From San Fran to Vancouver in Sept

[Nelly]

My wife and I want to drive from SF to Vancouver at the start of September next year and would like some tips on how to do it, where to go and how long to spend!
We have two weeks to do it in and want to take our time, but we want to make the most of Seattle and Vancouver.
Looking forward to hearing from you all!
Thanks

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Our resident RoadTrip Guru in the Pacific Northwest, Judy, has given her recommendations for such a trip here and here. I would also suggest a side trip that my wife and I really enjoyed, and that is to take the ferry over to Victoria while you are in the Vancouver area. It's a decidedly different atmosphere with many sites to see.

AZBuck

[PNW Judy]

What in particular do you want to see and do? There are a wealth of posts on here about that particular trip that you might review. If you want to share more specifics on what kind of things interest you and how you want to spend your time, we can give you more specific answers.

BTW, the beginning of September is a great time is you hope to see lots of sunshine and blue skies instead of rain. August and September tend to be the best part of our summer.

[Nelly]

Thanks Judy

To be honest I am not sure exactly what I want to see and do!
We spent 4 dys in SF in 2004 so we dont really need to see it and then we drove down Highway 1 and loved the scenic drive. We just stayed in Monterey, Morro Bay and Santa Barbara.

I suppose the ideal plan (in reverse order) would be something like this:
Vancouver 5dys (enough??), sightseeing, i have heard a visit to the island is a must and there are some amazing peninsulas just north of Vancouver
Seattle - few days??, I have no idea sights we should catch here!?
Then the rest of the trip stopping off in interesting towns seeing anything, eating and drinking well!I am looking for good places to stop off between SF and Seattle that would fill in the other 7 days,
Sorry its so vague but I am looking to be inspired by experts like yourself!
Look forward to your suggestions

[PNW Judy]

He gave you two links with some good suggestions. Here are a couple of threads with suggestions of what to do/see in Seattle: Thread 1 Thread 2 I think 2 days is a good amount of time to plan to see Seattle's highlights.

Seven days to travel gives you lots of time to explore the beautiful coastal highway. Enjoy the beautiful stretch of CA-1 before it merges with 101, then take 101 the rest of the way north. here are just a few of the many things you might want to check out:
* In California: Eureka's beautiful architecture, Redwoods National Park
* In Oregon: the charming towns of Brookings, Bandon, and Cannon Beach simply for the charm of the towns themselves and the beautiful beaches there; Depoe Bay for it's "smallest harbor in the world", Newport for the great aquarium, Gold Beach for the river trips, Tillamook for the cheese factory and great ice cream, and Astoria for Fort Clatsop (Lewis & Clark's winter quarters) and a great maritime museum.

While SW Washington has a lot of great stuff to offer, I would suggest going inland after Astoria. Go over the Astoria Bridge to Washington...just because it's very cool to drive this almost 6-mile long bridge that just skirts the water. If you want to see Portland, come back over the bridge to Astoria and take 30 to Portland. If not, you might enjoy going north a bit to Naselle and taking the lovely driving on 4 into Longview/Kelso.

Going either route, once you hit I-5, go north to Castle Rock and then take the 1-hour drive east into the Mt. St. Helen's area. Drive to the Johnston Ridge Visitor Center to peer into the crater, see the devestation, and enjoy the fine exhibits at the center.

Return to I-5 and head north to Olympia. Take 101 East and then Hwy 8 toward Aberdeen/Hoquiam. In Hoquiam, go north on 101 and make the loop around the Olympic Peninsula. Stops you might want to make along this route are: Lake Quinault with its great short trails into the rain-forest, Kalaloch, Ruby Beach, Hoh Rainforest and Hall of Mosses, Hurricane Ridge, Dungeness Spit, Port Townsend, Poulsbo and then Winslow. Take the ferry from Winslow to downtown Seattle.

After Seattle, head north on I-5 to Vancouver. A great alternative route, if you have time, is the Chuckanut Drive.

Vancouver is a lovely city. And, yes, a trip to Vancouver Island is a must. Also the Inland Coast north of Vancouver. While in that area, the drive to Whistler and Whistler itself is outstanding.

Anyway, this is the general route I would take if I had 7 days just for the driving portion, adding 2 days for Seattle and extra days for the time in Canada.

I'm sorry I'm not giving you links to everything. I don't have time for that but a google will yield you lots of information about these places. Also, use the search function to search these forums for more information here. You will find a lot of good stuff just reading posts here.

If you have more specific questions, I'll try to answer them as best I can. Hope this helps!

[Nelly]

Thanks so much - theres loads there for me to look into!
Its got me really excited about the trip - thanks again!

[Nelly]

Hi
My wife and I are doing a road trip from LA to Vancouver in Sept this year and all my plans are going well but I am not sure where to stay when we drive from Monterey and Eureka. Trying to do it in one go will be too much for us but if we had a place to stay half way up that would be perfect.

Is there a nice small town to stop off along Highway 1 or even the 101 between SF and Eureka?

Thanks y'all!

[Mark Sedenquist]

My wife and I are doing a road trip from LA to Vancouver in Sept this year and all my plans are going well but I am not sure where to stay when we drive from Monterey and Eureka.

I really like Mendocino -- I usually try and stay at the Stanford Inn (here is a recent review). But there are a couple of other places that are less money and pretty darn amazing! Top choices here would be the Little River Inn and the Agate Cove Inn (on the north side of the village).

Mark