Seattle is one of the West Coast's most popular vacation destinations, and as its popularity has grown, so too has the need for pre-visit planning. Try to make your hotel and car reservations as far in advance as possible -- not only will you save money, but you'll also be more likely to find rooms available in the most highly recommended hotels. Summer is the peak tourist season in Seattle, and from June through September downtown hotels are often fully booked for days or even weeks at a time. Consequently, reservations -- for hotel rooms, rental cars, or tables at restaurants -- are imperative. If you plan to visit during the city's annual Seafair summer festival in late July and early August, when every hotel in town can be booked, reservations are especially important.

Oh, yeah, and about that rain. Seattle's rainy weather may be infamous, but Seattleites have ways of dealing with the dreary days. They either put on their rain gear and head outdoors just as if the sun were shining, or they retreat to the city's hundreds of excellent restaurants and cafes, its dozens of theaters and performance halls, its outstanding museums, its many movie theaters, and its excellent bookstores. They rarely let the weather stand in the way of having a good time, and neither should you.

Although summer is the best time to visit, Seattle offers year-round diversions and entertainment, and because it is still a seasonal destination, hotel rooms here are a real bargain during the rainy months between October and April.

Won't You Let Me Take You on a Sea Cruise?

Seattle is a major port for cruise ships heading north up the Inside Passage to Alaska. The cruise season begins in May and runs through September. There are five cruise lines sailing from Seattle during the summer months:

Celebrity Cruises (tel. 800/647-2251; www.celebrity.com), which operates some of the world's best cruise ships, offers 7-night cruises aboard the 1,882-passenger Mercury.

Holland America Line (tel. 877/SAIL-HAL; www.hollandamerica.com) offers 7-day cruises. Cruises leave from the Terminal 30 Cruise Facility in Seattle's industrial port area.

Norwegian Cruise Line (tel. 800/327-7030; www.ncl.com), known for its "freestyle" cruising, which frees passengers up to eat when and where they want aboard ship, leaves from the Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal at Pier 66. Two different 7-day cruises, one to Glacier Bay and one to Sawyer Glacier, are offered. There are also 10- and 11-day cruises.

Princess Cruises (tel. 800/PRINCESS; www.princess.com) offers 7-day cruises aboard four different ships. Cruises leave from the Terminal 30 Cruise Facility.

For a different sort of Alaska cruise, contact the American West Steamboat Company (tel. 800/434-1232; www.americanweststeamboat.com), which makes runs up the Inside Passage with its modern Empress of the North sternwheeler. The one-way cruise takes 11 nights to get from Seattle to Juneau, Alaska.