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Published: 1/10/2025
Where To Day Trip from Seattle, Washington
Sure, there’s plenty to do and see in Seattle, Washington. But one of the best things about the Pacific Northwest city is the wide variety of day trips you can take when you use Seattle as your home base. With mountains on one side and Puget Sound on the other, you don’t have to travel far to escape Seattle’s urban landscape.
With an easy 35-minute ferry ride across Puget Sound, you can reach peaceful, small town Bainbridge Island. If you hit the road, you’re only a couple hours from world-class hikes through the Cascade Mountains, a stroll through North America’s largest tulip fields, or some whale watching in the Salish Sea.
Even better, these day trips use a mix of public transportation, private tours, and rental car, so you can craft the perfect Seattle day trip for you and your group here even if you’d rather not tangle with Seattle’s notoriously heavy traffic.
All these day trips are less than a 200-mile drive from Seattle. While you can easily do the round-trip travel in a single day, for my furthest afield suggestions like Mount St. Helens or the Olympic Peninsula, you may prefer make your travels a weekend escape. And some destinations, like La Conner, WA, are so charming, they just beg for an overnight stay.
In this post, you’ll discover what I consider the 7 best day trips from Seattle. I’ll share how to get to each destination, what to do once you reach them, and of course, what makes them so special. I’m also including lodging suggestions in case you decide to turn the trip into an overnight.
Read on to craft the perfect day trip (or two!) to include in your Seattle itinerary.
1. Bainbridge Island
If your schedule in Seattle is pretty tight, but you still want to venture beyond downtown, Bainbridge Island is your perfect day trip option.
Located practically within spitting distance of Seattle’s waterfront, Bainbridge Island can be reached in less than 40 minutes. This very residential 27-square mile island is best accessed via a 10-mile ferry ride across Puget Sound. The ferry runs about once an hour, both to and from the island.
Even if you don’t want to do anything on Bainbridge Island, the ferry ride is an easy and affordable way to get on the water and enjoy an excellent view of Seattle’s skyline. You only pay the outbound ferry fare (as of 1/1/25: $10.25 for adult pedestrians), so you can hop on any ferry when you’re ready to return to the city.
Plan Your Bainbridge Island Day Trip
Why Visit: Bainbridge Island offers a quaint island escape from Seattle’s urban bustle. Come to soak up smalltown Pacific Northwest vibes besides Puget Sound.
How To Get There: You can drive to Bainbridge Island if you really want. However, the most convenient (and fun!) way to reach it is via Washington State Ferries. Board the ferry at the terminal on the south end of the Seattle waterfront near Pioneer Square. If Bainbridge Island is your final destination for the day, I recommend traveling as a pedestrian. There’s plenty to do within walking distance of the ferry terminal and there’s no reason to faff about with a car.
What To Do: Stroll down the island’s main street – Winslow Way – to visit various small businesses like Blackbird Bakery and Eagle Harbor Book Company. In the summer, consider grabbing an ice cream at one of the various ice cream shops and strolling through Eagle Harbor Park. For lunch, check out a waterfront café like Harbour Public House or Doc’s Marina Grill.
There are several museums within easy walking distance from the ferry terminal including a Kids Discovery Museum, a local history museum, and the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. My friend and I opted to spend our time on the island making our pottery souvenirs at Bainbridge HeArt and Soul: DIY Art. Reservations aren’t required, so just swing by if you feel like to make art!
If You Stay Overnight: If you’re not ready to leave after a day on the island, you could check into Eagle Harbor Inn.
2. San Juan Islands
In my opinion, the best day trip option from Seattle is heading north to the San Juan Islands. This archipelago of more than 400 islands sits in the middle of the Salish Sea between Washington State and British Columbia. Rural and scenic, these wooded islands offer lush Pacific Northwest forest, farmland, vineyards, and small towns studded with art galleries and coffee shops.
Just be prepared: a day trip to the San Juans is a full day. But getting there is half the fun. Be sure to watch for whales on the ferry crossing to one of the San Juans’ four main islands: Lopez, Orcas, San Juan, or Shaw.
Plan Your San Juan Islands Day Trip
Why Visit: The San Juans are gorgeous and unique. With multiple state parks, secluded beaches, wildlife viewing opportunities, and a vibrant arts community, you won’t struggle to fill a day here.
