We have always wanted to visit the Pacific Northwest so we decided to go to Seattle then make our way up to Vancouver. Would recommend going to Seattle from July – September. We went in September and the weather was perfect. It only sprinkled one day we were there. We made a point to visit the first Starbucks, Pike Place Market, Gum Wall, Seattle Great Wheel, and ‘Ride the Ducks’ tour. Glad we explored the city, but my biggest recommendation and money saving tip of the trip is to take a ferry or two and visit other islands outside of Seattle.
We took the Washington State Ferry to Bainbridge Island and King County Water Taxi to West Seattle/Alki Beach. For approximately $5/ticket there’s no cheaper way to view the Seattle skyline and take in the beauty other islands offer. Bainbridge has a quaint, small-town feel great for good eats, ice cream, and shopping. Alki Beach has a beach town vibe with beautiful views of the water and mountains. Perfect spot to let the kiddos play in the sand, collect seashells, and get some clam chowder to-go while relaxing on the beach taking in all the views.
Leaving Seattle we took the Amtrak Cascades train to Vancouver. Tickets were only $125/person round trip! It was about a 4-hour ride and the views were gorgeous along the water. Highly recommend doing just for the scenery.
Vancouver is now one of my favorite big cities and definitely want to go back. It’s clean, there’s a ton of great restaurants, and there’s so many different outdoor activities to do while enjoying the view of the mountains and water. We went to Granville Park to shop at the open air market, listen to live music, go to the kids waterpark. My favorite memory from Vancouver was renting bikes and going to Stanley Park. It was a tough ride but the girls made it through the entire way. The highlight was taking the kids to a beach, Third Beach. Unbeknownst to us, it was a topless beach! That was fun explaining, but a good teaching moment about different cultures.
We talked to some locals at a Vancouver restaurant and they said while we were in town we can’t miss the opportunity to go up to Whistler. We did some research and found Epic Rides. They had round trip routes from Vancouver to Whistler for only $39/person. The trip up there was my favorite part of our entire trip. It’s one of the prettiest ski towns I’ve ever been to. We hiked and rode the Peak 2 gondola.
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