Mt Rainier post cruise pre flight

Just wondering post cruise with flight at 1130 pm. Would Mt Rainier be do able with this much time. Also are there any rental cars at pier 91?

Yes it's doable; no there aren't any cars at T91. Instead, there's a kiosk for National/Alamo at the pier; they will shuttle you to the downtown rental station where you can get the car and hit the road.

(I should say that it's been National/Alamo in previous years, and I'm assuming it will be again this year, but probably worth a phone call to check.)

It's around 2 - 2 1/2 hours from downtown Seattle to Paradise on Mt. Rainier, around half an hour quicker returning to the airport from the mountain. Easily doable in a day trip, as are numerous other destinations.

What other destinations would you suggest? We are a family of 4 2 girls 13 and 16. We will be in Seattle 2 days prior to cruise and would be doing Seattle downtown area then. Thank You for your assistance

What other destinations would you suggest? We are a family of 4 2 girls 13 and 16. We will be in Seattle 2 days prior to cruise and would be doing Seattle downtown area then. Thank You for your assistance

How full/long a day are you willing to plan? Assuming you want to be at the airport by 9:30 or so in order to turn in the car and check in, then you could conceivably make it out to vampire country and back, if your girls are caught up in Twilight mania. Pick up the car and take the Bainbridge Island ferry from downtown Seattle. From Bainbridge it's around a 90 min. drive to Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula, another hour to Forks. Coming back, you could avoid ferry waits by going via US 101 to Tacoma, across the Narrows bridges, and back to the airport via I-5.

Or, for a less ambitious trip, you could drive north to the Mukilteo - Whidbey Island ferry (SR 526 from I-5 to Mukilteo passes the Boeing widebody plant, biggest building in the world, also the site of the Boeing factory tour.) On Whidbey, you can stop at the very cute waterfront villages of Langley and Coupeville, then continue over the Deception Pass Bridge (very scenic) and back to the mainland, then south on I-5 to Seattle, passing a giant outlet mall in the process, if any shopping is still on the agenda.

Or, from Coupeville on Whidbey you could take another ferry to Port Townsend, a very attractive town with a lot of fabulous Victorian architecture, then drive back to Bainbridge (reverse of above) and into Seattle.

Either of the Whidbey-plus days are very enjoyable and involve less constant sitting in a car than either Mt. Rainier or the Forks excursion.

Thank You so much I will check with the girls and hubby to see which they would like to do better. We almost considered trying to change flights to another airport to see other states but would have cost too much to change. We probably would shoot to get to the airport for 930 so we wouldn't have to hang out too long there.

We are staying at the Hyatt olive 8 how far is the light rail from there? Thanks Again Carolyn

We are staying at the Hyatt olive 8 how far is the light rail from there? Thanks Again Carolyn

The light rail station is located at 4th & Pine. Head west on Olive for about 4-5 blocks from Oive 8. The station is located near the Westlake Center.

Expand the map of the Westlake Center area on the Light Rail web site:

http://www.soundtransit.org/Rider-Guide/Westlake-Station.xml

Great suggestions from gardyloo; I love Whidbey Island but I also love the ocean. If you don't want to do a lot of driving along the coast you could head south from Seattle, past Aberdeen to Ocean Shores. Great kite flying there. Bring a jacket; it gets cold by the water.

You could also spend a 2nd day in Seattle. Visit Discovery Park for hiking, a lighthouse, culture center and views of the sound.

http://www.seattle.gov/tour/discov.htm

Ride the water taxi to Alki Beach, West Seattle. Rent kayaks on Lake Union and paddle by the Sleepless in Seattle houseboat.

Thank you all for your assistance.

take a cab to the airport, pick up a rental car, go to Mt Rainier and return the car at the airport before your flight.

