Morning
Land at SEA
Seattle-Tacoma International. Leave the rental car for later in the week — the Link light rail is faster into downtown than driving.
Link 1 Line to Westlake
Board at the SeaTac/Airport station; roughly 40 minutes to Westlake, then five blocks downhill to Pike Place.
Afternoon / Day
Check in: Inn at the Market
86 Pine St. The only hotel inside Pike Place Market; the guest rooftop deck looks over Elliott Bay and the ferry traffic.
Lunch at Pike Place Chowder
1530 Post Alley, daily 11-5. The queue is real; get the New England clam in a sourdough bowl and add the seafood bisque.
Pike Place Fish Market
85 Pike St, in the Market arcade. Selling fish here since 1930, and known for the mongers who throw it over the counter; watch a round, then work the lower levels.
Beecher's Handmade Cheese
1600 Pike Place, open daily 9-7. Watch the curds turned through the street window, then take the mac and cheese away in a cup.
Evening
Dinner at Canlis
2576 Aurora Ave N. Family-run since 1950 and still the city's occasion restaurant; book weeks out and take an early seating.
Sunset at Kerry Park
211 W Highland Dr on Queen Anne. The postcard angle — Space Needle, downtown towers, and Mount Rainier floating behind on a clear night.
Morning
Ballard Farmers Market
Ballard Ave NW, Sundays 9-2 year-round. Washington farmers only since 2000; graze the stalls rather than sitting down anywhere.
Hiram M. Chittenden Locks
3015 NW 54th St. Boats step between Puget Sound and Lake Union; the fish ladder viewing room shows the summer salmon run. Free to walk in.
Afternoon / Day
Fremont Troll
Under the north end of the Aurora Bridge at N 36th St. A two-storey concrete troll clutching a real VW Beetle. Five minutes, then walk into Fremont.
Gas Works Park
2101 N Northlake Way. Rusted gasification towers left standing on the Lake Union shore; climb Kite Hill for the skyline straight across the water.
MoPOP
325 5th Ave N, open daily until 5 PM. Frank Gehry's crumpled steel shell wraps three floors of music, gaming and film. Allow two hours.
Evening
Chihuly Garden and Glass
305 Harrison St, next to the Needle and open late in summer. The Glasshouse ceiling and the outdoor garden are the point; allow 75 minutes.
Dinner at Ivar's Acres of Clams
Pier 54 on Alaskan Way. Ivar Haglund started selling fish and chips on this pier in 1938; sit down inside or use the walk-up Fish Bar next door.
Morning
Breakfast at Le Panier
1902 Pike Place, open every day 7-6. French bakery in the Market; croissant and pain au chocolat standing at the window counter.
Space Needle
400 Broad St. Prices move with the day and time slot, so book ahead; The Loupe on the lower deck is the only revolving glass floor anywhere.
Afternoon / Day
Pick up the rental car
Collect downtown rather than back at the airport — everything from here is road, and the ferry terminal is a short drive from the centre.
Ferry to Bainbridge Island
Drive on at Colman Dock, 801 Alaskan Way. About 35 minutes across Elliott Bay; this route takes no vehicle reservations, so queue early.
Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
550 Winslow Way E, daily 10-5, admission free. First building on the right off the ferry — Northwest artists, and a coffee before the drive.
Port Gamble
On SR 104 just before the Hood Canal Bridge. A preserved timber-company town of New England clapboard houses; ten minutes breaks up the drive.
Evening
Check in: Olympic Lodge by Ayres
140 Del Guzzi Drive, Port Angeles. Heated outdoor pool and jacuzzi, and Hurricane Ridge is 17 miles up the road for an early start tomorrow.
Dinner at Kokopelli Grill
203 E Front St, a block from the harbour. Northwest seafood; the smoked salmon chowder is the dish they are known for.
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Morning
Hurricane Ridge
17 miles south of Port Angeles up Hurricane Ridge Road. The day lodge burned down in 2023, so carry your own food and water up.
Afternoon / Day
Lake Crescent and Marymere Falls
Barnes Point, 18 miles west of Port Angeles off US 101. The Barnes Creek trail runs through old growth to the falls; the lake water is glass-clear.
Lunch at Lake Crescent Lodge
Barnes Point on Lake Crescent Road, open seasonally from late spring into the autumn. Eat on the lakefront porch between the two walks.
Spruce Railroad Trail
North shore of Lake Crescent. A flat old rail grade with a tunnel and the clearest water on the peninsula — walk out as far as you like and turn back.
