Welcome to Seattle, the Emerald City due to its lush evergreen forests. Relax after your arrival or explore on your terms before joining your Travel Director and fellow travellers this evening for a Welcome Reception.
Get oriented in dazzling Seattle at Pike Place Market, where the fish fly low from one fishmonger's hands to the next. Explore on your own to become a market insider experiencing the sights, sounds and flavors of this historic 100+ year old landmark. Then get a bird’s eye view of the city from the iconic, futuristic-looking Seattle Space Needle.
Today you say goodbye to Seattle, crossing the Puget Sound by ferry to Bainbridge Island. You’ll feel worlds away in this charming yet active island community before driving to Port Townsend – a historic coastal town lined with storied buildings and a vibrant dining scene. Then Dive into Culture at Jardin du Soleil, a lavender farm that will entice you with its heavenly aromas. Team up with a lavender farmer as you learn to distil and harvest lavender right on their farm before making your own lavender essential oil to take home. Armed with your special blend and the tranquillity of being surrounded by fields of this calming herb.
A natural UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve designation, the park boasts waterfalls under a canopy of old-growth trees, a gorgeous fresh-water Lake Crescent, the temperate rain forest of the Quinault Valley, and the wild and windswept beaches of the Western Olympic Peninsula. After a morning in nature, make your way into Oregon to the port city of Astoria.
Discover more of Astoria, the oldest American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains, aboard a restored streetcar for a ride on the Astoria Riverfront Trolley. Continue to the towering Astoria Column monument dedicated by the Great Northern Railway in 1926, learn about the experiences of the first people to live in this corner of the world. The historic journey continues during a docent-led tour of the Columbia River Maritime Museum which shares the stories of the legendary Columbia River Bar, one of the most dangerous passages in the world. Call into the coastal town of Newport where stretches of sand invite you to pause and take in the scenery.
Take a day trip outside of the city to soak up views of these magnificent and powerful Multnomah Falls before reaching Hood River. Spend the day on a sightseeing trip to the Columbia River Gorge. Nothing will prepare you for the incredible scenic beauty that will unfold along this journey. We will have some time for lunch before enjoying a delicious tasting and tour at the TMK Creamery. On this tasty MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, see where their cheese, ice cream and Cowcohol and hard spirits are made, meet the “Cowlebrities” learn how the creamery has got creative by upcycling remnants from each of their processes into a consumable product. Later enjoy dinner back in Portland with your travel colleagues.
Say goodbye to Portland as you make your way to the airport. Or perhaps extend your stay to enjoy more of the city.