Traveling from Seattle to Portland by Train

We are super excited about going down to Portland in a month or so. I just love the idea of going somewhere close and fairly simple and enjoying a little bit of adventure.

The simplest way to go is by car for sure and that is what we have done in the past. The best thing about that is the schedule flexibility. Plus it is even faster to drive than to take the train. Even without adding in the time it will take us to ride the bus to the train station. So why on earth are we trying the train this time?

Adventure - this is way more exciting than driving the old family car down
that boring stretch of I-5
Train enthusiasm - my kids love trains and all things transportation related
Environmental - one less car on the road

I would have loved to add Economics to the list but the big question is --

Is it cheaper to take the train?
I don't think so.

There are many hotel deals that you can swing and not have to pay for parking, but if you don't find one of those then you will pay $20/day to park if you drive there. (So this depends somewhat on how long you are staying.) And of course if we drive there, we will have to pay for gas. Gas prices are pretty reasonable right now so I don't think that would be more than $50.

So we are saving $110 by taking the train and the train is going to cost around $150.

We'll let you know how it goes and if we recommend taking the train from Seattle to Portland.

*Note: I have written a bunch of posts about Portland so if you want to read more, click on the Portland Label at the end of the post, and you will see all the Portland entries.