Sol Duc Falls
Turn off US 101 onto Sol Duc Road, about 40 minutes west of Port Angeles. A mile through old growth to the overlook above the split falls.
Evening
Soak at Sol Duc Hot Springs
Mineral pools at the end of Sol Duc Road, open from late March into early November. Soak off the trail miles before driving on.
Dinner at Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort
The resort dining room is the only sit-down food for miles on this road. Eat here before the 45-minute run out to Forks.
Check in: Pacific Inn Motel
352 S Forks Ave. Plain, clean and cheap — the reason to sleep in Forks is that the Hoh is under an hour away in the morning.
Morning
Drive the Upper Hoh Road
Off US 101 south of Forks. Go early in summer — the visitor center lot fills and cars queue on the road waiting for a space.
Hall of Mosses Trail
From the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center, 18113 Upper Hoh Rd. A 0.8-mile loop under club moss and bigleaf maple — the picture everyone comes for.
Spruce Nature Trail
Same trailhead, 1.2 miles. Drops to the gravel bars of the Hoh River and back through younger forest; far quieter than the Hall of Mosses.
Afternoon / Day
Ruby Beach
Signposted off US 101 south of the Hoh turn-off. Sea stacks, bleached driftwood and tide pools; the path from the lot drops straight to the sand.
Lunch at Kalaloch Lodge
On the bluff above Kalaloch Beach off US 101. The Creekside dining room windows look straight out over the coast.
Evening
Check in: Lake Quinault Lodge
345 South Shore Rd. A cedar-shingled lodge on the lake with a fireplace lobby, run under a US Forest Service special permit.
The Quinault big spruce
Signposted off South Shore Road near the lake. A five-minute walk to one of the largest Sitka spruce trees ever recorded, and a good leg-stretch.
Dinner at Lake Quinault Lodge
The lodge dining room is effectively the only table on the south shore. Put your name down when you check in.
Morning
Breakfast at the lodge
Eat early. Today is the longest drive of the trip — roughly three and a half hours east to the Nisqually Entrance.
US 12 and I-5 to Mount Rainier
Quinault to Ashford via Aberdeen, Olympia and SR 7. Fill the tank in Elbe or Ashford — there is no fuel inside the park.
Afternoon / Day
Nisqually Entrance
SR 706 at Ashford. Entry is $30 per vehicle for seven days and the entrances are cashless, so have a card ready. Check whether timed-entry reservations are running that summer.
Longmire and Trail of the Shadows
6.5 miles inside the Nisqually Entrance. The 1916 headquarters building is now a museum; the 0.7-mile loop circles the meadow and mineral springs.
Check in: Paradise Inn
Paradise, 5,400 feet. Opened July 1917 and runs summers only, generally late May through September; the lobby keeps its two vast cedar tables and a 14-foot clock.
Evening
Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center
At Paradise, open daily May to early October. Check the wildflower bloom and the trail-snow report at the ranger desk before tomorrow.
Evening in the Paradise meadows
Stay on the paved paths — the subalpine meadow is fragile and heavily walked. Late light on the mountain is the whole reason to sleep up here.
Dinner in the Paradise Inn dining room
Besides the visitor-center cafeteria this is the only food at Paradise, and it fills. Put your name down when you check in.
Skyline Trail, Stevens Canyon, Sunrise
Morning
Skyline Trail loop
From the Paradise upper lot: a 5.5-mile loop, moderate to strenuous, climbing through the wildflower meadows. Start by 7 to beat the crowd.
Reflection Lakes
Roadside on Stevens Canyon Road east of Paradise. The lakes mirror the mountain when the water is still, so stop before the wind gets up.
Afternoon / Day
Box Canyon
Stevens Canyon Road, west of Ohanapecosh. The Cowlitz River runs through a narrow slot far below the footbridge — look straight down from it.
Stevens Canyon to Chinook Pass
East to SR 123, north over Cayuse Pass, then onto SR 410. Tipsoo Lake sits right beside the highway at the top of Chinook Pass.
Sunrise
At 6,400 feet, the highest point you can drive to in the park; the road usually opens late June or early July and closes by early October. The 2-mile Silver Forest Trail is the quick win.
Evening
SR 410 down to Sea-Tac
About two and a half hours from Sunrise via Enumclaw. Fill up before you leave the mountain — the last fuel is well down the valley.
Evening flight from SEA
Leave a buffer. The bottom of SR 410 and I-5 through Auburn back up badly on a weekday afternoon, and the drive has no shortcut.
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