Washington 7 Day Early Spring Itinerary
As a heads up – this itinerary is not going to include Mount Rainier National Park. Unfortunately, we did this trip a year when Washington had a very harsh winter. Even though we went during the first week of April, it snowed so much that the park was actually closed on the day we wanted to go. But that’s okay! We came up with another fun thing to do instead (which you’ll read about later) and it gives us another excuse to visit this beautiful state! This itinerary contains many year round activities, as well as some things that are best in the early spring! Don’t have 7 Days to spend in Washington? Check out our article 16 Things to do in Washington.
Day 1: Fly into Seattle
We decided to leave after work on a Friday rather than wait until Saturday morning to fly out. Since we live in Pittsburgh, the 3 hour time difference was in our favor and it was only around 10pm when we got there. After getting your bags, you have to catch a shuttle that takes you to the car rental building. Before heading to our Airbnb, we stopped at the store and got some groceries for the week.
Day 2: Everything Seattle!
We were lucky enough to get an Airbnb that was within walking distance to everything (which I recommend you doing because parking is so expensive here!) So, our morning started off with walking down to Pike Place Market. Not all the shops were set up and open quite yet, but it was awesome getting to be there with so few people around.
Breakfast: Piroshky Piroshky & The First Starbucks
For breakfast, we went to Piroshky Piroshky and got some delicious baked goods. This place was so good we ended up going here another 2 times before the end of the trip. We also braved the incredibly long line and got some coffee from the first Starbucks which is right next door.
Pike Place Market
While you’re at Pike Place Market, you need to check out the infamous Gum Wall, Fish Market, the many, many vendors, and the beautiful flowers for sale (we were so tempted to buy some even though we were basically living out of our car for the next few days.) If you’re lucky, someone will purchase a fish from the market while you’re there and they’ll toss it around before bagging it up!
There are so many places nearby to choose from for lunch. We ended up going with Seattle Dumpling Co. and even watched them make some soup dumplings while we waited in line.
CityPass
I recommend getting the CityPass while you’re in Seattle. It is worth the money if there are several attractions you want to see. The attractions included in the pass are the Space Needle and Seattle Aquarium and then you also get to choose 3 of the following:
- Chihuly Garden and Glass
- Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour
- Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP)
- Woodland Park Zoo
- Pacific Science Center (this is new and was not included when we went)
The pass is $127 ages 13+ and $97 ages 5-12. This may seem expensive, but in comparison, a Space Needle ticket with the Chihuly add-on is $67.50 for adults and the Argosy Cruise is $54 for adults, so you are essentially getting two other attractions for free.
The pass is valid for 9 days after purchase, so you don’t have to do everything on the same day! On this first full day in Seattle, we did the Argosy Harbor Tour first, and then later in the evening went to the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass.
Seattle Great Wheel
Another popular attraction we did (not included in the CityPass) was the Seattle Great Wheel. Tickets are only $18 for adults and $13 for children. This was one of our favorite things we did in Seattle. The views were absolutely amazing!
Day 3: Olympic National Park & Forks
Now that we’ve tackled Seattle, it’s time to explore Olympic National Park!
Our first activity in the park was hiking the Staircase Rapids trail, which was around a 2.5 hour drive from Seattle. The Staircase Rapids Loop Trail is 2 miles long and has a bridge you cross that overlooks the Skokomish River. Making our way counterclockwise around the park, our next stop was Lake Crescent. Here you can stop and hike the Marymere Falls Trail which is 1.8 miles long and has a 90 foot waterfall at the end!
Rialto Beach
After Lake Crescent, our next stop was Rialto Beach. We chose this beach specifically to do the 1.5 mile hike to the “Hole-in-the-Wall.” Be sure to look at the tide schedule to make sure you’re going at a time where the tide is low enough! This is something that we didn’t even think about before going, but thankfully it ended up being the perfect time.
Forks, Washington
“In the state of Washington, under a near constant cover of clouds and rain, there is a small town named Forks”
The perfect place to stay for the night is Forks! If you’re a Twilight fan, then you already know that this is where the Twilight Saga takes place. There are a few filming locations in the town that you can stop and see like the high school and Bella’s house. There are even Twilight stores along the main street.
Day 4: Olympic National Park
Hoh Rainforest
Less than an hour away from Forks, you’ll definitely want to spend some time in the Hoh Rainforest. This place is like no other, it feels like stepping into a magical fairytale. Hoh Rainforest is the greenest place I’ve ever seen, with moss and ferns covering the forest floor and trees. We were even able to see some Roosevelt Elk right behind the Visitor Center!