How To Get There: The easiest and most affordable way to reach the islands is to make the hour and a half drive up to Anacortes, WA. From there, take a Washington State Ferry (and your car!) to the island of your choice.
If that all sounds like too much work, and you’re visiting during the summer, check to see if the San Juan Clipper is up and running. This is the only transportation option to the San Juans that allows you to depart directly from downtown Seattle.
What To Do: If it’s your first trip to the San Juans, I recommend visiting either San Juan or Orcas Islands.
On San Juan, be sure to do some whale watching at Lime Kiln Point State Park and visit the San Juan Island National Historical Park. You’ll find plenty to do in the island’s main town – Friday Harbor – as well including coffee shops, a Saturday market, and a whale museum.
Orcas Island is a great place for nature lovers. Drive to the top of Mt. Constitution for stunning views across the San Juan Islands and Salish Sea. Be sure to hike around Moran State Park, especially to scenic and easily accessible Cascade Falls. If you want to spend some time at a beach, continue on Obstruction Pass State Park.
Whichever island you opt to visit, you don’t want to miss a seafood dinner overlooking the ocean. A glass of wine- from one of the local vineyards or tasting rooms – won’t go amiss either.
If You Stay Overnight: Doe Bay Resort and Retreat is a favorite, secluded spot on Orcas Island. On San Juan, consider conveniently located Friday Harbor House.
3. Skagit Valley
Many Seattle visitors don’t consider visiting the Skagit Valley while they’re in the area. Even though you have to drive straight through the valley on the way to the San Juan Islands ferry terminal in Anacortes, it never crossed my mind to stop on my first trip to the San Juans.
While on its surface, this fertile valley tucked between the Cascades and Puget Sound just looks like a stretch of farmland (not exactly the most exciting to a kid from the Midwest . . . ), the crops grown here are pretty unique. In fact, the valley is home to the largest tulip fields in North America. The spring daffodil and tulip bloom is magnificent!
Plan Your Skagit Valley Day Trip
Why Visit: This relatively small geographical area is home to picturesque small towns, leisurely walks, kayaking opportunities, and obviously, acres and acres of tulip bulbs. While April, when the area holds its annual tulip festival, is primetime for visiting Skagit Valley, don’t write off visiting outside of the tulip bloom.
How To Get There: The easiest way to reach the Skagit Valley is by car. You can reach Mt. Vernon in about an 1 hour 20 minute drive from downtown Seattle.
What To Do: RoozenGaarde tulip farm, with its 5 acre display garden can be enjoyed year-round. Visit La Conner on the Swinomish Channel if only to visit the excellent Museum of Northwest Art on the main street.
If you’ve planned ahead, swing into King Arthur Baking School outside of Burlington for a morning or afternoon spent perfecting a baking skill. Choose from the dozens of ice cream flavors at the Snow Goose Produce farm stand for an afternoon pick me up.
At the end of your day, head up beautiful Chuckanut Drive, which runs along the Salish Sea between the Skagit Valley and Bellingham, WA.
If You Stay Overnight: La Conner often wins the designation of “best Seattle getaway” and this charming Victorian small town is the perfect place to base if you’re planning to spend the night in Skagit Valley. Consider Hotel Planter right on main street and don’t miss the historic soda fountain on this boutique hotel’s first floor.
4. Victoria, British Columbia
Don’t want to lift a finger on your Seattle day trip? Hop aboard the Victoria Clipper at Pier 69 on the Seattle waterfront and head for Victoria, British Columbia.
Clipper Vacations operates a fast ferry which runs daily to Victoria on the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island. The company has a plethora of day trip packages to choose from.
Do be prepared for the sail to the main event of the day. You may spend significantly more time abroad the ferry than you will at whichever Canadian destination you choose, especially if you’re visiting in the winter.
Plan Your Victoria, B.C. Day Trip
Why Visit: Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and is home to world class museums, gardens, and stunning Victorian architecture. Plus, who doesn’t love day tripping to another country?
How To Get There: The Victoria Clipper Ferry makes the one-way trip to Victoria in just under three hours.
What To Do: You have about 4 -6 hours in Victoria before the ferry sets sail back to Seattle depending on what time of year you visit. You can certainly explore the town independently, orm if you have a specific destination in mind, chances are that Clipper Vacations has a day trip package for it.
