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Hi all, hopefully will be flying to Seattle with Virgin end of May/early June and was hoping to hear any recommendations whether hotels, restaurants or things to do.
My only rough plan at the moment was to start in Seattle and stay for a few days, then get the ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island. A couple or so days on Vancouver Island before getting the ferry to Vancouver and spending some time in the city and surrounding area before getting the Amtrak train back to Seattle before our flight.
It’s 2 weeks in total and we probably won’t have a car the whole time but might rent one for a few days.
- This topic was modified 55 years, 6 months ago by .
Can’t help on Seattle but for Vancouver:
Taking a flight in a seaplane is great. Even if you can’t go on one, it’s still cool watching them arrive and depart while walking along the paved walkways, and a good bit of trivia is that the ATC tower there is the highest tower in the world!
My number one recommendation is Granville Island: fantastic little food places, shops, etc – all independent and a great place to have a few hours of wandering with snacks along the way. The doughnuts at Lee’s are definitely worth the calories.
A good few hours can be spent wandering around Stanley Park – nice scenery, totem poles, etc. You can cycle around it (they have the equivalent of Boris bikes there) in a single direction or walk in either direction. Essentially, if you are going to cycle you need to prepare to do the whole lot!
Two good areas for good food and drink (especially craft beer) is Main Street and the surrounding side streets and Commercial Drive. Aside from those areas, we ate at Brewhall one night which had a lively atmosphere, sports on TV, good food and drinks.
Public transport is excellent and easy to use – we use the Citymapper app most of the time we travel and it worked well for us in Vancouver.
Visit the Olympic National Park if you can. You will need to hire a car but it’s totally doable from Seattle even if you don’t get as far west as Forks. The rainforest is totally trippy. If you like American history, the Olympia State Capitol is a good one and is sort of on the way back.
- This reply was modified 55 years, 6 months ago by .
I have stayed at far too many Seattle hotels due to work. Personal favorite is the Thompson. The Kimpton Palladian would be second best (care: there are three Kimpton’s- the Monaco isn’t bad either but rooms more tired). That’s on the basis that the Four Seasons is crazy money when you are in town. The Fairmont is also popular but I am not a fan.
Seattle in the summer months is lovely. In winter its just like the UK.
It is a lot smaller than you expect. Pike Market good for a wander, the waterfront and Olympic Park are nice. I quite like Capitol Hill area of a bit of a change to get our of the downtown area. I think you can Kayak in the bays around. Boeing factory tour or the museum at Boeing Field are very good.
I’d also spend time on Bainbridge Island (ferry from Seattle) and try to visit the San Juan Islands- they are meant to be stunning.I have colleagues who go to San Juan regularly and love it. In fact, I’d seriously consider staying there after Seattle.
If I am brutally honest with you, I wouldn’t spend that long in Seattle- 2 nights. It is super important to realize that whilst the UK and other parts of the US are fully re-opened, Seattle (and San Francisco) really are still locked down at the moment. All the tech co’s are still WFH (not been back since Mar 20) and that has had an impact on downtown. It is a ghost town apart from a lot of homeless people.
Majority of restaurants, shops and hotels are closed. It comes to something when brands like Tiffany have closed their store. I was in Seattle in December for work and it was almost spooky. If restaurants are open, they are only doing dinner service and typically not on Mon/Tues- so do research and make reservations. Those that are open are super popular.
In short, don’t spend too long in Seattle. Head out to explore the absolute stunning islands, state and national parks in WA.
+1 on the San Juan Islands visit. You may even get to see whales from the shore.
Dale Chihuli exhibit is also a must
Don’t suppose anyone has an email address for the Renaissance Seattle please?
Very elusive on Google and guesswork hasn’t been successful either.
I lived in Vancouver for a year and agree with everything @JenT said – seconding Main Street and Commercial Drive as many people make the mistake of basically only visiting the downtown bits.
Additional specific recommendations:
– Fritz European Fry House and La Belle Patate for authentic Montreal-style poutine; Belgian Fries for creative toppings and large portions
– There’s fantastic east Asian food downtown, specifically the western stretch of Robson Street will have many fantastic Korean and Japanese options. Ramen Danbo is worth the queues.
– The Museum of Anthropology is a bit of a trek away but absolutely worth it. They’re fortunately extending the Skytrain west towards it, but for now, get the 99 B-line express bus outside of rush hour and you should get there fairly quickly.
– If you enjoy hikes, North Vancouver has many that’s worth it and accessible from downtown with public transport (cheap but slow) or a fairly inexpensive Uber/Lyft. Of note: Lighthouse Park / Lynn Loop / Capilano Trail (easy), Norvan Falls / Baden-Powell / Brothers Creek (medium), BCMC / Grouse Grind (hard). That said, I’m sure you’ll have many more outdoors opportunities on Vancouver Island, which I haven’t gotten to visit yet!For your Amtrak to Seattle, try to get seats on the starboard side of the train for Pacific Ocean views, and make sure to budget in an extra hour or two for delays. It’s a gorgeous route but prone to frequent delays because freight trains have priority on large stretches of the route.
