we would be coming in about two weeks.

i dont mind using 2 days for mt. rainier and victoria unless its not recommended.

any ideas?

If you are primarily interested in natural beauty, why not pass Seattle and proceed directly to Olympic National Park? It makes a better base to see Victoria, too.You have not indicated any interest in Seattle itself, so why stay there?

Even the lower levels of Mt. Rainier will still be under heavy snow in two weeks, so bear this in mind if you were planning to do any hiking.

where would we fly into and where would we stay? i thought od seattle because its a nice city and the proximity to mt. rainier and victoria. but as i said we are open to ideas.

can you give me a basic itinerary and ideas?

Yes. Fly Alaska Air to Port Angeles' Fairchild Airport. You will connect through Seattle via Kenmore Air, a partner of Alaska Air, and a wonderful, family owned, small airline. Kenmore will pick you up at Sea-Tac and take you to Boeing Field. From there they will fly you to Port Angeles, a gorgeously scenic 30 minute flight that takes you over the Olympic Mountains and the Straits of San Juan de Fuca.

Rent a car at Fairchild (reserve in advance). Stay at either the Red Lion or the Olympic Lodge in Port Angeles. If your budget is higher, let me know, and I will suggest posher, prettier places.

You can hop the walk on only, 1 hour, Victoria Express, right in downtown PA to take you for a day trip to Victoria. You won't need your car as buses and taxis can take you everywhere, including Butchart Gardens. In fact, Victoria Express has tours to Butchart Gardens set up. June is the perfect time to see these lovely gardens. The peonies should be glorious, and the blue poppies will be in bloom. You can walk downtown Victoria and enjoy the shops, Royal Museum, Chinese restaurants, etc... This is so much easier than Seattle, where you have to take the three hour each way Victoria Clipper.

Please post in the Olympic National Park Forum for suggestions about what to do in the park. This magnificent park is one of the last great wildernesses left in the lower 48 and offers 3 distinct and beautiful ecosystems: alpine, marine, and rain forest. The road to Hurricane Ridge starts right in Port Angeles. If you love natural beauty and hiking, you will be blown away by this park.

4 days is very short for all the things you mention.

Do you have an interest in seeing downtown Seattle? There's many interesting things to do, it's a beautiful city. I would suggestion flying into SeaTac, staying right in downtown Seattle for 1-2 days and seeing the in-city sights (Pike Place Market, Waterfront, Pioneer Square historic district, art museum, Space Needle, Smith Tower, etc.)

Then 1-2 day trip up to Victoria on the Victoria Clipper passenger-only ferry.

OR you could go to Rainer instead, but you'll need to check the conditions as I believe some of the roads on the mountain could still be closed from wintertime snow, so you'll want to check exactly what's available to you there this time of year.

-suze, in seattle

i was thinking seattle cause i always heard it was a really nice city. any ideas where to stay in seattle? and any places we must see?

thanks,

There is a lot of information about Seattle right on the left hand side of this page. Tripadvisors worked hard to pull it together. You should do them the courtesy of at least glancing at it before asking vague questions like "any places we must see." Also, how can anyone answer "any ideas where to stay in Seattle" without a clue as to your budget or your interests?

I am not sure if i should even reply, but i will. i spent hours reading info on seattle, which is the reason why we even chose seattle. bottom line is that you can read up for hours and one person that knows a place can give you practical advice that you cant get by reading up on a place. if id have 2 weeks then id have the time to try places. but since my time is very limited i use the help and ideas of people that know places well. and i help others with the places i know.

my budget is pretty open, not crazy but open.

thanks again,

... can't help but notice you're a biker. There's a fairly challenging, but popular among the cycling enthusiasts in the PNW, trail-ride around Mt. St. Helens (and also within one or two areas at the base of the ruined cone).

Also, you'll find many bikers (road), riding from Enumclaw or Greenwater up to several locations on the southeast side of the park (Cayuse Pass, as far as they can go on the still-closed Sunrise Rd - understand the road is largely plowed, but still gets hit with fairly frequent snows near the top, and Stevens Canyon). Stevens Canyon Road is snow-free, and will open shortly - enabling easy circumnavigation of the most majestic of the peaks in the lower 48. You don't hit serious snow until you get into the passes or above the 4500' level or so - and by the time you get here the only road that will still be closed will be the Sunrise Road (closed to auto traffic). It would be far easier to rent a road bike for this trip ...

Paradise is open mostly year 'round (and has been open all winter this year). The hiking up to Panorama Point and/or McClure's Rock, although over snow, is as spectacular as it gets in the PNW short of climbing the summit of Rainier (or Hood or Adams or Baker). As long as you have good hiking boots (ankle or above), you should be fine. Yaks help, as do snowshoes (only on some days - the snow is pretty hard-packed, and I've made the hike in boots/Yaks several times this winter/spring). They're out marking the trails now - so you should have flags to guide you up the mid to upper portions of the Skyline Loop trail from Paradise.