Day Trip to Friday Harbor, WA

My family came to town for July 4th and we had a busy few days showing them around our state! We went hiking, shopping, and exploring at some of our favorite places, and even made a day trip to Friday Harbor, WA in the San Juan Islands. The San Juan Islands are an archipelago (a collection of islands) in the Puget Sound, north of Seattle. The main islands are San Juan Island, Orca Island, and Lopez Island. Friday Harbor is located on San Juan Island, and is known for their cute harbor area with shops and restaurants, and whale watching. You have to take an hour-long ferry ride from Anacortes, WA to get to Friday Harbor, which is about 2hrs from downtown Seattle. So it is a pretty long day trip, but it can be done! (Obviously) But if you’re traveling with small children, it may be worth it to stay the night on the island or even Mt. Vernon, which is a closer option than heading back to Seattle. Or, just let the kids sleep in the car on the way home like ours did. Here’s our Friday Harbor day trip itinerary. (THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED – 7/1/21)

Catch an early ferry in Anacortes, WA

Enjoy the view! The ferry ride over is absolutely gorgeous going through all of the islands. We even saw deer running through a big open field on our way back. We got on the 8:30am ferry to ensure we had plenty of time to explore before our whale watching tour at 1:30pm. Make sure you check the ferry schedule! The ferry usually leaves about every 1.5-2hrs between 4am and 11pm, but it varies by the date. You can either walk on to the ferry or drive your car. You don’t really need a car on Friday Harbor because pretty much everything is walking distance. But if you want to bring your car along, especially if it’s around the holidays, you should make a reservation on the WSDOT website. It’s free to make the reservation, but a credit card is required to cover a $10 No Show Fee if you end up not cancelling in time or don’t show up. You’ll want to make a reservation for the trip back too if you do take your car.

If you choose to walk on the ferry, you’ll park in one of the designated lots outside of the terminal, which do require a parking fee based on how long you’ll be there. You can pay online or inside of the terminal where you’ll buy your ferry tickets. Since we got up early to get to Anacortes, we didn’t eat breakfast before leaving. But there was a cafe in the ferry terminal that actually had decent breakfast sandwiches that were made fresh. There’s also a cafeteria area on the ferry, but I didn’t try anything this time.

Explore Friday Harbor and grab lunch

You’ll see the charming, seaport harbor as the ferry turns to dock at the terminal, and it is beautiful. A perfect little Pacific Northwest island town. Right as you walk off the ferry, there’s shops and restaurants all around. There’s a main street right with plenty of places to pop in and explore, or sit down to eat. There’s also a Lavender Farm on the island, and they have a shop in Friday Harbor where you can buy fresh lavender products, and even foods like lavender chocolate and honey. We’ve eaten at a few different spots in Friday Harbor, and have always had good luck with the food, so there’s plenty of options there. This time, we had lunch at Cheesecake Cafe and Bakery (NOW CLOSED – 2021) and it was delicious. It’s just to the right when you get off the ferry, on the far side of the big red building that you can’t miss. It also has great views of the harbor!

Pelindaba Lavender Farm – 15 minute drive from the terminal. They have beautiful fields to walk through and a big shop to browse.
Alpaca Farm at Krystal Acres – Also about 15 minutes from the terminal. You can walk around and watch the alpacas, as well as check out their gift shop with the softest alpaca wool items!
Lime Kiln State Park – if you want to get out in some nature, you can go hike around this State Park that is considered “one of the best whale watching spots on earth” according to the website.
Take the Jolly Trolley tour around the island to see all the major sights and learn about the history. This tour runs throughout the day and you just pay for a day and can hop and off wherever you’d like. This is a great option if you don’t want to bring your own car onto the ferry, but still want to explore the island. The Jolly Trolley route is below, and you can just walk up and buy tickets when you get off the ferry.

Jolly Trolley Route Friday Harbor — Jolly Trolley Route – Friday Harbor

Take a whale watching tour

There’s several companies that offer whale watching tours. We’ve used San Juan Excursions twice now, and had a good experience both times. If you’re visiting in the summer, the Orca whales should be around, but they aren’t the only animals you could see. If you want a little more adventure, there’s also kayaking tours, which look like a lot of fun! (We haven’t kayaked up here yet because we always have the kids with us, but we had a blast on our night kayaking tour in St. Croix! You can read about our St. Croix trip here).

Grab Dinner

There’s no shortage of restaurants in Friday Harbor. It just depends what you’re in the mood for. Here are some of the restaurants we have either tried or have been recommended to us:

Cask and Schooner Public House & Restaurant – the toffee bread pudding is amazing!
Downriggers – Great views and cocktails! We loved the roasted cauliflower appetizer.
Cheesecake Cafe & Bakery (NOW CLOSED)- I know I mentioned this in the lunch section, but it was so yummy, it could work for a casual dinner too.
The Hungry Clam
Backdoor Kitchen – They’re an organic restaurant. Definitely try the coconut creme pie!
Mike’s Cafe & Wine Bar – They have an all vegan menu, and obviously, wine. This is on my list to try next time we are on the island.
The Restaurant at Friday Harbor House – Amazing views of the harbor.
Roche Harbor – Another recommended spot. They have several waterfront restaurants to choose from.

Catch the ferry back to Anacortes

Good news is, your ferry ticket from Anacortes is roundtrip, so you won’t need to purchase another ticket to come back over. However, if you drove your car onto the island, you may want to make a reservation just to ensure your car has a spot coming back over. This is especially important if you are coming over around a holiday. The ferry ride back always feels longer after a busy day. I recommend grabbing a snack or dessert to enjoy on the way back over while watching the views. Maybe you’ll even see some whales or seals!

A day trip to Friday Harbor is totally doable with a little advanced planning. Enjoy your trip!