Touring in the US

I am quite surprised that I cannot get a 2 or 3-day tour from San
Francisco to Seattle. But I can't. I've tried everything.

Is there something wrong with this sort of trip that doesn't attract
tourists? Is the journey too long? Is the scenery that awful?

My husband and I are looking to travel from San Francisco to Seattle
and hopefully see interesting scenes etc. en route. Not to be it
seems. There is a train that travels overnight but from all the
reports I have read this train is often very late, delayed, has no
really good eating facilities on board unless you have a sleeping car,
and so on. Not for us then.

What do you American travel people suggest? Should we simply fly
from S.F. to Seattle? We had planned going by rail in comfort from
San Francisco to Seattle by train within a civilized timeframe. We
seem to be able to do this in Europe without any problems.

Is there a bit problem with Amtrack? Is there likewise a big problem
with tour operators in the PNW? Are we being picky?

We are from New Zealand where there are anything from 3-day to 21-day
tours available for any type of tour.

I am sorry I don't understand all of this. Can someone explain
please?

Daisy

Carthage demands an explanation for this insolence!

Daisy wrote:
I am quite surprised that I cannot get a 2 or 3-day tour from San
Francisco to Seattle.

Many thousands do unorganized "tours" every year. The call for organized
tours is, I guess, so small that they don't exist.

Is there something wrong with this sort of trip that doesn't attract
tourists? Is the journey too long? Is the scenery that awful?

One way, direct, it's about 850 miles. Touring would add several hundred
additional miles one way. The scenery – seacosat, forest, mountains – is
spectacular.

My husband and I are looking to travel from San Francisco to Seattle
and hopefully see interesting scenes etc. en route. Not to be it
seems. There is a train that travels overnight

Trains in the USA are for freight, not people. If you think air travel
is bad, it's heavenly when compared to rail. There was a time when we
had many famous and first-class passenger trains running around the
country. With the advent of air travel and hard-won wages by trade
unions that allowed workers to buy cars for the garages those wages and
New Deal policies made possible, train use diminished. When the profits
disappeared, so did service and, often, maintenance.

What do you American travel people suggest?

I'd love to have an excuse to go up that way. You pay for the rented
vehicle, fuel, food, lodging, admissions, etc., and I'll take you on an
unforgettable trip up through the Cascades to Seattle and back along The
Coast through Portland and Eureka. But I wouldn't dare try it in fewer
than eight, perhaps nine, days as there's so much to see and do en route.

Is there likewise a big problem with tour operators in the PNW? Are
we being picky?

You're being Kiwis. You're hoping that we have the kinds of services you
have. It's regrettable that we don't.

I am sorry I don't understand all of this. Can someone explain
please?

I've tried. I might be wrong. Others will correct me.

Carthage demands an explanation for this insolence!

Attempted!

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In article ,
Daisy wrote:

I am quite surprised that I cannot get a 2 or 3-day tour from San
Francisco to Seattle. But I can't. I've tried everything.

Is there something wrong with this sort of trip that doesn't attract
tourists? Is the journey too long? Is the scenery that awful?

My husband and I are looking to travel from San Francisco to Seattle
and hopefully see interesting scenes etc. en route. Not to be it
seems. There is a train that travels overnight but from all the
reports I have read this train is often very late, delayed, has no
really good eating facilities on board unless you have a sleeping car,
and so on. Not for us then.

What do you American travel people suggest? Should we simply fly
from S.F. to Seattle? We had planned going by rail in comfort from
San Francisco to Seattle by train within a civilized timeframe. We
seem to be able to do this in Europe without any problems.

Is there a bit problem with Amtrack? Is there likewise a big problem
with tour operators in the PNW? Are we being picky?

Your only option if you want to see the coast between Seatle and San
Francisco is to rent a car and drive it. You may be able to find a
guided bus tour. If driving and flying don't appeal to you, try
contacting some travel agents, but with a guided tour, you'll probably
have to adjust your itinerary to meet the tour's schedule.

Daisy wrote:

I am quite surprised that I cannot get a 2 or 3-day tour from San
Francisco to Seattle. But I can't. I've tried everything.
Is there something wrong with this sort of trip that doesn't attract
tourists? Is the journey too long? Is the scenery that awful?

