Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area
 [Register]
Seattle area Seattle and King County Suburbs
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-16-2010, 01:01 PM
 
10 posts, read 38,567 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

Hi all,
My sister and I visiting Seattle for the first time in mid-march, and I'm trying to plan our days there. We are staying at the Westin downtown (all accommodations can be changed, so I'm open to other suggestions). I booked a seaplane tour of the San Juan Islands via Kenmore Air and have a list of places we'd like to see in the city (ie Pike Place, Pioneer Sq., Experience Music Project). I figured we could do the city stuff in two days- sound about right? I am really interested in getting out of town to one of the National Parks or other suggested areas where I can take plenty of pictures and enjoy the beautiful scenery. I know mid-march is not ideal for this, but based on the time of year, does anyone have any suggestions for us? I was thinking of renting a car and do not mind driving. Anything else you think we should do? We will be there a total of 4 and a half days.

Here's a very rough list of some options we have come across

1. Seattle Public Library
2. Pioneer Sq. (Underground Tour)
3. Hiram Chittenden Locks
4. Seaplane Tour
5. Museum of Flight
6. Seattle Aquarium
7. Pike Place Market
8. Mt. Rainier
9. Olympic Ntl. Park
10. Fremont Sunday Market
11. Experience Music Project
12. Pacific Science Center
13. Ferry Ride to one of the islands
14. Discovery Park
15. Volunteer Park


Also, my sister is only 20, so no bars/wineries/breweries for us

Thanks in advance!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-16-2010, 04:20 PM
 
Location: Happiness is found inside your smile :)
3,176 posts, read 14,699,951 times
Reputation: 1313
Bring flat shoes - there are ALOT of hills in all those spots.

And bring rain gear. It will be misty drizzly.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-16-2010, 05:34 PM
 
1 posts, read 11,001 times
Reputation: 11
I spent a week in Seattle a while back. I stayed at the Mediterranean Inn in the Queen Anne neighborhood. Sits on a hill and the hotel and a rooftop deck with chairs that has an awesome view of the skyline. It's right by the space needle and the experience project. It's also walkable to pike and the ferry boats, etc. The bus line also runs near as well. Great location and the price is reasonable. There are also a lot of restaurants within a few blocks and a safeway grocery store across the street. If you do rent a car they have an underground garage. Make sure you have a GPS to go with the car as the streets can get confusing is driving beyond where you can walk. Head up to see the locks and shop at Ballard and check out Fremont while in the area. Awesome city, plenty to keep you busy all over.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2010, 08:51 AM
 
10 posts, read 38,567 times
Reputation: 11
Thanks! What do you think about going to any of the National Parks this time of year? I really want to, but do you think the weather will affect that trip?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2010, 11:50 AM
 
1,630 posts, read 3,883,515 times
Reputation: 1116
Couple of things: there are only two national parks "nearby" - Olympic and Mt. Rainier. I don't think either would be an enjoyable visit in March. I don't know if the roads into Mt. Rainier are even open. Seems to me your list of things to do would easily take up your four days without even taking the float plane trip (which I'm assuming is quite expensive) to the San Juans (another iffy place to visit or view in March - you may see nothing due to fog). I'd suggest staying in Seattle - visiting the places you list, enjoy our many restaurants and sights. Play it by ear. Definitely do the ferry ride - rent a car and drive around Bainbridge or up to Port Townsend.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-15-2010, 12:14 PM
 
1 posts, read 10,794 times
Reputation: 10
Look at some street maps and get a good idea of how to get where you want to go... it can be confusing. Avoid driving during rush hour... even if it rains, get out and do what you want because it always rains. Check out Daniel's Broiler and a breakfast place called Lola's (they have the absolute best pancake breakfast, I swear); they're both really nice, not too expensive.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-15-2010, 01:51 PM
 
124 posts, read 368,874 times
Reputation: 46
Quote:
Originally Posted by tobester View Post
Couple of things: there are only two national parks "nearby" - Olympic and Mt. Rainier. I don't think either would be an enjoyable visit in March. I don't know if the roads into Mt. Rainier are even open. Seems to me your list of things to do would easily take up your four days without even taking the float plane trip (which I'm assuming is quite expensive) to the San Juans (another iffy place to visit or view in March - you may see nothing due to fog). I'd suggest staying in Seattle - visiting the places you list, enjoy our many restaurants and sights. Play it by ear. Definitely do the ferry ride - rent a car and drive around Bainbridge or up to Port Townsend.
As far as I know, Rainier is pretty much closed. Last time I was at Crystal Mountain, the entrance to the park was completely shut down. Other entrances may be open, but now isn't really the season to go there.

San Juan or even Victoria would have some pretty cool stuff at the moment though. The ferry out to San Juan has some very beautiful scenery too.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-15-2010, 05:00 PM
 
260 posts, read 757,564 times
Reputation: 202
You may want to spend your 4 days in Seattle proper. 2 may leave you feeling dissatisfied
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-15-2010, 05:23 PM
 
1,716 posts, read 2,770,529 times
Reputation: 3196
I was there for 6 days in December and the 1st thing I did was take a 'Show Me Seattle' tour (city tour) Show Me Seattle tours: Seattle city tour and Boeing factory tour
It gave me a really good overview of the city and was a lot of fun. Cost $44 but was well worth it. Enjoy your trip
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-15-2010, 10:23 PM
 
36 posts, read 153,804 times
Reputation: 84
You can do a lot here in two days, plus two days for areas outside Seattle. The Kenmore flight to the San Juans is fun - even better if you can stay there overnight and explore (especially San Juan Island). You can also take a Clipper from downtown Seattle to SJI at certain times of the year, or drive 1.5/2 hours north to Anacortes to take the ferry there.

Mt. Rainier is pretty much closed until later in the year. Olympic Natl Park is at least a two-day trip to really take it all in, but pretty amazing (drive south to Olympia, west to Kalaloch to the ocean beaches, up to the Hoh Rain Forest, northeast to Lake Crescent, and then east to Kingston to take the ferry back to Edmonds, north of Olympia).

Pacific Science Center is really geared towards kids, but the Woodland Park Zoo is a good excursion. Volunteer Park has the Asian Art Museum (same-day entrance with a downtown SAM ticket) and Conservatory, but other than that not much to interest the casual visitor. The Arboretum is nice, though, and the Japanese Garden is beautiful if you are interested in nature-y things.

I wrote some visitor suggestions in another thread a while ago - maybe it will be helpful to you, too. Hope you enjoy your stay!
http://www.city-data.com/forum/12461274-post9.html
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top