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Seattle/Olympic Peninsula Help!
We're flying into SeaTac on April 6 and staying until the 14th. The main reason we're going is to visit with BIL and his wife and daughter, who live on Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor (he's in the Navy). They have off work Monday and Tuesday of the following week, however, so we thought we'd do some exploring, as they're somewhat new to the area as well.
We really want to explore the Olympic Peninsula. Looking solely at drive time, we could probably do it in a day if it weren't for the fact we're bringing our new baby with us, who will be just over 2 months old at the time, and probably wouldn't do too fabulous being strapped in his carseat for that long a day. We're thinking 2 days would be enough, but aren't entirely sure. From what I hear, Port Townsend is a definite must for our first night. Where should we spend our 2nd night? Queets? Forks? What is the best city to be close to the best rainforest attractions/hikes? Also, is 2 full days enough to make it around the loop with a little exploring without feeling horribly rushed?
Also, we're trying to decide for the 3rd and 4th nights of our trip where would be the best place to stay in the Seattle area. We've heard traffic is bad and it's tough to find parking downtown, so we're not entirely sold on the downtown area, but are open to suggestions. Keep in mind we'll have a baby with us and a rental car. We also have a bus tour thing we purchased off Living Social that we are planning on using one day, which has pick-up locations around the hotels downtown.
The rest of our time will be spent on Whidbey Island with BIL/family, and they have plans for up there as well as just relaxing and visiting.
TIA!
Re: Seattle/Olympic Peninsula Help!
In terms of the Olympic National Park and the surrounding vicinity, my favorite areas are Port Townsend, Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, Hoh Rain Forest, and Rialto Beach. I haven't had an opportunity yet to visit Lake Ozette or Lake Quinalt but have heard good things. For the second night I would probably recommend Forks if you want to see the Hoh Rain Forest. With two nights/three days, I assume the first will be spent driving/ferry ride to Port Townsend and then exploring the city. The second day you could drive up to Hurricane Ridge, stop in at Lake Crescent and then head over to Forks (few hours of driving) and spend the late afternoon in the rain forest. The third day would either be spent driving the rest of the loop back up to Whidbey and stopping at a few places OR driving back from Forks over the same area you drove in on. The Olympic Peninsula is huge and it takes a lot more time to drive around that loop than one might think.
Be aware that some of these areas might be accessible during your visit as some of the roads do not open until May. Look here for information on opening hours.
While on Whidbey Island, make sure to check out Langley, Greenbank, and especially Coupeville; all very cute and historic towns.
With a rental car you will either have to park in a garage or use the hotel parking. Both options will be expensive so I don't think it really matters where you stay as long as there is nearby parking. I think the area around Pike Place Market is good for first time visitors. Inn at the Market overlooks the market and would be fun. I have also stayed at Hotel Monaco, which is a few blocks away from Pike Place Market.
My iPad ate my longer reply, if you are worried about parking you can drop the rental car off and take the light rail in from the airport http://www.soundtransit.org/. We did our days in Seattle first and then went back to the airport to get the car. Traffic downtown wasn't bad IMO, but I drive in DC. You could drop one of you off with the baby and have the other return the car and take the train back in if you didn't want to drag everything on the train twice.
We've stayed at the W and the Hotel Vintage Park ( another Kimpton hotel). I liked the location of the W better, I'm trying to rember which Kimpton was across the street.
Cancer sucks.