The best part of the area between the SF Bay area and Seattle is along
the Pacific Coast. This is difficult terrain and there are many areas
where there is only limited auto road access. Most American tourists
do this area by auto, and the scenery is fabulous.

My husband and I are looking to travel from San Francisco to Seattle
and hopefully see interesting scenes etc. en route. Not to be it
seems. There is a train that travels overnight but from all the
reports I have read this train is often very late, delayed, has no
really good eating facilities on board unless you have a sleeping car,
and so on. Not for us then.

The US developed highways to link off-the-beaten-track areas, not rail
lines. Rail service, and public transportation in general, in the US
is quite bad -- compared to, say, Europe.

What do you American travel people suggest? Should we simply fly
from S.F. to Seattle? We had planned going by rail in comfort from
San Francisco to Seattle by train within a civilized timeframe. We
seem to be able to do this in Europe without any problems.

Most foreign tourists rent vehicles to tour this area. Seasonal
considerations are highly advised, however. During most of the year
(except for the summer months) weather and road conditions can be
quite bad along the coast. And during the summer months it is crowded.

Is there a bit problem with Amtrack? Is there likewise a big problem
with tour operators in the PNW? Are we being picky?

Private vehicles are the preferred mode of travel here, sorry.

We are from New Zealand where there are anything from 3-day to 21-day
tours available for any type of tour.

We will be touring New Zealand in a few months in a rented car. Just
as there are no rail lines or roads along the southwest coast of the
South Island (Fiordland NP area south of Milford Sound), there are no
such links in many places on the US Pacific Coast.

Same reason.


Caveat

On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 08:54:45 -0700, Caveat
wrote:

Daisy wrote:

I am quite surprised that I cannot get a 2 or 3-day tour from San
Francisco to Seattle. But I can't. I've tried everything.
Is there something wrong with this sort of trip that doesn't attract
tourists? Is the journey too long? Is the scenery that awful?

The best part of the area between the SF Bay area and Seattle is along
the Pacific Coast. This is difficult terrain and there are many areas
where there is only limited auto road access. Most American tourists
do this area by auto, and the scenery is fabulous.

My husband and I are looking to travel from San Francisco to Seattle
and hopefully see interesting scenes etc. en route. Not to be it
seems. There is a train that travels overnight but from all the
reports I have read this train is often very late, delayed, has no
really good eating facilities on board unless you have a sleeping car,
and so on. Not for us then.

The US developed highways to link off-the-beaten-track areas, not rail
lines. Rail service, and public transportation in general, in the US
is quite bad -- compared to, say, Europe.

What do you American travel people suggest? Should we simply fly
from S.F. to Seattle? We had planned going by rail in comfort from
San Francisco to Seattle by train within a civilized timeframe. We
seem to be able to do this in Europe without any problems.

Most foreign tourists rent vehicles to tour this area. Seasonal
considerations are highly advised, however. During most of the year
(except for the summer months) weather and road conditions can be
quite bad along the coast. And during the summer months it is crowded.

Is there a bit problem with Amtrack? Is there likewise a big problem
with tour operators in the PNW? Are we being picky?

Private vehicles are the preferred mode of travel here, sorry.

We are from New Zealand where there are anything from 3-day to 21-day
tours available for any type of tour.

We will be touring New Zealand in a few months in a rented car. Just
as there are no rail lines or roads along the southwest coast of the
South Island (Fiordland NP area south of Milford Sound),

The terrain along the southwest coast of the South Island is
impossible. It is uninhabited primal forest and the coastline is
totally inhospitable. You can get a vivid picture of this if you
take the Manapouri Power Station/Deep Cove day excursion (launch on
the lake and bus over the alps to Deep Cove. It is really worth
doing. The fjiords (Milford Sound and Deep Cove and Doubtful Sound)
are I think the only ones that have any sort of habitation at the head
of the sound.

I simply can't imagine the US coastline being like this, but what
would I know? If it is unable to be travelled, then that's it.

there are no such links in many places on the US Pacific Coast.

Same reason.


Caveat

Daisy

Carthage demands an explanation for this insolence!

Daisy wrote:

On Sun, 05 Mar 2006 08:54, Caveat wrote:
snip
Just as there are no rail lines or roads along the southwest coast of the
South Island (Fiordland NP area south of Milford Sound), there are no
such links in many places on the US Pacific Coast. Same reason.

