Has anyone taken Bolt bus from Seattle to Portland for a day?? (Tacoma: transplants)

[annonymous0381]

Last weekend i took a bus from Everett to Leavenworth for one night. Leavenworth was a lovely Bavarain town with not much to do.

I have lived in northgate seattle for 3 years and havent seen much outside of Seattle,kirkland,bellevue and Lynnwood.

Im thinking about for my next trip taking Bolt Bus from international district seattle to downtown portland. The last time i was in Portland was 10 years ago.

Would portland be too far for a daytrip and not an overnight??

My cousin and her husband and baby may be moving from Napa,California to the portland area. Thats another reason im curious.

Boltbus is faster than amtrak or greyhound because beetween seattle and portland they make no stops at all.

[Michie1]

I don't know about the Bolt Bus but we are Napa transplants now living in Vancouver,Wa=love it Welcome, welcome

[AleeGee]

I would LOVE for you to go to Portland and then post on CityData what you saw in Portland, because I heard on KIRO that their homeless situation is becoming an adversarial situation between the business owners & the homeless. I heard they're attacking employees and business owners as they go into work. WHAT???? No ****, I heard this on KIRO from a guy that owns a Sorel store, you know those fur-lined duck boots? He said one of his employees was threatened with a knife while coming to work. Our homeless street-sleepers back away in the daytime and respect(for the most part) the business of the day.
Bolt makes several trips a day to P-land. You can go there and back in one day but you'll probably be getting home at midnight.
Post in the Seattle forum if you would please. I'd like to hear what's goin on down there.

[rjshae]

I was curious and took a look at the schedule. On Saturday the earliest bus arrives at 10am in Portland, and the last departure is 6:30pm. Is eight hours enough time, give that you'll need to get around Portland as well?

[leastprime]

It's a little better Greyhound. Nicer seats. Has a slow Wi-Fi but it's free. Also has 115 plugs for charging.
It's frequent, centrally located in Seattle but a few blocks from Portland's light rail.
Order seats early. It's demand pricing up to about $30 for next day travel. The bus may have delayed leave time in Seattle bc bus may be a continuation from Vancouver BC. Likewise leave Portland maybe a continuation from Eugene.

I normally take the Amtrak Cascades. Normally safe and leaves On time, faster wifi, less crowded, tables, a bistro car. Many toilets. Train 3.5 hrs vs bus 3.25 hours. I've been delayed on both Amtrak and Boltbus. You won't know the delay much on the train because you can walk the train. Demand pricing but 14 day advanced purchase is typically $25/coach (4 seat across), expensive for next day travel, and more for business class (3 seat across and 1 car away from bistro car). Nice view of the Tacoma narrows for at least 3 weeks. Nicer clientel. Seattle Cascade trains originate in Seattle except for Vancouver #513 am train.

[Ruth4Truth]

I've done the Amtrak trip, too. It would be a lot more comfortable than the bus, OP, for close to the same travel time. But why not wait until your cousin moved to Portland, so you might have a place to stay overnight? Or a place to crash, if you get tired after a few hours of roaming around downtown?

[Kayela]

Highly recommend Powell's and the Chinese garden - even in winter it's lovely, and it has a great teahouse. I could probably spend 8 hours just in those two. Portland also has one of the most amazing Japanese gardens I've ever visited, but it's a bit more of a hike.

You can do it in a day, but it's a long day. Personally I don't find riding in any bus to be pleasant, but if you can sleep on one that would help.

[DutchessCottonPuff]

My daughter taks the Bolt Bus regularly and has for a few years now to see frieds in Portland . She loves it and its as comfortable as the train . It's all the same . My husband has taken it a few times too to get to Portland for work .