Day Trips

Full Day-Walk to Pike Place Market, Waterfront, Seattle Water Taxi, Alki, International District, Westlake Center and home

• Wake up and grab the backpack from the closet, grab the Orca card from the desk, and put some bottled water inside for your walk and picnic.
• Walk around the block to La Parisienne, where a baker from France has baked you a baguette to go and possibly a pastry.
• Continue walking south and west to 1st Avenue
• Head south on 1st Avenue to Virginia Street and head down the hill to the north end of the market.
• Head south through the market on the east side of the street scavenging for any good looking food you want for your picnic.
• The woman who owns the Turkish Delight is an excellent chef and the food is great. You could pick up some farmer's salad here, a couple pieces of turkish delight, or something else that looks appealing.
• Continue further south in the market and you'll find The Cheese Box which would be an excellent place to pick up some cheese for your baguette.
• Continue south until you reach the corner of the market. Here you should rub the nose of Rachael the pig, a large brass piggy bank, for good luck.
• Step inside the market and head slightly up and to the east to enter Delauranti Food and Wine. This place is not cheap. But, you're only picking up a small amount of charcuterie to go with your baguette and cheese. Okay, possibly a fancy chocolate bar as well.
• Exit Delauranti, head back downhill to the west watching them throwing and bruising the salmon they sell here for incredible prices.
• Wend your way downstairs and head back north through the warren of shops. Kitchen shops, a magic shop, a book shop.
• Use the public restrooms here if you need to go. They're usually clean and sanitary.
• Head to the new Overlook Park Project, and wind your way down toward the Aquarium.
• Walk south along the waterfront to the King County water taxi
• Take the taxi to West Seattle's Alki Beach using the Orca card from the desk at the condo.
• Look to see if you can find a Lime bike, and sign up to rent it. I don't recommend using scooters in Seattle.
• An alternative would be to rent a bike from Alki Kayak Tours, although they're a bit more expensive, and you need to worry about theft.
• Ride along the Promenade all the way to the Statue of Liberty or possibly even to the Lighthouse, although it is rarely open.
• Find a good place to sit on the beach and enjoy your picnic.
• Ride your bike back to the water taxi.
• Walk through Pioneer Square, possibly stopping at the free Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park for a tour if it is open.
• Continue on to the International District. Possibly check out the Uwajimaya Shopping Center for a snack, piece of fruit, or small asian gift.
• Possibly check out the Wing Luke Museum. This museum has been somewhat controversial over the years. It is interesting.
• If it is dinner time, consider eating at Seattle's oldest Chinese restaurant, Tai Tung, for very good Cantonese food (This is American Chinese style).
• Walk to the Sound Transit International Station and take the Northbound (Lynnwood) train only a couple stops to Westlake Mall using the Orca card again.
• Walk seven blocks north on 5th Avenue underneath the Monorail to return to the condo.

Walk to the Pike Place Market, picking up food for a lunch. Walk down to the waterfront and catch the ferry to Bainbridge Island.

• Start your journey like the above day trip, substituting a Washington State Ferry ride to Bainbridge Island for the King County Water Taxi.
• Picnic on the top floor of the ferry, you have 30 minutes.
• Once you're on Bainbridge Island you can walk around the village. Check out the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, it's free and has some interesting art.
• Consider taking the bus to the Bloedel Reserve, a beautiful garden built by a timber family.
• Head back home and pick up the itinerary from the day trip above, heading to Pioneer Square.

If you want a driving day trip, you might check out Dan's Drives. His trips are bit supercharged for me, but some of his ideas are great.

If you're into trolls, then driving to as many trolls as you can might be an interesting day of diversion. Check out the NW Trolls.

A Very Long Day Driving and Hiking. Seattle to Hurricane Ridge (mountain), Cape Flattery (Native American), Ruby Beach (Seastacks), Merriman Falls (Rainforest), and back home.

This itinerary will take a long day and is not possible in the wintertime as there is not enough daylight to see everything. Because the trip crams a lot into a day, you're missing a lot of special sights on the Olympic Peninsula. But, I've chosen the highlights that I feel give you a taste for the National Park, a mountain experience, interaction with native Americans (the Makah tribe), a beach with sea stacks, and a rainforest experience with a waterfall. Feel free to amend this itinerary in any way you see fit, but please remember that you will run out of daylight to get all the way around the peninsula and get home if you cram too much in.

• Start the journey very early in the morning. Drive to the Seattle Ferry Terminal and drive onto the boat going to Bainbridge Island.
• Drive from Bainbridge Island to the Hurricane Ridge passing over the Hood Canal Bridge.
• At Hurricane Ridge take the Cirque Rim to Sunrise View Point Trail (approximately 40 minutes).
• From Hurricane Ridge drive on to Cape Flattery passing by Lake Crescent.
• After picking up your pass from the Makah Indian Reservation, you can hike on the boardwalk to four different viewpoints and stand at the most northwest point in the continental United States.
• Continue your journey onto Ruby Beach Trail (30 minutes). While not as scenic as Point of Arches, you still get a great beach view with seastacks here, and you didn't have to spend four to six hours getting there and back.
• Now drive onto Merriman Falls in the Quinault Rainforest. Again, while Marymere Falls may be bigger, these falls are more accessible in the time that we have, and they're in a rainforest. (Not the Hoh Rainforest, but rather the Quinault Rainforest).
• Drive to Olympia and head home. If it's not too late and you're hungry, Ranch House BBQ, which is on your way back is pretty good.
• Drive home on I-5.