From Wikitravel Shared

Often referred to by its full title, Washington State, to distinguish it from Washington (D.C.), Washington [1] offers rugged coastline, mountains, volcanoes, and hundreds of coastal islands to explore. The Cascade Mountains bisect the state, with the damp forested coastal areas to the west, and pineforests, deserts and irrigated farmland of the Columbia River Plateau to the east.

[edit] Regions

• Puget Sound, with Seattle, the state's largest city; King County, filled with the Seattle metropolitan area; and the islands and waters between Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula
• The San Juan Islands, a scattering of forested islands in the serene waters adjacent to British Columbia. Ferries, private boats, kayaks, and orca (whales) criss-cross the waters, while float planes and bald eagles soar overhead
• the Olympic Peninsula on the west coast, with rain forests against a spine of dramatic mountains
• Southwest Washington
• North Cascades
• Columbia River Plateau
• Rocky Mountains
• Palouse

[edit] Cities

There are many cities in Washington; these are some of the more popular.

• Bellevue - Fifth largest city in state. Major commercial center on Eastside of Lake Washington with a quickly growing downtown.
• Bellingham - Home of Western Washington University. Near Canadian border.
• Olympia - State capital and hub of the fast growing South Sound area
• Seattle - the largest city in the Pacific Northwest. Home of the University of Washington.
• Spokane -- Second largest city in Washington, unofficial capital of the Inland Empire.
• Tacoma - Third largest city in state. Major port and several good museums downtown.
• Vancouver - Fourth largest city in Washington. Across Columbia River from Portland, Oregon.
• Walla Walla - at the heart of southeast Washington's blooming wine country
• Yakima -- the self billed 'Palm Springs of Washington'

[edit] Other destinations

• Klondike Gold Rush - Seattle Unit National Historical Park - Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park preserves the story of the 1897-98 stampede to the Yukon gold fields and Seattle's role in this event
• Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail - Between May 1804 and September 1806, 32 men, one woman, and a baby traveled from the plains of the Midwest to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They called themselves the Corps of Discovery
• Mount Rainier National Park - 14,410 feet volcano. Contains more snow and ice than all other Cascade range volcanos combined
• Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument - At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted and life in the area was altered for better and for worse
• Nez Perce National Historical Park - Since time immemorial, the Nimiipuu or Nez Perce have lived among the rivers, canyons and prairies of the inland northwest
• North Cascades National Park - Home to 50% of all glaciers in the lower 48 states
• Olympic National Park - Temperate rain forest, rugged Olympic Mountains and wild coastline
• San Juan Island National Historical Park - here in 1859 the United States and Great Britain nearly went to war over a dead pig

[edit] Understand

[edit] Talk

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, (IATA: SEA), called "SeaTac" by locals, connects Seattle to all regions of the world, with especially frequent transpacific routes. Alaska Airlines provides something approximating discount air fare to and from the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California.

Spokane International Airport, (IATA: GEG). Most flights go to Seattle, Portland (Oregon), Boise, Oakland (across from San Francisco), Salt Lake City, Denver, Phoenix and Minneapolis. One flight to Chicago.

Portland International Airport, (IATA: PDX) is just one mile across the state line in Oregon. For SW Washington this is the nearest major airport. One non-stop from Tokyo.

Vancouver International Airport (IATA: YVR) is in Canada 27 miles (44 km) from the border. You will have to go through US customs at Blaine, Washington. For US residents, going through customs twice probably isn't worth it, unless you want to see the Vancouver area also. For Canadians wanting to go to the San Juan Islands, it's the best choice. Also has lots of international flights.

Yakima Air Terminal (IATA: YKM) is a commuter airport with turboprop aircraft, but the largest in the center of the state. Connections are via Seattle-Tacoma.

[edit] By train

Amtrak has 3 routes into Seattle's King Street Station. These routed are Amtrak Cascades, Coast Starlight and Empire Builder

[edit] By car

[edit] From British Columbia

Interstate 5 and the Peace Arch [2] crossing is the main port-of-entry to Washington from Canada, though expect to be in queue for awhile when crossing here. An alternative to crossing at the Peace Arch, is to take the Pacific Crossing [3] via British Columbia Provencial Route 15, which typicaly has much shorter queues, and is the commercial truck crossing. It continues on as Washington State Route 543, and runs right onto Interstate 5. Both crossings are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

[edit] From Oregon

Interstate 5 (and Interstate 205) provide access from the greater Portland area. Interstate 82 / US 395 provides access from eastern Oregon to the tri-cities area of Eastern Washington. For a more scenic entry, try taking US Route 101 along the Washington and Oregon coast, but be aware for the numerous speed traps in the small cities.

[edit] From Idaho

Interstate 90 is the main route in via Coeur D'Alene, but US 2 provides access to the northern parts of Idaho and Washington.

[edit] By bus

[edit] Get around

Greyhound Bus Company [[4]] has the largest bus route system in the state, mostly along the Interstates 5 and 90.

[edit] See

Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens

[edit] Do

• Go hiking in the Ape Caves
• Visit the San Juan Islands (southeast of Vancouver Island, Canada)
• Go skiing at Mount Baker
• Go rock climbing at Frenchman Coulee

[edit] Eat

Locally grown produce and seafood.

[edit] Drink

Local wines and micro beers. Espresso very popular, especially in downtown Seattle.

Specialty coffee (high quality Arabica coffee beans roasted with greater emphasis on taste and freshness) arguably has its birthplace here. Starbucks and Tully's are apparent brands that most associate specialty coffee with Seattle. However, many small local companies are the ones that have paved the way (and continue to do so) in pioneering the specialty coffee industry. When you visit Seattle, be sure to check out these renowned coffee roasters(in no particular order):

Espresso Vivace Caffe Vita Zoka Coffee Victrola Coffee Stumptown Coffee Caffe Appassionato Caffe Umbria Caffe Fiore Fonte Coffee Pura Vida Vashon Island Coffee Lighthouse Coffee Caffe D'Arte Tony's Coffee/Caffe Ladro Top Pot Donuts & Coffee Batdorf & Bronson Mukilteo Coffee Moka Joe Coffee Pioneer Coffee

[edit] Stay safe

[edit] Get out

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