Most “10 days on the Pacific Coast” posts are a made-up dream itinerary. This is the real one — the trip my twin and I actually ran in August 2021, paid for with 360,000 Marriott points, with honest gaps where we didn’t book ahead and the moves I’d redo next time.
The trip in one paragraph
Fly into Seattle on a Saturday evening, three nights downtown. Early-morning flight to Portland, one full day. Fly Portland → LAX the same evening. Three nights in LA (Courtyard LA Live on points), dad flies in for the middle days. Move to Anaheim for the final weekend and a Disneyland day. Fly home Tuesday. Eleven nights, five hotels, one redemption trip burning 360,000 Marriott points.
Why Marriott + American Airlines, every trip
I fly American Airlines and stay Marriott on every trip — no exceptions. After a decade of stacking one hotel chain and one airline, the points unlock trips that would otherwise be out of reach. On this specific trip: 120,000 points on the Seattle Courtyard + 240,000 on the LA Live Courtyard = roughly $2,400 in free hotel nights on a single trip. If you have a Marriott Bonvoy card and any point stockpile, a multi-city Pacific Coast run is exactly the kind of trip to burn them on — the downtown Courtyards in both cities hit sweet-spot redemption rates.
The lesson for anyone starting from scratch: pick one hotel chain and one airline and stay loyal, even when it costs you a few dollars more on a one-off booking. The upside is asymmetric.
Best time to visit Seattle + Portland + LA
August is the sweet spot for this multi-city trip specifically because it’s the only month Seattle is reliably dry. Seattle has maybe 10 dry days in December and 25 in August. Portland is similar — go in summer or accept that one of your two walking days will be wet. LA is fine year-round but Santa Monica in August is perfect beach weather.
If you’re picking one window: mid-August to mid-September. Avoid Seattle before June (rain) and Disneyland over Thanksgiving / Christmas week (crowds + Genie+ sells out by 8 AM).
Day-by-day shape
- Aug 14 (Sat): Fly into Seattle, arrive 6 PM. Check in Courtyard Pioneer Square.
- Aug 15 (Sun): Seattle — Bainbridge Island ferry day.
- Aug 16 (Mon): Seattle — Pike Place + Space Needle.
- Aug 17 (Tue): 9:10 AM flight to Portland. Residence Inn Pearl District.
- Aug 18 (Wed): Portland → LAX evening flight. Renaissance LAX one night.
- Aug 19 (Thu): LA — dad arrives. Car museum. Move to Courtyard LA Live.
- Aug 20 (Fri): LA — Venice, Santa Monica Pier, Malibu beaches.
- Aug 21 (Sat): LA — Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Griffith Park, Beverly Hills, Grand Central Market.
- Aug 22 (Sun): Hollywood, Sunset Strip, Little Tokyo, Chinatown. Move to Fairfield Anaheim.
- Aug 23 (Mon): Disneyland.
- Aug 24 (Tue): Fly home.
The exact hotels we booked
| City | Nights | Hotel | How we paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 3 | Courtyard by Marriott Seattle Downtown / Pioneer Square | 120,000 pts |
| Portland | 1 | Residence Inn Portland Downtown / Pearl District | Cash |
| LAX | 1 | Renaissance LA Airport | Cash |
| LA (downtown) | 3 | Courtyard LA Live | 240,000 pts |
| Anaheim | 2 | Fairfield Inn Anaheim (10-min walk to Disneyland) | Cash |
Seattle (the honest version)
We planned three things specifically: a Bainbridge Island walk-on ferry day (round-trip was ~$9 when we went, see the WSDOT schedule), Pike Place Market Monday morning, Space Needle Monday afternoon.
What we didn’t plan: any Seattle dinners. We wandered every night and I think we missed something good. If I were doing this again, I’d pre-book one dinner near Pike Place on Sunday night, full stop.
Portland (24 hours)
One full day, by design. We didn’t book anything ahead — we walked out of the Pearl District hotel, used one of those “one day in Portland” blog itineraries as a rough spine, and that was fine. If you only have 24 hours, the Pearl District is the right base.
LA (3 nights downtown + 2 nights Anaheim)
The LA portion was the most-planned part of the trip. Dad flew in on Thursday and we had him for three full days before he flew home Sunday. Highlights:
- Malibu beach run (Big Dume, El Matador, Zuma) on the Venice/Santa Monica day — far less crowded than Santa Monica and much prettier.
- Griffith Park Observatory at sunset for the city-lights view.
- Grand Central Market for lunch with infinite options.
The Anaheim portion was just a Disneyland logistics move — check into the Fairfield on Sunday night, Disneyland Monday, fly home Tuesday.
What I’d do differently
- Pre-book one Seattle dinner. Don’t repeat my mistake of figuring out every meal in the moment.
- Skip the LAX-hotel night. Take the last Portland → LAX flight and go straight to the LA Live Courtyard, even if check-in is midnight.
- Book Disneyland Genie+ the moment you land. Waiting until the morning of is too late in August.
- Three nights in Seattle was right. Two would have been too few.
Want the full day-by-day planner?
I packaged the exact itinerary — hotel notes, my Malibu beach order, the restaurant short-list, honest gaps included — as a printable PDF + HTML + Google Maps KML. It’s $12, or $17 with the companion Google My Maps (every stop pre-pinned).
- Pacific Coast Real Travel Planner — $12 — PDF + HTML, day-by-day
- Pacific Coast Google My Maps — $5 — KML with every hotel, restaurant, and stop pinned
- US Long Weekend Bundle — $24 — both Pacific Coast products + Savannah/Hilton Head products (save $7)
Or if you’re heading somewhere shorter, read my Savannah + Hilton Head long-weekend post next — same format, same honest framing.
FAQ
Was the twin thing the actual reason for the trip?
Yes. We’d both finished big work stretches and wanted a sibling trip before her next job. The trip would have worked solo but was better together — especially for driving LA and the Malibu beaches.
How did you get 360K Marriott points in the first place?
Bonvoy Brilliant card welcome bonus + a Bonvoy Business card welcome bonus + normal everyday Marriott card spend over ~18 months. Neither bonus required anything unusual.
Would you do the Disneyland day again?
Yes but I’d price-compare Anaheim against staying one more LA night + Uber to Disneyland. The Fairfield walk-to-park is convenient but not automatically the best value.
What’s the single best thing you did on the trip?
The Malibu beach run (Big Dume, El Matador, Zuma) on the Santa Monica day. Most LA blog posts send you to Santa Monica Pier and stop; pushing 40 minutes north unlocks the coast that actually looks like the postcard.
Written by Jenna Fattah
I have visited 25+ countries across 6 continents, attended 7 Formula 1 races, and spent 4 years writing about what actually works and what I would do differently. Every recommendation on this site comes from trips I planned and paid for myself. Read more about me