Popular day trip destinations include tea at the Fairmont Empress Hotel, a tour of the Malahat Skywalk and the Royal BC Museum. If you want to go to Butchart Gardens – a 55 acre botanical garden about 12 miles outside of downtown Victoria – I recommend booking the day trip through Clipper Vacations so that they can help with transportation.
If You Stay Overnight: If this all sounds a little rushed, you can definitely spend the night in Victoria and catch the ferry back to Seattle the next day. A favorite place to stay right next to the ferry docks is the historic Fairmont Empress. Other good nearby options include the Strathcona and Chateau Victoria.
Good To Know: You will need your passport to make this trip. Canada might be our friendly neighbor to the north, but it’s still a foreign country.
5. Olympic Peninsula
Across Puget Sound from Seattle you’ll find the Olympic Peninsula, a mountainous region surrounded by salt water on three sides. It feels so wild, it’s hard to believe Seattle is less than an hour away.
Together, the Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest make the peninsula’s center impenetrable by cars. However, you can drive a circle around the peninsula’s coasts on Hwy 101.
Plan Your Olympic Peninsula Day Trip
Why Visit: Remote and rugged, the Olympic Peninsula feels a world away from Seattle. Come for easy hikes through the National Park and National Forest, stunning Pacific Ocean beaches, and spectacular views of waterfalls and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. If you’re a Twilight fan, you’ll want to swing by Forks, WA, the setting of the popular vampire series from the 2000s.
How To Get There: If you’re based in Seattle, the fastest way to access the peninsula is to take your car across Puget Sound via the ferry to Bainbridge Island. From there, head north to start a counterclockwise circle of the peninsula.
What To Do: Stop for views across the Strait of Juan de Fuca at one of the beaches along the peninsula’s north shore, like Murdock Beach. As always whenever around the Salish Sea, watch for whales!
Be sure to swing by the Olympic National Park and consider doing a moderate hike through the Elwha Valley. Don’t miss Hoh Rainforest and La Push Beach on the peninsula’s west coast.
If You Stay Overnight: Since the most interesting parts of the Olympic Peninsula are the peninsula’s west coast, you may prefer to spend the night to avoid a long return drive back to Seattle. Quileute Oceanside Resort overlooking the stunning La Push Beach is great place to kick your feet up. Otherwise grab a hotel in the town made famous by the Twilight series: Forks, WA.
6. Mount Saint Helens
Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range south of Seattle and Mount Rainier. Perhaps a little too far afield from downtown Seattle to truly by considered a day trip – it’s a 120 mile drive to the visitor center and another 25 miles beyond that to reach the actual mountain crater – I do think Mount St. Helens is well worth visiting if you have time in your Seattle itinerary.
And yes, I do live in northern Minnesota and drive an hour (each way) to get groceries, so anything under 200 miles qualifies as a day trip for me.
Plan Your Mount St. Helens Day Trip
Why Visit: It’s a still active volcano. I mean . . . why wouldn’t you? It’s one of the coolest geothermal phenomena in the continental United States outside of Yellowstone.
How To Get There: From Seattle, make the 120-mile drive down to Castle Rock, WA, then turn onto Highway 504 to reach the actual mountain.
What To Do: Make your first stop the Mt. St. Helens Interpretative Center outside of Silver Lake. The center provides a comprehensive overview of the surrounding forest ecology and of course the 1980 natural disaster that killed 57 people and destroyed over 200 buildings. The exhibits were recently updated in Winter 2025.
After the center, hike the nearby the Wetland Haven Trail near the visitor center, then continue up Highway 504 to see the troublesome volcano itself. (Just know, if it’s overcast like it was during my visit, you might just be driving up into a cloud.)
At Coldwater Science and Learning Center, you can hike Hummocks Trail, a 2.4 mile loop, that traverses through the regenerating forest and passes by hunks (or hummocks) of Mt. St. Helens’ peak that blew off in the 1980 blast.
If You Stay Overnight: Mt. St. Helens is quite rural. The closest lodging is Mt. St. Helens Motel in Castle Rock.
Good To Know: Be prepared for heavy traffic on I-5 as you come into Seattle, regardless of time of day. Johnston Observatory, generally considered the best place to view the crater, is currently closed due a 2023 landslide cutting off road access. It is expected to reopen no later than spring 2027.
