Pacific Northwest Getting there & around

Getting there & around

Bus & tram

Bus

Greyhound (800-229-9424; www.greyhound.com) provides service along the I-5 corridor from Bellingham in northern Washington down to Medford in southern Oregon with connecting services across the United States and Canada. East–west routes fan out toward Spokane, Yakima, the Tri-Cities (Kennewick, Pasco and Richland) and Pullman in Washington, and Pendleton, Bend and Newport in Oregon with numerous stops in between.

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Air

Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) is the main international airport in the Northwest, with daily service to Europe, Asia and points throughout the US and Canada. Portland International Airport (PDX) serves the US, Canada and has nonstop flights to Frankfurt, Germany and Guadalajara, Mexico.

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Car & motorcycle

Driving your own vehicle is a convenient way of touring the Pacific Northwest. Major rental agencies can be found throughout the region. I-5 is the major north–south road artery. In Washington I-90 heads east from Seattle to Spokane and into Idaho. In Oregon I-84 branches east from Portland along the Columbia River Gorge via Pendleton to link up with Boise in Idaho.

Regional driving distances:

Seattle to Portland 174 miles.

Spokane to Pendleton 205 miles.

Port Angeles to Astoria 217 miles.

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Boat

Both passenger-only and car ferries operate around Puget Sound and across to Vancouver Island, BC. Washington State Ferries (WSF; 206-464-6400, 888-808-7977; www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries) links Seattle with Bainbridge and Vashon Islands. Other WSF routes cross from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula, and from Anacortes through the San Juan Islands to Sidney, BC.

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Train

Amtrak (800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com) runs an excellent train service north (to Vancouver, Canada) and south (to California) linking Seattle, Portland and other major urban centers with the Cascades and Coast Starlight service. The famous Empire Builder heads east to Chicago from Seattle and Portland (joining in Spokane, Washington).

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