While we were here, we did two short hikes:
- The Hall of Mosses trail: .8 mile loop
- The Spruce Nature Trail: 1.2 mile loop
Disclaimer: Since we went during the very early spring, a lot of the popular trails were closed, like Hurricane Ridge for example.
Cape Flattery
Cape Flattery is the most northwest point in the contiguous United States. Since it is a part of the Makah Reservation, you will need to purchase a Recreation Pass. The pass can be purchased at various locations within the Reservation (we purchased ours at a gas station) or you can purchase them online here: Makah Recreation Pass. The trail to get down to the viewpoint is an easy .75 mile with sections that are boardwalks. This was my FAVORITE part of the trip. And to think we almost skipped it! I’ve never seen such blue water surrounded by so much green, it was absolutely stunning.
Day 5: Portland, OR
Originally, this was supposed to be our day at Mount Rainier National Park. Unfortunately, the park was closed because of how much it had snowed that week. So, we did a little last minute researching, and decided to make a day trip down to Portland!
For lunch, we went to Mississippi Marketplace (4233 N Mississippi Ave). There were 6 or 7 different food trucks set up with a bunch of picnic tables. Hayley got a sushi burrito, and I got some BBQ.
For dessert, we decided to stop at a couple different donut places. We got a few from Voodoo Donuts and a couple mochi donuts from Mikiko Mochi Donuts.
Multnomah Falls
After getting our fill of donuts, we made our way over to Multnomah Falls, only a short 30-minute drive from Portland. There is a small parking lot with only a couple spots right along the highway that goes past the waterfall. If that lot is full, there’s a much bigger lot along the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway. Once you make your way over to the falls, there is a gift and coffee shop before you start on the trail up to the actual waterfall. It is only a .2 mile walk to get to the bridge, or you can walk a mile to get to the top of the falls.
Dinner: Din Tai Fung
For dinner, we headed back to Seattle. After seeing people rave about Din Tai Fung online, we had to try it. We chose to get takeout from the restaurant located near the University of Washington.
Day 6: North Cascades National Park & Early Spring Activities
Since cherry blossom season was in full spring (pun intended) we started off the morning by heading over to the University of Washington! The university’s quad is full of beautiful cherry blossom trees, it made us feel like we were back in Washington D.C.
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
On our way to North Cascades National Park, we made a pit stop at the tulip festival! In a normal year, this would’ve been the perfect time to go, but since Washington had a harsh winter this year, the flowers were blooming about a week or two later than usual. Although we didn’t get to see many tulips, we saw a bunch of daffodils and hyacinths! If we’re ever able to return to Washington in the spring, we will definitely be making another visit to the festival, hopefully when they’re in bloom. This is a must do if you are visiting Washington in the early spring!
North Cascades National Park
Even though over half of this park was closed for the winter, we still wanted to go and see what we could. And boy, are we glad we did! Going while the mountains were still snowcapped made the views even more spectacular. We drove as far into the park as we could and then turned around so we could stop at all the overlooks along the road. The Diablo Lake overlook offered amazing views of the snowcapped mountains. We were even able to hike Thunder Knob trail which is 3.6 miles roundtrip and has an elevation gain of 425 feet. I can’t believe this is one of the least visited National Parks.
Day 7: Starbucks Roastery & Aquarium
We had some time to kill before our flight home, so we started off the morning by going to the Starbucks Reserve and Roastery for breakfast. They have food items on their menu you can only get here, as well as a few different coffee flights.
Wanting to use up another attraction on our CityPass, we chose to go to the Aquarium. Since it was around Spring Break, I think a lot of the schools nearby were on field trips. The aquarium was absolutely packed. In hindsight, I wish we would’ve gone to the Museum of Pop Culture instead.
Other Things About This Itinerary:
- Obviously, we ate more than what we included. On the first night of the trip, we stopped at a store to get groceries to make sandwiches, breakfast, and snacks for the week. So, there were a lot of meals of just PB&Js in the car and some fast-food stops. There were also a couple restaurants I just wouldn’t recommend so I didn’t include those either.
- We prefer staying in the same place several nights in a row and making day trips. If you don’t care about staying in a new place every night or want to spend less time driving, then instead of staying in Seattle, you could find a new place to stay each night in whatever town you end the day.
- Again, since it was winter/early spring this is not the typical itinerary you would find. We weren’t able to do a lot of things because of the weather. But this just means we get to go back and explore in the summer!
Places/Things We Want to See Next Time!
- Snoqualmie Falls
- Mt. Rainier National Park
- Tree of Life