The terrain along the southwest coast of the South Island is
impossible. It is uninhabited primal forest and the coastline is
totally inhospitable..

Those of us who live in the desert southwest would similarly consider
most parts of the Oregon and Washington Coasts quite inhospitable :-).

The Fiordland area in New Zealand is, of course, the extreme example
of places where roads and rail lines just can't be built. A better
overall comparison of the varied -- but very rugged, in places --
nature of the Pacific Coast on the US would be the west coast of your
country from the North Cape to Stewart Island: there are roads in many
areas, but not in others due to the difficult terrain.

You can get a vivid picture of this if you
take the Manapouri Power Station/Deep Cove day excursion (launch on
the lake and bus over the alps to Deep Cove. It is really worth
doing. The fjiords (Milford Sound and Deep Cove and Doubtful Sound)
are I think the only ones that have any sort of habitation at the head
of the sound.

Thanks for the suggestion. We had planned to drive the Te Anau =
Milford Sound road, then get boat trips from there to see at least
some of that area. We expect to be cold and wet most of the time in
that area, but are following-up our five weeks in New Zealand with a
week in Rarotonga and Aitutaki to thaw out. sigh

I simply can't imagine the US coastline being like this, but what
would I know? If it is unable to be travelled, then that's it.

It can be traveled, at least in many places, but the point that has
been made by others here is that it would take a lot more time than
you have to spend in the region. We have been touring that area almost
every summer for dozens of years, and have not yet seen all of it.

Enjoy what you can, however.


Caveat

Daisy writes:
The terrain along the southwest coast of the South Island is
impossible. It is uninhabited primal forest and the coastline is
totally inhospitable. ...

I simply can't imagine the US coastline being like this, but what
would I know?

No, it's not like that. Farther north, most of the British Columbia
coastline in Canada, and then the Alaska coastline, it *is* like that.
But in the area you've been asking about, from San Francisco to
Seattle, there is a highway the whole way that more or less follows
the coast -- although there are sections where it deviates inland.
But the whole coastal section between the two cities is relatively
unpopulated. The railway route, for the most part, is well inland.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "I like the other Bobs. Now, if I can only
| recall which Mark I hate." --Al Fargnoli

"Daisy" wrote in message
...
I am quite surprised that I cannot get a 2 or 3-day tour from San
Francisco to Seattle. But I can't. I've tried everything.

Is there something wrong with this sort of trip that doesn't attract
tourists? Is the journey too long? Is the scenery that awful?

My husband and I are looking to travel from San Francisco to Seattle
and hopefully see interesting scenes etc. en route. Not to be it
seems. There is a train that travels overnight but from all the
reports I have read this train is often very late, delayed, has no
really good eating facilities on board unless you have a sleeping car,
and so on. Not for us then.

What do you American travel people suggest? Should we simply fly
from S.F. to Seattle? We had planned going by rail in comfort from
San Francisco to Seattle by train within a civilized timeframe. We
seem to be able to do this in Europe without any problems.

Is there a bit problem with Amtrack? Is there likewise a big problem
with tour operators in the PNW? Are we being picky?

We are from New Zealand where there are anything from 3-day to 21-day
tours available for any type of tour.

I am sorry I don't understand all of this. Can someone explain
please?

Daisy

Carthage demands an explanation for this insolence!

If you do a Google search on the terms

"San Francisco to Seattle" tour

you will find bus tours that take you from San Francisco to
Seattle. I haven't posted the links because I'll probably be
accused of working for the companies--which isn't the case.
I also don't know how reputable they are.

Your problem, I think, was looking for a 2 or 3 day tour. Given
the distance between San Franciso and Seattle, the tours tend to
be 8 or 9 days long. The general itinerary is San Francisco, wine
country, redwoods, Oregon coast, Portland city tour, then on to
Seattle.

http://www.greentortoise.com/

For your amusement.

"Steve B." wrote in message
.telekom.at...
http://www.greentortoise.com/

For your amusement.



Yes, I'm familiar with Green Tortoise!

Not sure it's the right fit for our OP, however, unless
they are willing to dig a hole behind a bush whenever
nature calls.