Washington and Oregon Travel Guide

Lonely Planet's Pacific Northwest,: Vancouver, Seattle and Portland

Oct 9, 2008
Mike Gerrard

: Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - Lonely Planet

For a Washington and Oregon Travel Guide, which also takes in Vancouver, Seattle and Portland, try the new Lonely Planet guidebook to the Pacific Northwest.

First published in October 1995, the Lonely Planet Guide to Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest is now in its 4th edition, this latest update being published in May 2008. It runs to 448 pages, and as well as being a Washington and Oregon travel guide, with sections on Seattle and Portland, the book also covers Vancouver and Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

The Authors

How well are the authors likely to know the Pacific Northwest? Pretty well, in fact. There are four main writers for the guide:

Sandra Bao, who lives in Portland, Oregon
John Lee, who has lived in Vancouver since 1999
Becky Ohlsen, also from Portland, Oregon
Brendan Sainsbury, who moved to British Columbia in 2004

Several of the contributing writers also live in the area, one exception being David Goldberg MD. Goldberg wrote the Health chapter, and he's an infectious diseases specialist in New York, as well as being editor-in-chief at the MDTravelHealth website. Impressive credentials.

On the Road

The book begins with shots of each of the four main authors 'on the road', including Sandra Bao at Smith Rock in Oregon, Brendan Sainsbury on Washington's Ruby Beach, and John Lee on a snowshoe trek on Grouse Mountain in Vancouver. They're enough to make any reader want to get out there and go, especially as they lead into the next full-color section...

Pacific Northwest Highlights

Here various people, including several Lonely Planet writers and other travelers, nominate the 29 best travel experiences in the Pacific Northwest. These include:

The San Juan Islands
Mt Rainier
Crater Lake
Washington's Cascade Mountains
Olympic National Park
The region's microbreweries and beer
Yakima Valley, for Washington's wine country
Elk and other critters
Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria, Portland, Walla Walla
The Oregon Coast

It's hard to argue with any of those, which show the area's diversity, with some of the best wine on the west coast, good beer, wonderful wildlife, vibrant cities, and some of the USA's most stunning scenery.

Food and Drink

One of the best sections of the guidebook is the Food and Drink section, which goes way beyond the usual round-up of local dishes and drinks to try. It includes a list of the ten best places to buy food straight from the source, some cookbooks by local chefs, a list of some of the Pacific Northwest's food and drink festivals, cookery courses, food blogs, and some information about mushrooms and truffles.

The Rest of the Book

Everyone knows what goes into a Lonely Planet guidebook. This is as thorough as any of them, with detailed listings of hotels, restaurants, public transport, practical information, and the sights to see. There are 76 maps, including the main cities and towns, important places like the Olympic National Park, regional maps, and one for the Seattle area ferry routes. It is, in short, as good a guide as you'll get to what the Introduction rightly calls 'one of the most glorious regions in the US.'

Practical Information

The Lonely Planet Guide to Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest costs $24.99 in the USA and £14.99 in the UK. It is available in bookstores, from online bookshops including Amazon, or direct from the Lonely Planet website where extracts from the book can also be purchased through their online shop.