Help with planning san Fran to Seattle trip.

from SF to Seattle you could hit redwoods NP, crater lake NP, and Olympic NP (and Ranier too). Crater Lake is incredible as is the area around bend OR

One way rents across three states are never going to be cheap. That's a huge red flag for me. How long is your vacation? Weeks or months? Are you looking to drive the coat on Hwy 1 or fast way on I-5?

Given the long distance, >800 miles, you're actually covering the rough equivalent of Chicago to NOLA or NYC to Florida. Maybe consider breaking the trip up into a roundtrip drive north of SFO for a few days and a second round trip south of SEA for a few days. Or drive the rental back to SFO, both your flight cost and rental cost will be much lower.

Things I have seen that I want more of:

1. Cannon beach/oregon coast. Stunning.
2. Columbia river gorge, hike Multnomah falls, tour Bonneville dam.
3. Olympic Peninsula/Puget sound and associated national park. Ride a lot of ferries around the islands, they're all cheap. Hike the park. Eat at Seabolt's Smokehouse. Spend a few nights on an air mattress in the back or camp. I could spend two months on Puget Sound and the peninsula.
4. Ride the ferry to victoria canada and explore vancouver island. There are far more inter-island ferries (with food and drinks!) in this part of Canada. Most are 90 minute rides for $20 with bus connections

I have not toured the california coast but would love to drive Hwy 1 and visit Point Reyes peninsula.


If I were to do this trip:
-Fly to SFO from Houston on United and rent a car.
-Drive up Hwy 1 to Point Reyes all the way to Fort Bragg.
-Come back by Hwy 20 and 101 to SFO.
-Drop the car, fly to PDX
-Spend time in the Columbia Gorge and the Oregon coast. Out 26 to Cannon Beach, down to Tilamook, back to Portland on 6. Spend an evening at McMenamin's in Troutdale, spend the night too.
-Drive out to Hood River on the Oregon side, come back on the Washington side. Hike Multnomah or Larch Mountain.
-Catch a train to Seattle, sit on the left side. From Olympia north you're facing Puget sound.
-Rent a car again and take the ferry to Bainbridge. Drive out the north coast of the peninsula to Port Angeles. Hike Pyramid peak if you want to get out.
-Drive back to Port Townsend and take the ferry to Whidbey Island. Make sure you stop at Deception Pass! Spend a few hours/day there.
-Take the ferry to Orca or San Juan Island and spend a few days.
-Go back to SEA, turn in your rental, fly home (or to SFO then home).

Deception Pass:



Puget sound:


Cannon Beach:


Bonneville Dam


Puget sound ferry (this one on the canadian side)

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So.. I am trying to plan a 1.5 week road trip from San Francisco to Vancouver and then Seattle.

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Which one?

It’s the 4th largest city in Washington. I live between the two and 9 times out of 10 when someone around here is talking about Vancouver, it’s the one in the USA. To us locals, it’s Vancouver and Vancouver, BC. Leave out BC or Canada and most people here assume Vancouver USA.

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So I'm leaning towards Seattle.. up to Canada. Ferry to Olympia.. down Oregon, cross Oregon and eventually back up to Seattle.

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Do you mean ferry to Victoria? If so, not a bad idea. Fly to Seattle, go to Vancouver, BC, ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay (see Butchart Gardens, Victoria), ferry from inner harbor Victoria to Port Angeles (see Hurricane Ridge), the head west around peninsula to Hoh Rainforest (if interested) Ruby Beach, etc. then jet down to Astoria and do Oregon Coast.....

Alaska Airlines from NOLA or Houston for direct flights on a great airline. They have a sale that ends tomorrow (1/7).

I’m basically doing the same exact trip in mid May with my wife. Booked flights yesterday. Flying into San Jose on the 16th and flying out of Seattle on the 24th. I’m still putting it all together and I know I’ll need to condense some things, but some must-do’s for us include Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Redwoods National Park, Crater Lake, Cannon Beach, Mt. Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park.

I’ve been to Cannon Beach twice and cannot stress how insanely beautiful and unique that place is. You won’t have a care in the world during your visit. I suggest getting there super early when the sun rises. Sipping coffee while taking in that view is truly serene.

The wife and I absolutely love Portland. Restaurants are great, beer is great and the outdoor activities you can target right outside of the city are incredible.

I haven’t checked out rental car prices, but we paid ~$350 for a our rental car a couple of years ago for Los Angeles to San Fran and that seemed super affordable to me.

ETA: I just checked rental car prices and a full size with National is going to run us $350 with my company discount.