Travel Around the Pacific Northwest -
By Air, Land and Sea!

If you like to travel, you’ll be delighted to find that you can cover a lot of territory in the Pacific Northwest. Oregon is the ninth largest state of the USA with over 98,000 square miles, Idaho is 14th with over 83,000 square miles, Washington is 18th with about 71,000 sq miles, and British Columbia, which is the third largest Canadian province, occupies more space than the other three combined, with 364,764 sq miles, or 944,735 sq kilometers. All together, the Pacific Northwest has a lot of places to see.

The quickest way to travel is, of course, by airplane, and there are many large airports, and hundreds of smaller ones, that can get you from here to there and back again, or on to other places. In British Columbia, the major airports are Vancouver International, Victoria International, Kelowna International, and Prince George Airport. In Washington, the main ones are Seattle-Tacoma International, Spokane International,Tri-Cities, and Bellingham International. Oregon's largest is Portland International, followed by Eugene Airport,Rogue Valley International-Medford, and Redford Municipal. For Idaho, the three largest airports are Boise, Idaho Falls,and Hailey, all in the lower third part of the state, with Lewiston the biggest one serving the northern population.

Driving through this land is generally fairly easy, with good highways and roads. There are some long stretches of rolling hills and flat farmlands as well as scenic mountain routes. Because the weather in the Pacific Northwest can be unpredictable in the winter, we recommend that you keep simple emergency kits in your vehicles in case you run into a delay. There are only two north-south interstate highways, USA I-5/BC Hwy 99 and US I-15/BC Hwy 4. Going west-east in the US you'll find interstate highways 90, 82, 84 and 86. In British Columbia the primary north-south routes are well-maintained provincial highways. From west-east in BC the major roads are the Crowsnest Pass Highway, the Trans-Canada Highway, the Yellowhead Highway, or Highway 2.

Trains are popular here, with Amtrak and the Canadian railway running frequent trips.

On the coast, it's over 1300 miles as the crow flies from the south end of Oregon to the north tip of British Columbia, and that makes for some great cruises and ferry rides. In the Seattle area, since there are many residential islands just off the coast, some people use the ferries every day to commute to and from work. The San Juan Islands, farther out, are popular destinations for day trips. The ferry sails every day from Washington, to Victoria, British Columbia. If you plan to cross the US/Canadian border, make sure you have a passport and other appropriate documents.

If you're not ready to plan your travel itinerary yet and just want some ideas of what to see and do on your next trip here, be an armchair tourist. Sit back, relax, enjoy the photos and start dreaming of your ideal vacation to the Pacific Northwest!

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