Stay flexible. I live with a view of Mount Rainier, but I only get to see the mountain when it's clear. There are no guarantees on weather and you are just as likely to have clouds and gray skies as sunshine. If it is cloudy you can drive all the way to the Mountain and not be able to see it. There are plenty of things to do in Seattle when the weather is iffy without spending the entire day in the car.

Stay flexible. I live with a view of Mount Rainier, but I only get to see the mountain when it's clear. There are no guarantees on weather and you are just as likely to have clouds and gray skies as sunshine. If it is cloudy you can drive all the way to the Mountain and not be able to see it.

Very true!

Thank you for that info.

If you can see the mountain from the airport, it would be a good day to drive up. Another suggestion would be to drive to Snoqualmie Falls

GREAT suggestions

If you're thinking about visiting Mt Rainer, look at the web cams. It can be cloudy in Seattle but totally clear at the mountain.

http://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm#CP_JUMP_696846

Another option to consider is Mt St Helens. Viewing the crater in the side of the mountain while standing at the visitor center is pretty amazing.

Let me be a little dark cloud on the suggestions for ferry-inclusive trips; the ferry system gets VERY busy on summer weekends and you are at serious risk of a two-hour or longer delay eastbound on *any* of these corridors at any time of day. Tides can also affect sailings. I beg you, as someone who commutes on the ferry, if you are out touring and then heading to the airport for a late flight, leave enough slack in your schedule that you can drive around rather than sail if the system goes into chaos (boat goes out, heavy traffic, trains block loading at Edmonds, accident on Bainbridge Island). Itineraries involving Whidbey Island (Clinton, Keystone) are especially risky this way as the drive option is a long detour and using the other terminal on the island will put you hours out of the way of where you intended to end up.

If your plan is to use Kingston, Bainbridge Island, Bremerton or Southworth, familiarize yourself with a contingency plan that involves either an alternate terminal (check the website for wait times) or turning around, getting back on Hwy 3 to Hwy 16, crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and proceeding to the airport via I-5. This takes about 1:45 from the Kingston or Bainbridge terminals, 1:15 from Bremerton or Southworth. The ferries provide a gorgeous, safe, affordable mechanism to experience life on the water as we live it, but they are (aging) mechanical systems run in salt water in an era of declining budges with thinly-spread crews, so the system isn't resilient to insults, and I wouldn't want anyone disappointed by their lack of reliability on their way home or to the pier.

rent a car and go up to snoqualmie pass...take a short hike into the woods, or just look around. some nature trails are to be found near to the pass.

or even just drive up to stevens pass..a little more remote...about 1.5-2 hours one way from seattle with no construction. if there is construction forget it.

rent a car and go up to snoqualmie pass...take a short hike into the woods, or just look around. some nature trails are to be found near to the pass.

 

or even just drive up to stevens pass..a little more remote...about 1.5-2 hours one way from seattle with no construction. if there is construction forget it.

The drive up to Snoqualmie Pass on I-90 is pretty, but the summit is the less memorable of the two. Between the two of these drives, I would pick Stevens Pass on US Hwy 2--spectacular mountain scenery, more places worth stopping (a few cute little towns, hiking trails, a waterfall or two). If you're ambitious, Leavenworth is a an exceedingly cute, touristy little Bavarian-themed town on the other side of the pass. There's some good German food and beer there, and souvenir shopping, but it's absolutely mobbed on weekends--if you're at all crowd-averse, skip it unless you're going on a weekday. You can make a loop and continue past Leavenworth, take Hwy 97 south over Blewett Pass and down to I-90, and come back over Snoqualmie Pass--but that may not allow for a lot of long stops along the way unless you get a pretty early start.

if you rent downtown almost all will let you drop at Seatac for free. Enterprise will charge but most won't. I'd avoid the ferry also. If you go south at least you will be closer to the airport but personally I get nervous when trying to fly out of a strange airport and not knowing the traffic etc etc.

Heading towards Tacoma and visit Pt. Defiance zoo and or park would be nice or the water park (Wild Waves) south of the airport in Federal Way.