each have pros and cons.

If you’re staying at Kalaloch (or it’s near dinnertime) eat at Creekside Restaurant. If you’re staying in cabins, you can cook. There is a Safeway in Seaside (near Cannon Beach) you can stop at early in the day. If you’re staying in Forks, there aren’t a lot of great options, but Pacific Pizza was ok.

Ruby Beach

Day 5 – Olympic National Park

We recommend a hike today in one of of the Olympic Penninsula and Park’s rainforests. Depending on where you decide to stay, your driving time will be different. You have two options that we recommend: the Hoh Valley Hike (up to 10 miles round trip, can turn around when you wish – it’s virtually flat) or the Deer Lake Trail (about 6 miles total in an out, more strenuous). You’ll be able to enjoy the lush temperate rainforest in either overrunning with and green with ferns and moss.

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Olympic National Park Rain Forest

Once you’ve stretched your legs, you can take an optional soak in the Sol Duc hot springs right outside of the Deer Lake Hike (but can do with either). Then get back in the car, driving until you get to the turn off for Hurricane Ridge (1h33 drive from Sol Duc). You will wind up to a beautiful alpine meadow with amazing views of snow-capped mount Olympus (and end up in Olympic National Park proper). There are some short, well-marked hikes in from up here. From here continue on to charming victorian Port Townsend (1h35 drive from Hurricane Ridge).

Port Townsend is full of hotels from the late 1800s, many festivals, and great restaurants. It’s one of the prettiest towns in Washington. For Dinner consider Alchemy Bistro and wine baror Silverwater Cafe. Stay at the lovely Old Consulate Inn, a Victorian Mansion on beautiful property with views of Puget Sound (night 1/2).

Hurricane Ridge Olympic NP

Day 6 – Mount Storm King and Port Townsend

You can skip this day if you’re short on time and go directly to day number 7. However, if you have the time we thought this was a lovely additional day to spend along the Olympic Peninsula.

Start today by grabbing coffee and a pastry at Seal Dog Coffee Bar, an extremely friendly joint with fantastic morning beverage options. If something catches your eye for lunch, grab it here to bring on your hike. If not, try and hit a grocery store along the way for picnic supplies.

Now it’s time to get back in the car and backtrack about 1.5 hours to Mount Storm King. Yes, you could re-work this to stay in Port Angeles or at a cabin near Mount Storm King, but we loved Port Townsend and, while we don’t like backtracking generally, liked the way we did this.

Mount Storm King Hike is in Olympic National Park and one of our favorites in the state of Washington. While it is pretty relentlessly uphill via switchbacks, at the end you’ll be rewarded with incredible views of Crescent Lake,the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Canada in the distance. Allow about 1/2 a day for this hike and enjoy lunch at the very top. Make sure you bring water. We were fine doing this hike in just tennis shoes but if you have hiking boots, today is the day to pull them out.

Once you finish, head back to Port Townsend. Spend the afternoon visiting the town’s shops, art galleries, and enjoy wandering along the Victorian houses. In the summer there are often lots of festivals that come through. Grab an ice cream at Elevated Ice Cream.

Pick the restaurant you didn’t try the previous night fo dinner, either Alchemy Bistro or Silverwater Cafe. Lodging is the same as last night.

Day 7 – Whidbey Island

Today includes a leisurely drive and a couple of ferry rides as you make your way from Port Townsend up to Orcas Island. The Washington State marine highway system makes travel around Puget Sound and across all those waterways easy, but the ferries can get busy and you MUST have reservations in advance if you don’t want to wait around all day to get on a boat.

A quick note on how the reservations work. There’s no fee to make a reservation, but there’s a $10 no-show fee if you don’t make your reserved sailing. A reservation is also not a ticket. If you have not checked in (being in line to check is not enough) at the ferry terminal 30 minutes before the scheduled sailing time, they will give away your reservation, and you’ll have to join the standby line. If there isn’t room on the boat, you won’t get on. So be sure to leave enough time to get through the check-in process. We found the terminal at Port Townsend to be pretty quiet, but the Anacortes terminal was crowded, and we almost missed our boat.

