How are you getting to Anacortes?

[Jhenry]

We are planning to do the Northern Tier this summer starting in Anacortes, WA. We will be flying out of Minneaplois and will be shipping our gear to a bike shop there in advance. My question is what is the best way to get us to Anacortes? The nearest major airport appears to be Bellingham which is nearly 50 miles away. How is everyone getting there?

[jamawani]

Don't fly to Bellingham.
Fly into Sea-Tac - then take the shuttle.
The savings in the non-stop flight to Seattle will more than cover the shuttle fare.
The shuttle leaves from the airport loading bay
and is either direct of makes a single connection all the way to Anacortes.

https://airporter.com/shuttle/schedules/anacortes-san-juan-islands/

You can do light/rail bus with multiple connections.
But it will take half a day.

[John Nelson]

I flew nonstop to Bellingham on Frontier, assembled my bike at the airport and then rode to Anacortes. It was a new route for Frontier at the time, and Frontier offered a great introductory fare. And they treated the bike as an ordinary piece of luggage. Unfortunately, Frontier doesn’t fly there anymore.

But what’s an extra 40 miles when you’re riding across the country? It’s a very nice ride from Bellingham to Anacortes. ACA has a map for it.

[jwrushman]

I ended my trip in Anacortes.  Used Bike Flights and Skagit Cycle Center.  The bike shop did a good job and I recommend them.  After bicycling 3800 miles, I was ready to return home to NJ.  The airport shuttle was an efficient, no-hassle way to get to SeaTac.

[Jhenry]

I ended my trip in Anacortes.  Used Bike Flights and Skagit Cycle Center.  The bike shop did a good job and I recommend them.  After bicycling 3800 miles, I was ready to return home to NJ.  The airport shuttle was an efficient, no-hassle way to get to SeaTac.

Skagit was one of the shops we were considering using. Great info! Thanks!

[Jhenry]

Don't fly to Bellingham.
Fly into Sea-Tac - then take the shuttle.
The savings in the non-stop flight to Seattle will more than cover the shuttle fare.
The shuttle leaves from the airport loading bay
and is either direct of makes a single connection all the way to Anacortes.

https://airporter.com/shuttle/schedules/anacortes-san-juan-islands/

Thank for the info. I had no idea there was a regular shuttle from Sea-Tac. This sounds like the way to go.

[Pat Lamb]

I ended my trip in Anacortes.  Used Bike Flights and Skagit Cycle Center.  The bike shop did a good job and I recommend them.  After bicycling 3800 miles, I was ready to return home to NJ.  The airport shuttle was an efficient, no-hassle way to get to SeaTac.

Same here (except for NJ .  Felt really weird carrying panniers two blocks from the motel to the shuttle stop.  For 4,000 miles, the bikes had done the work.  Now they were in the bike shop waiting to be packed!

[BikeliciousBabe]

Or you could fly to SEA-TAC and start from Seattle. Take one of the ferries (think it's Bainbridge Island) to pick up the Pacific Coast Route to where it insersects with the Northern Tier in the Mt. Vernon area. Gives you an extra couple of days to find your legs before hitting the North Cascades. And Fort Worden S.P. in Port Townsend is really nice. It is the former military base that was used in the filing of "An Officer and a Gentleman."

Or you could take the train from Minneapolis directly to Seattle.  No need to box the bike for the Empire Builder.

[BikeliciousBabe]

We are planning to do the Northern Tier this summer starting in Anacortes, WA.

BTW...Send me a PM if you are interested in looking at what I think, based on doing it twice in the last few years, is a great diversion from the route starting at the junction of MT 56 and U.S. 2, just east of Troy, MT. Depending on how you approach it, it adds a day or two. There is also a very nice place for a no-move day that offers some forest riding. Joining back up with the official route near Rexford, MT is easy directions-wise and quite nice.

[adventurepdx]

Or you could fly to SEA-TAC and start from Seattle. Take one of the ferries (think it's Bainbridge Island) to pick up the Pacific Coast Route to where it insersects with the Northern Tier in the Mt. Vernon area. Gives you an extra couple of days to find your legs before hitting the North Cascades. And Fort Worden S.P. in Port Townsend is really nice. It is the former military base that was used in the filing of "An Officer and a Gentleman."

Or you could take the train from Minneapolis directly to Seattle.  No need to box the bike for the Empire Builder.

All great advice there. The light rail runs from Sea-Tac to downtown Seattle, and it's less than a mile to the Bainbridge Ferry Terminal. It's a pretty scenic area. You'll be able to see more sea water this way than just starting from Anacortes. And you'll need the warming up, that first climb over the Cascades is something. Another option is crossing Whidbey Island from the ferry at the south (Mukilteo to Clinton). Getting to Mukilteo by bike from Seattle is a bit trickier, though.

Taking the train would be great too. You should be able to get off at Everett, a couple stops before Seattle, if you didn't want to see the city. Everett would be closer to Anacortes. There's bus service from Everett Station to Mount Vernon (or take Amtrak), and buses from there to Anacortes.

[BikeliciousBabe]

We did Kitsap SP, Fort Worden, Bay View, that Steelhead county park in Rockport and then a short day to Colonial Creek CG before the climb over the Cascades. Colonial Creek was really nice. Saw an osprey snag a fish from the lake. The short mileage day affords some rest, but there are some short hills after Newhalem. Repeated that itinerary the following year. The right side of the campground seems to have less wind.

[jamawani]

Was it Bob Dylan or Joan Baez who sang,
"How Are You Getting to Anacortes"?