7. Mount Rainier National Park
In Seattle, people often say, “Is the mountain out today?”
What they mean is: can you see Mt. Rainier? The distinctive snow-capped mountain is the tallest mountain in the Cascades and serves as a slightly ominous observer of the Seattle metro area. It’s widely speculated that Mt Rainier which is also an active stratovolcano just like Mt. St. Helens will one day erupt and cause a natural disaster of a magnitude that’s almost unimaginable.
While the mountain is often obscured by clouds for days on end, if the mountain is out on a day during your Seattle trip, it’s well worth your while to make the trip to this distinctive Seattle landmark.
Plan Your Mount Rainier National Park Day Trip
Why Visit: The park is known for its stunning hikes and alpine vistas. The park is especially stunning in the spring when the mountain meadows burst with wildflowers.
How To Get There: The park sits about 60 miles south of Seattle, but depending on what you want to do and see, it will take you about two hours to drive to the national park attractions of your choice. If you don’t want to drive yourself, there are several Seattle companies that offer Mt. Rainier day trips.
What To Do: If it’s your first visit to Mt. Rainier, head to the mountain’s south side to the Henry M Jackson Memorial Visitor Center in Paradise. Along the way to the visitor center, do some easy day hikes like Niqually Vista Trailhead or Bench and Snow Lake Trail. You can also stop at favorite vistas like Christine Falls Bridge and Rickseeker Point.
If you want a longer hike on the actual mountain and a look at the Nisqually Glacier, check out the Skyline Trail at the Jackson Visitor Center.
If You Stay Overnight: There’s an abundance of vacation rentals surrounding the National Park. If you’ve opted to visit the south side of the mountain, consider a stay at Paradise Village Hotel and Restaurant or the historic Alexander’s Lodge.
Other Seattle Day Trip Ideas
Looking for more fun escapes from downtown Seattle? Here are some other favorite day trip options.
Snoqualmie Falls
This dramatic 268-ft tall waterfall in the Snoqualmie Valley can be reached in just a 30 minute drive from downtown Seattle. The falls are accessed via a 1.4 mile hike. Known for being featured in this tv series, Twin Peaks, the waterfall is more than 100 ft taller than Niagara Falls.
Leavenworth
Is Washington State the best state to visit if you want a European vacation but can’t be bothered with jetlag? After you check out the Skagit Valley tulip fields which rival the Netherlands’ and visit Leavenworth, WA, a ski town fashioned to resemble a Bavarian mountain village, you might think so! The town sits deep in the Cascades, about 2 hours outside of Seattle.
North Cascades National Park
You can reach North Cascades National Park in about a two-hour drive north out of Seattle. If you can only stay for the day, this day trip will be pretty driving heavy as you make the scenic drive on Hwy 20 through the park. Be sure to stop at the visitor center, Trail of the Cedars, Diablo Lake, and Gorge Pass
Other Activities:
Conclusion: Where To Go For The Best Day Trips Outside Seattle
As you can see, the greater Seattle area has a lot to offer. In fact, with these spectacular day trip options, you could easily fill your Seattle itinerary without spending a single day in the city!
Whether you’re looking for a quiet smalltown getaway on nearby Bainbridge Island or a rigorous hike to an alpine lake high in the Cascade Mountains, you’re only ever a couple hours travel from your next great Pacific Northwest adventure.
My personal favorite Seattle day trip is taking the ferry from Anacortes to the remote and charming San Juan Islands. Another favorite is to hike through the moss-covered trees of the Hoh Rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula and observe the raw power of the Pacific Ocean from La Push Beach.
With three national parks – Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic– within a two-hour drive of Seattle, it’s easy to get outside. If you want to combine history with your outdoor adventure, head down to Mount St. Helens to learn about the mountain’s historic volcanic eruption in 1980.
While Seattle day trips trend heavily towards outdoor adventure, you’ll find more indoorsy day trips in Victoria, BC, and Skagit Valley. If you’re left looking for even more, consider adding Snoqualmie Falls or Leavenworth to your plans.
I hope this gives you some excellent ideas for your own Pacific Northwest day trip in western Washington state. If you use this post to plan your Seattle trip, drop me a line and let me know which day trip option you chose. I always love to hear about your adventures!
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