If you arrange your own travel plans, a Travel Itinerary is a key component of staying organized and being able to maximize your vacation time. Below is my itinerary for an upcoming trip to the Pacific Northwest. I like to research most details ahead of time, so I don’t use valuable vacation time.
You can determine how many sights and/or activities you can squeeze in comfortably.
I use Bing or Google Maps and plan out my driving route. My driving time is minimized because I plan my order of activities based on the driving route. Sometimes I use it to plan my walking route if I need to see a lot in one day.
For ideas, I usually look at Frommer’s suggested itineraries and Trip Advisor, and talk to the owner of the VRBO or friends that have been there. I also Google “itinerary” for the area and look at other people’s blogs for inspiration. Sometimes it’s difficult to decide which places to visit because they’re all wonderful!
Spontaneity is nice, that’s why I always leave 1 or 2 days open. Some people might prefer to plan a lot less and take it day by day, but I feel when you’re spending a lot of money, you should get to see and do as much as you can.
You’ll notice on my itinerary that we take the light rail from the airport to a car rental place downtown. You can save hundreds of dollars by not renting the car from the airport…just another tip!
Tues
6:30 am – Leave house
9:20am – Delta Flight leaves Cincinnati
11:10am – Arrive Seattle
(Take light rail 10 stops (36 mins) to University St. Station
BAY A then walk to 6th street to the Hilton & p/u rental car)
Stop at grocery – arrive to VRBO unit approx. 2:00pm
5:00pm – Dinner at Palisade – 1st seating $29pp
Wed
7:00am – Drive to AMGEN Co.
Walk 40 min. to Pike Place Market
Walk to Olympic Sculpture Park
Walk to Space Needle – take monorail to Seattle Center – take Monorail back to Space Needle
Walk to Edgewater Hotel for Happy Hr.
Thur
Walk to Discovery Park
Fri
7:00am – Drive loop around Mt. Rainier
Hike Rampart Ridge trail (4.6 miles)
Sat
FREE DAY
Sun
6:00am – Drive 1 ½ hrs. to Anacortes
9:00am – Board ferry
10:00am – Arrive San Juan Islands
Drop luggage at hotel – explore Friday Harbor / eat lunch / bicycle
Have lunch at Market Chef or Duck Soup Inn
3:00pm – Whale watching tour with Western Prince (3 hrs.)
OVERNIGHT: SAN JUAN ISLAND
(They have indoor pool/sauna/hot tub/free bikes)
Mon
9:00am – Take ferry from San Juan
10:00am – Arrive Anacortes
Drive 2 hrs. to Vancouver – arrive 1pm (with customs wait) – Eat lunch
Keep driving to Squamish towards Whistler…then drive back
OVERNIGHT: VANCOUVER
Tues
8:00am – HAVE breakfast with Mahara & Ken (friends)
Explore Granville Island – go to the sandbar restaurant under
the Granville bridge (go to The Lobster Man booth also)
1:00pm – Take 15 mile (4 1/2 hr.) bicycle tour with CycleVancouver
OVERNIGHT: VANCOUVER
Wed
Cont’l Brft Included
10:00am – Drive 2.75 hrs. to Seattle (go thru Customs)
2:00pm – Arrive back at condo
Thur
9:00am – Leave rental
12:45pm – Flight leaves
8:05pm – Arrives Cincinnati
Grocery list: juice; bananas (6); fruit; muffins, eggs; butter & jam; coffee; cream; chips; beer; wine;
water; trail mix; lunchmeat/bread/cheese/mayo
$1225 – $1150 for 9 nights – $75 cleaning fee (tax included)
$320 – Vancouver lodging (includes parking 2 nights) =
$216 – San Juan Island lodging
$200 – Whale Watching tour
$23 – Ferry Fee to San Juan Islands for 2 pp round trip
$15 – Nat’l Park Entrance Fee
$423 – Rental Car
$100 – Gas (approx.)
$ 12 – Light Rail round trip for 2
$170 – Guided Bicycle tour Vancouver for 2
$ 20 – Parking Lot fee at Anacortes for 2 days
$300 – Restaurants (approx.)
$100 – Grocery (approx.)
$3133 – TOTAL
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We had a hearty breakfast before embarking on our tour of Sequoia and Kings Canyon Nat’l Parks!
Sherry Lachelle Travels 