Generally, “Inn Touring” requires you to load your luggage on your trike as you travel from Inn-to-Inn along the route.  But, when visiting the San Juans, you don’t have to ride to the different terrains -they come to you -via free inter-island ferry service!

That allows you to have a “home base” where you dump your belongings -that is, just one inn for the whole trip.  Each morning, you can hop a different ferry to another island, ride to your heart’s content and then hop a return ferry.  So, each afternoon, you’re back at your home base, showered and ready for an early dinner!   

Both Orcas and San Juan Island have great Inn choices, but we stay in the bustling little town of Friday Harbor because it has housing at ALL price levels, good restaurants and nice grocery store -all within a 5 minute trike ride from the ferry. 

Here are our Friday Harbor favorites (with links!):

• Island Inn – a lovely little hotel right at the harbor’s edge. We’ve traveled with friends with dietary restrictions -Island Inn’s suites with kitchens solve this problem.  And, while we do lock our trikes on the island, we don’t consider theft a super-significant issue.  That said, Island Inn has a parking garage where we’ve stashed our trikes. 
• Friday Harbor House -A beautiful property. If you book far-enough in advance, you’ll want to specify harbor views -and watch the lighted ferries floating across the vast pitch black expanse out your window -it’s an amazing show! We’ll mention below their excellent restaurant and the stunning harbor view from their lawn!
• San Juan Property Management We’ve used them multiple times to line up enough accommodations when we have lots of friends traveling (28 in 2022!). They’re fantastic. 
• Juniper Guest House -just a mile and a half from the ferry terminal. Just that 10 minutes transforms from bustling Friday Harbor to rural tranquility (complete with sheep fields out the window!).  The proprietress –“Juniper”, naturally- can accommodate up to a dozen people across her two buildings.  It’s charming.  We’ve stayed there twice!  I’ve got reservations for 2024!

 

We’ll go ahead and give a shoutout to Outlook Inn in East Sound on Orcas Island. We’ve stayed there on non-triking trips. It’s lovely