Seattle Holidays
Sample itineraries
Northern Explorer - 10 night Rail Adventure
From £1395
Highlights:
- The Willis Tower & Shedd Aquarium in Chicago
- Cruise across Lake Michigan
- Seattle’s Space Needle
- Pike Place Market in Seattle
-
The San Juan Islands and whale watching (in-season)
- Washington State Ferry service around Seattle’s harbour
- Alcatraz island
- Pier 39
- Golden Gate Bridge
- Chinatown in San Francisco
- The historic Cable Cars in San Francisco
Price per person includes:
Return flights into Chicago and home from San Francisco
Airport taxes
10 nights hotel and train accommodation
Ideal time to visit: Year round
Trains-Empire Builder & Coast Starlight
Day 1 Arrive Chicago
Day at leisure in the Windy City.
Chicago is a city for all tastes. As lovely as Paris with its striking architecture and leafy parks, as entertaining as London and as bustling as New York.
There are world class art galleries and museums, vibrant theatres, intimate blues and jazz clubs, comedy bars, acres of green and the city even has a beach! Getting around Chicago is easy with The Loop Skytrain in the central area, buses and well run subway. The best introduction to the city is the Chicago North Shore Tour bus tour.
This 2-hour tour starts downtown and includes the lakeside sweep, the harbour and the world famous zoo before returning via Michigan Avenue and the night club area.
You'll love the shopping available along the "Magnificent Mile", the lively Chicago Blues Clubs and the amazing variety of eateries here. If you have time visit the impressive Buckingham Fountain, this is where iconic Route 66 starts or take a cruise on Lake Michigan.
Days 3-4 Board the Empire Builder
Board the sleek Empire Builder for a 2 night voyage to Seattle winding through the remote rugged northern states. Pass through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho before arriving in the cosmopolitan city of Seattle.
(all accommodation and food is included whilst on-board).
Train journey: 46 hours
Day 5 Arrive Seattle
Arrive refreshed in Seattle mid-morning and make your way to your hotel.
Days 6-7 Seattle
Take time to explore the cosmopolitan city of Seattle, for a magnificent view a trip up the Space Needle is a must.
Seattle has one of the most scenic settings in America, curved around the shore of Elliott Bay, with lake Washington behind and the snowy peak of Mount Rainier hovering faintly in the distance. With glass skyscrapers gleaming across the bay the city combines its superb natural surrounding with a modern skyline.
Be sure to hop on a cruise of the harbour, take a boat tour of the San Juan Islands, visit famous Pike's Place Market and eat in one of the fish restaurants along the harbour. We love Elliotts On The Bay!
Why not consider spending longer in Seattle and taking a side trip up to Vancouver, it's only a couple of hours away by train?
Day 8 Board the famous Coast Starlight train to San Francisco
Board the famous Coast Starlight train for an overnight trip to San Francisco. You'll cruise past Mount Rainier and journey through the Oregon and Northern Californian wilderness, before you pull into Emeryville just 12 miles from San Francisco. From Emeryville you will be transported by bus into the heart of the city.
(all accommodation and meals are included whilst you are on-board).
Train Journey : 23 hours
Day 9 Arrive San Francisco
San Francisco is full of iconic images- those little cable cars climbing halfway to the stars, the scarlet slash of the Golden Gate Bridge, the dragon-adorned gateway to Chinatown, and the sombre, island-sited Alcatraz, once a formidable prison, now a tourist attraction.
Discover the attractions of this beautiful city en foot, by cable car or the superb BART system. See places like Union Square, The Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge, China Town, Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf.
Day 10 San Francisco
It's a day of leisure today- why not head off to Fisherman's Wharf for breakfast, Chinatown for lunch and hop on a Bay Dinner Cruise in the evening?!
Perhaps you'd like to hire a bike and rides across the Golden Gate Bridge or visit Golden Gate Park and stroll around the incredible, new Museum of Sciences...?
Day 11 Depart San Francisco
It's time to leave San Francisco for your mid afternoon flight home.
Why not extend your time in this stunning city by the bay, there is simply so much to do here. Venture just outside San Francisco and you can explore the Redwoods of Muir Woods, stunning Lake Tahoe and the scenic California Coast region, to name a few. Call Bon Voyage and we'll chat you through the options available to you.
