My wife, 4 kids and I recently toured Vancouver, Seattle and Portland for a “stay close to home holiday”. I know that Vancouver is always ranked among the most livable cities in the world but spending time in these cities as a tourist really proved why… the Pacific Northwest is a wonderful place.
We traveled Whistler/Bellingham/Seattle/Portland/Bend and back over 2 weeks. The Quick Shuttle (Quick Coach) bus service from Vancouver to Bellingham and Vancouver to Seattle is something that we know well as it is one of our number one selling routes. With our Vancouver/Seattle transportation taken care of it was the activities, restaurants and vibe that pleasantly caught us off guard. Living in a little mountain town (Whistler, BC) we have always had an aversion to big cities, but we both agreed that Vancouver, Seattle and Portland are now officially the big cities that we would choose to live in if forced to.
In Seattle we toured the city by “riding the ducks“, which will blow your kids minds. We decided to pretend it was just a regular old bus tour and when the bus drove into the water our 5 yr old and our 7 yr old almost lost their minds. In Portland we stopped for coffee and Stumptown Coffee, donuts at Voodoo Donuts,wandered the city and decided that when we return (which we will) that we’ll stay at Ace Hotel.
Other things to do in Seattle:
- Experience Music Project (Rock’n'Roll Museum) at Seattle Center.
- Science Fiction Museum at Seattle Center.
- Space Needle. dominates Seattle’s skyline and although we didn’t go up I expect the view is outstanding.
- Pike Place Market which is a great place to shop and just to be.
- Starbucks the original home of the coffee giant.
Other things to do in Portland:
- Any McMenamin’s location. These pub/restaurant/movie theaters/tonnes of other things are a wonderful break from chain shopping and the predictable.
- Old Wive’s Tales is a great restaurant for kids and wonderful organic and vegetarian eating.
- Powell’s Bookstore is a must if you like shopping for used books or catching an author talking about their book. This has quickly become one of our favorite spots.
In the end I think our greatest discovery was that these cities are wonderfully entertaining on their own. We really didn’t have to spend a lot of money to thoroughly enjoy ourselves. Kid friendly and wonderful to just wander.




