Last year, my boyfriend, another couple, best friend and I explored the PNW. I’ve been to Seattle before, so I wanted to discover something new if I went there again. For every one else, Seattle is a new experience. It was important everyone got a little of what they wanted.
This budget is for five people, 7 days and 8 nights in July.
- Flight: My airfare was $275. That is on the low side. I have seen tickets from $200 to $450. July is considered high season, so taking that into account, I got a good deal.
- Car Rental: There are many ways to get to Vancouver from Seattle. We decided on a car and rented from the Seattle airport. For 8 days, $120/person. It will be best to add another driver onto the plan, which will increase the cost to $122/person. Not bad. We had to fill up twice, so that came out to be a total of $80.
- Accomodations: I stayed in Vancouver the first 4 days at an Airbnb near the hockey staidum. It cost $145/person for those days. Then, we stayed in another Airbnb in Seattle for the remaining 4 days. The total cost per person was $190 .
- Activities: In Vancouver, I did a lot of simple and minimal cost activities. For example, we climbed Whistler, and besides parking ($10), was free. We rented bikes and cruised around English Bay, which was $10/hr. In Seattle, we did a couple of touristy things like the Space Needle and the Glass museum; I bought a package to see both for $38.
- Miscellaneous: We bought snacks at Costco. $90 for the entire group, and it often served as our hiking snacks and breakfast. We also ate out a lot. I spent around $150 on eating out the entire trip. Other costs to consider are parking, Uber and ferry rides.
Overall, the cost of this trip was fairly reasonable. I spent around $900 for the entire trip. Seattle is one of the most expensive cities in the USA, so I think I budgeted well given that fact.
You surely can spend less if you skip the meals we had. We literally ate out every lunch and dinner, which drive up our costs. Check these places out. There is a lot of beautiful, cheap things to do in these places.
-Amy
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