Ten days is the perfect amount of time for these three sprawling cities of the Pacific Northwest. Flying into Seattle and using it as a base, you can do these cities in any order you like; in my case, I started with Portland. As with much of the tourism in the U.S., a rental car will make your life so much easier; trains and buses just aren’t as convenient in the U.S. as in Europe.
My top 3 of Portland:
1. Powell’s City of Books: no trip to Portland would be complete without a visit to this infamous bookstore; even if you’re not interested in buying books, they have a whole array of fun, quirky items available, such as magnets, tote bags, socks, and postcards.
2. Portland Art Museum: with a collection ranging from the Impressionists to contemporary art and with an extensive exhibit of Native American art to boot, the Portland Art Museum was surprisingly complete.
3. Pittock Mansion: built on top of a hill on the outskirts of the city, this elegant estate was the family home of the Pittocks for decades before being bought by the city, and is now a museum focusing on the history of the family and of the effect they had on Portland. Plus there’s a nice (would be gorgeous on a clear day!) view of the city from there.
Eating: Voodoo Donuts has the best donuts in town, and if you’re paying attention you’ll see people walking around with pink boxes from this popular donut shop everywhere. Carrying one around could even make you some new friends, as two strangers who saw me with mine immediately said “For me?! You shouldn’t have!” Haha! Portland is also known for their wide range of breweries, and I can recommend Rock Bottom Brewery, right in the heart of Portland in Pioneer Courthouse Square.
Next I hung out in Seattle for a few days, not only seeing the city and café hopping, but also getting some errands done and doing some shopping.
My top 3 of Seattle:
1. Space Needle & Chihuly Garden and Glass: I grouped these two together because they are literally right next to each other and you can buy a combined ticket at the Space Needle. Chihuly is a museum dedicated to the artist himself and his life and works, while the Space Needle is the most Seattle-esque thing you can do. On the way to the elevator there is a history of the building, and the ride up is amazing!
2. Pike Place Market: another Seattle classic, Pike Place is a huge market with everything from fresh food to books to antiques to touristy items and has two gems: the “first” Starbucks, though you shouldn’t be fooled—it’s not actually the first one at all! (the first location was shut down and therefore nonexistent, technically); and the notorious Gum Wall, little did the first person to stick gum on this wall know that one day the whole thing would be covered in everyone’s spit out gum. Gross but worth it.
3. For Grey’s Anatomy fans: although the series itself is filmed in LA (of course it is sad face), there are a food recognizable landmarks throughout the city, including Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital (Harborview Medical Center in First Hill), The Smith Bar (Joe’s), and Meredith Grey’s house in the Queen Anne Hill neighborhood! It’s the house they use for filming exterior shots but is the actual home of a few lucky people (the house is valued at $1.3 million!) so you can only take pictures with it from the outside. I enjoyed every minute of it! The address is 303 Comstock Street to save you another Google search. 😉
Drinking: Seattle is known for their coffee scene, and they did not disappoint. Miraculously I didn’t have one Starbucks in my whole time there, on a quest to support local establishments like Seattle Coffee Works, Victrola Café, and Analog Coffee, all three worth a visit for their delicious vanilla lattes (I’m a simple girl at heart).
Now, I know there are probably no other Twilight fans around these parts, but I’m all about owning what I love these days, and while in Seattle I was only 3 hours away from Forks, where most of the Twilight novels are set, and of course I went, because when would I ever be closer than 3 hours away by car? Never. There are two ways a tiny town (population 3,000) can handle sudden fame: by rejecting it or embracing it, and Forks has definitely done the latter. Everyone was so welcoming, and new how to get to all the Twilight spots that have been set up around town, including Bella’s truck, her house, the hospital where Carlisle worked, and La Push beach. The day was finished with a meal at La Bella Italia in Port Angeles where Bella and Edward had their first date (and yes, I ordered the mushroom ravioli)! This was the perfect day trip from Seattle.
Last to check off the list was a visit to Vancouver, a picturesque city surrounded by mountains on one side and water on another.
My top 3 of Vancouver:
1. Vancouver Lookout: Like the Space Needle, the Lookout in downtown Vancouver is a staple of the city, and on a clear day offers spectacular views of the city and majestic mountains.
2. Granville Public Market: Located on Granville Island, a five-minute ride away on the aquabus (make sure you either have cash or data to pay for the ticket!), the market is comprised of various buildings with fresh fruit and vegetables, art, and tourist items. You could easily spend a whole day browsing!
3. Vancouver Art Gallery: Although half of it was closed due to an exhibition change while I was there, the art gallery had an eclectic collection of contemporary art, including Warhol’s famous depiction of Marilyn Monroe.
Eating: Dim Sum in Chinatown is a must, although if you ask locals where to get good dim sum, they will shrug and say they don’t eat it very often. I ended up eating at Floata Seafood Restaurant, and instead of bringing trays around like with traditional dim sum, you simply checked off what you wanted on a list and servers brought it round.
Like I previously mentioned, these three cities make for a pretty complete trip, and there are numerous other smaller cities nearby for day trips, and of course there are always the mountains for hiking when the weather is good.