Drive up to the booth at the ferry terminal and give them your name if you already have a reservation. We recommend taking a morning ferry to get to Coupeville before lunch.

Port Townsend WA

The first ferry leaves from Port Townsend and arrives at Whidbey Island (about 30 minutes). Unload at Whidbey Island and from there it’s a short drive to Coupeville (about 15 minutes). Coupeville is a cute town on the water and a great stop for lunch, we recommend The Oystercatcher or Current’s Bistro. If you have time, you might also consider a glass of wine or a flight at Vail Wine Shop and Tasting Room or local ice cream at Kapaws Iskreme.

Drive north, stopping at the iron bridge across Deception Pass in Deception Pass State Park. Watch where water rushes through the narrow gap between Whidbey and the mainland – sort of like rapids. There are often a bunch of boats and people fishing just beyond the gap, waiting for the salmon swimming through. There are also trails in the Deception Pass State Park and some nice beaches if you want to stretch your legs. From here drive north to Anacortes and get on your second ferry to Orcas Island.

Once you arrive in Orcas we recommend staying either in Westsound at Cabins on the Point or Eastsound at Salish Seaside Escapes (night 1/3).  Eastsound is full of great restaurants, or there are a few supermarkets in downtown Eastsound (a full grocery store and co-op) where you can pick up food to cook at your lodging. If you’re eating out you can’t miss Hogstone (and it’s truly gourmet farm-to-table pizzas) at least one night of the trip. Other great options include Aelder, Doe Bay Cafe, Kingfish, Island Skillet, and Buck Bay Shellfish. Consider making a reservation as they typically fill up quickly in the summer.

Day 8 – Orcas Island

Enjoy a full day exploring Orcas Island. Orcas is a gorgeous island in the San Juan Island group. There’s a lot of activities – whale watching (with guaranteed sightings), sea kayaking, and hiking are among the most popular. A whole section of the Island is given over to Moran State Park – which has several nice lakes, miles of hikes, and a nice drive to Constitution Mountain with great views around the region. We’ll give you time to do all, however you can cut out one of the days to shorten your trip.

Start your day at Brown Bear Baking. We love bakeries and this is in the top 2 that we have ever visited.

Next head to whale watching at Deer Harbor. This company takes small groups out with guaranteed sitings (if you don’t see it today, you can come back tomorrow for free). They are environmentally friendly and ecosystem conscious which is an extra bonus. Learn a lot about the orcas for which the island is named while seeing the beautiful creatures in the sea. Take a morning tour to have the afternoon free.

In the afternoon, rent a kayak (you can do this from Deer Harbor) or if you’re staying at Cabins at the Point kayaks are included. You can paddle around the bay or island. Deer Harbor also offers guided tours if you prefer.

Before dinner get drinks at Barnacles. These drinks are superb and inventive (and if you like G&Ts, it’s the best we’ve ever had). They also have food, so if you want to do dinner here it’s a great option. If not head to one of the restaurants you haven’t yet tried.

Sunset from Orcas Island

Day 9 – Orcas Island

You can skip this day if you’re short on time.

We can’t help it, we love Brown Bear Baking, but you could also try Roses Bakery Cafe for breakfast.

Next head to Moran State Park. Drive up Constitution Mountain for a fantastic view of the surrounding islands. We enjoyed the twin lakes trail, however there are many options. Grab a parking ticket from any of the electronic machines (at Constitution Mountain parking too). If you’re in the mood to swim and picnic, stop at Mountain Lake.

After your hike head to Orcas Island Pottery to view an incredibly (and very very large) collection of stunning pottery made right on the island.

For pre-dinner drinks, Island Hoppin’ Brewing is fun and you can try local brews and wine. If you hate beer, Orcas Island Winery is in a stunning location.

For dinner, cook at your lodgings or try one of the restaurants from the night before.

Day 10 – Seattle to Home

Get up and head over to the ferry and catch a ride to Anacortes (get reservations ahead of time). Aim for a morning ferry to get to Seattle midday. The ferry is about an hour and a half and it’s about another hour and a half drive to Seattle from the Anacortes ferry terminal.

Head to the airport, drop your rental car, and bid Washington farewell.

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