Had a lovely stay recently in the Fairmonth Waterfront. The views from the harbour view rooms are amazing.
For Vancouver Island make sure you book the ferry in advance as it sells out. Also, have a look at Fisherman’s Wharf for food, it’s in the opposite direction to downtown but has some great little eateries.
@Stu_N some recommendations/general thoughts as promised for your upcoming trip. We spent two days in Vancouver on our previous trip to Canada (January 2024) so it was bitterly cold and we therefore did a combo of indoor and outdoor activities as there was only so long one could stay outside. Day one we enjoyed the Vancouver Canucks stadium tour which we booked online on the day, it’s a novelty even if, like me, you don’t have a special interest in ice hockey! We also enjoyed a lovely lunch at Hawksworth courtesy of the Amex Plat dining credit. The next day we had a casual lunch at Steamworks Brewpub (a microbrewery) just by the Gas town Steam Clock (typical bar food, good selection of beers and they do beer flights) and then took one of the water taxis over to Granville Island to visit the (indoor) market, which is interesting, lots of independent shops as already mentioned in one of the above posts. Stanley Park is worth a walk around, the totem poles are a must see and really spectacular. I imagine the path by the water will be much more enjoyable stroll next week than when it was -15!
We spent five nights in Whistler on the same trip but in all honesty I can’t really offer recommendations as we were skiing and stayed in an Airbnb where we self-catered most nights and ate at very casual places the others. Skiing in Whistler is a much more serious affair than in Europe i.e., we were in the lift queues by 8am every day, there isn’t a decent food scene on the mountain or the European apres culture and were so knackered by the end of the day we were in bed before 9pm! As you’d expect, drinks and food in Whistler Village are expensive. That said, the landscape and views are incredible – I still can’t get over the height of the trees. When we were there, public parking was limited and expensive so it may be worth pre-booking if you’re driving.
Victoria is fresh in my mind as we departed from there this afternoon in glorious sunshine, really enjoying seeing BC in the summertime. We stayed one night at the Fairmont on a very good Amex FHR rate so were in a central waterfront location and after check in we headed straight out for a spot of lunch at Finn’s (thank you @strickers) where we enjoyed delicious seared tuna and fish and chips on the terrace. The inside area is smart too. We then pottered down to Fisherman’s Wharf for an ice cream and to admire the multicoloured “floating homes”. It’s very touristy but has a nice, relaxed vibe. Walking back up to Downtown on the harbourside is Swift Brewing, a delightful 1970s themed bar where we had a pre dinner drink. It is attached to the much bigger CRAFT Beer Market, which has an outside space and also does food, and is clearly very popular as it was full yesterday and there was a waitlist.
Last night we had one of the best meals we have ever had at the award-winning Marilena Raw Bar & Cafe, the sushi was absolutely sublime and the service was really excellent. We were also able to use our Amex Plat dining credit to boot, although it’s somewhere we would go again without any kind of incentive and is very well priced for the quality of food and service. Dinner for two including two beers, a g&t and multiple plates of sushi and a couple of other small plates cost £122 including a 20% tip. Incredible value compared to a similar offering in London. I would recommend booking in advance as it was busy on a Sunday night.
If you’re driving north of Nanaimo, stop at Old Country Market (they have goats on the roof!) It’s an indoor food market with several other shops and restaurants on the same site. We visited today as a pit stop and enjoyed a late lunch on the patio at Cuckoo, the Italian restaurant there, which was very civilised and nestled next to beautiful woodland with a huge tree canopy. The BC salmon fettuccine was the tastiest salmon I have ever eaten, absolutely divine. Good service and clearly a popular spot, but plenty of seating indoor and out.
Okanagan Lake looks wonderful, we haven’t made it to Kelowna yet but it’s good to have places to explore on a return visit!
Thanks for all the tips @ExExpat.
Already got Marilena booked for my partner’s birthday, had no idea it was on Plat dining so that’s a bonus right there!
If you’re going back to Seattle the Dale Chihully glass exhibition at the space needle is spectacular – way better than space needle itself IMO, and for Olympic peninsula the Hoh rainforest and beaches around Kalaloch are mind blowing. We stayed in cabins at Kalaloch a few years ago and just wandered along the beach looking at the ocean and the driftwood for hours.
I’ll write something up on the thread in due course but cannae wait to get out there!
@Stu_N you’re welcome! Re Marilena when I rang to modify our booking (we pushed back the time twice on the day and they were very accommodating) they also asked if it was a special occasion, so if you call/email them and tell them it’s your partner’s birthday they might do a little cake or similar, it’s the kind of place where they go the extra mile!
We did both the Space Needle and Chihuly on Saturday on a combined ticket from Viator, enjoyed both but agree Chihuly is a much better experience and without the queuing! The glass blowing demonstration in the courtyard was brilliant. We were lucky to have beautiful weather though so the view from the Space Needle was spectacular, though obviously it was very busy. I will put Kalaloch on the list for future visits, thanks for that, so many beautiful places in the PNW still to see. Look forward to hearing more about your trip!
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