Sunny Getaways: The Brightest Northwest Vacation Spots in the Desert, Small Towns, Mountains and on the Coast
Gray skies may rule over Seattle, but the sun is shining at these vacation destinations only a few hours from the city
By Danielle Centoni, Leslie Kelly, Kristen Russell, and Roddy Scheer May 1, 2018
This article originally appeared in the May 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the May 2018 issue, as part of the “Sunny Getaways” cover story. Click here to subscribe.
It’s no secret—even to Seattle newcomers—that we have more than our share of gray days (226 days of “heavy cloud cover” by one estimate). No doubt that’s why Hawaii and Mexico are popular destinations for locals.
But you don’t have to go that far afield to catch a few reliable rays. Next time you’re desperate for a sunny weekend or week, load up the car with a few essentials (i.e. sunscreen and shades) and head out to one of these bright spots in the Northwest.
Leavenworth
Yakima
Ancient Lakes Trail
Oregon’s Painted Hills
Sequim and Port Townsend
Oregon’s southernmost coastline
Follow Us
The Rise of the Experience Economy
REI brings back guided travel, betting that memories matter more than stuff.
In my household, with two young boys under the age of five, we often have to remind them to take things back. Did you really mean to tell dad that his dinner isn’t good? You might want to take that back. Did your brother deserve to be hit? Let’s rethink that one. Extreme analogies aside,…
Bellevue Is Treating Accessibility Like Infrastructure
A partnership with Wheel the World makes it easier to plan travel with verified details.
For a lot of people, the hardest part of travel planning isn’t arranging flights or booking a hotel. It’s figuring out whether a place will actually work for your needs once you get there. Bellevue has partnered with Wheel the World, a travel platform used worldwide, to verify accessibility details for hotels, attractions, restaurants, and…
Northwest Enters Winter After Warmest Fall on Record
Unseasonably high temperatures and rain instead of snow have pushed regional snowpack to record lows for this point in the season.
Across the Northwest, a record-warm fall and lack of snowpack going into the winter is putting more drought pressure on Oregon, Idaho, Washington and western Montana. Despite record rain in western Washington recently, and earlier this year in central and southern Oregon, the showers are filling up already overdrawn reservoirs in many areas, scientists said…
Renew Yourself in Bellingham, Washington
Images courtesy of Visit Bellingham Unwind and reset in 2026 with a trip to peaceful Bellingham, Washington. Located between the stunning Cascade Mountains and the tranquil Salish Sea, there’s no better place for a trip packed with quiet moments in nature combined with the amenities of a culturally rich college town. Bellingham is known for…