West Coast LAX-SEA where to lay over a few days

Considering LAX to SEA with a week or 10 days for the trip.

Any good ideas where to lay over for a day or two -SLO, Bay area, Sacramento, Portland, Eugene?

Looking for places accessible for public transport or maybe rent-a-car. How to visit Mount Saint Helens along the way

NW cannonball said:

Considering LAX to SEA with a week or 10 days for the trip.
Any good ideas where to lay over for a day or two -SLO, Bay area, Sacramento, Portland, Eugene?

Looking for places accessible for public transport or maybe rent-a-car.

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The Bay Area and Portland both have many, many things to do. Eugene is a smaller college town with more limited tourist attractions, and I've never stayed over in SLO. Sacramento has the CA Rail Museum, which you could easily spend a day in. Both the Bay Area and Portland have extensive public transit systems, and Eugene has a good one for a city its size.

NW cannonball said:

How to visit Mount Saint Helens along the way

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You'll probably want to do this from Portland. There are bus tours from both Portland and Seattle, or you can rent a car. St. Helens is well worth doing, but however you do it, it will take the better part of a day.

I'm assuming that you mean you have a week or ten days to do the whole trip. The Bay Area has, frankly, too much to do for just a couple of days. It deserves its own trip. So depending on what you like to do, I think that Portland probably offers the most variety of enjoyable ways to spend a day or two. It also has the advantage that once you're ready to continue your trip to Seattle, you can either catch the Coast Starlight again, or one of the Cascades trains, so you'll have a choice of departure times.

Portland has many, many wonderful things to do (try OMSI for one), and wonderful public transit.

OK, and thanks, I will spend at least two days in Portland, right now searching the web for places to see there, there's a lot, oh my.

Still looking for another day-or-two layover Sacramento vs Eugene.

NW cannonball said:

OK, and thanks, I will spend at least two days in Portland, right now searching the web for places to see there, there's a lot, oh my.
Still looking for another day-or-two layover Sacramento vs Eugene.

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I agree with Charlie about Portland and that the Sacramento Area would have more to see/do than Eugene! If you want to spend some time in a Nice "College Town" consider staying in Davis, the Stop before Sacramento coming from the Bay Area!! Commuters use frequent Cal Trains to/from Sacramento and the Bay Area (and the Starlight comes through in the Morning and Afternoon)and the Town itself is The Bicycle Capital of North America and it's also very Walkable! Plenty of Restaurants, Stores etc. and Motels Close to the Amtrak Station and the UC Davis Campus and Town itself is very nice with a Better Climate than Sacramento or the Bay Area!!

jimhudson said:

NW cannonball said:

OK, and thanks, I will spend at least two days in Portland, right now searching the web for places to see there, there's a lot, oh my.
Still looking for another day-or-two layover Sacramento vs Eugene.

Click to expand...

I agree with Charlie about Portland and that the Sacramento Area would have more to see/do than Eugene! If you want to spend some time in a Nice "College Town" consider staying in Davis, the Stop before Sacramento coming from the Bay Area!! Commuters use frequent Cal Trains to/from Sacramento and the Bay Area (and the Starlight comes through in the Morning and Afternoon)and the Town itself is The Bicycle Capital of North America and it's also very Walkable! Plenty of Restaurants, Stores etc. and Motels Close to the Amtrak Station and the UC Davis Campus and Town itself is very nice with a Better Climate than Sacramento or the Bay Area!!

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Good advice. In fact, I'm heading to Davis this afternoon on the Capitol Corridor and will be catching the CZ tomorrow morning to take me to Chicago.

And is Mt. St. Helens worth the time? Absolutely! From the New York Times:

Every region has a St. Helens of its own — something that does not respond to human will, something with the potential to do harm but also bring out the universal Huck Finn. The cure for Nature Deficit Disorder, for a worldview increasingly shaped by Google-colored glasses, is the quiet riot of the wild, nearby.

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I live in Eugene, it is a super city, University of Oregon is a great, not much to see or tour. Perhaps Portland has lots more to do and see and a great downtown. If you like mountains, Klamath Falls is the gateway to Northern California, Mt. Shasta and in Oregon, Crater Lake. KF itself is a small town. All require some driving to/from. Just depends what you like. PDX is easy to get around on public transportation. PDX to SEA has Amtrak Talgo train running between so maybe do both. Lots of ideas for a good trip posted here for you!

Seems like a week or 10 days will nohow exhaust this west-coast trip -- hope I have a month or two later sometime -

Looking at Portland --definitely -- the Bay -- not enough time - a whole world there but only have a day or two.

Davis - maybe, or Sacramento for a day or two. Not enough days.

Thanks all -