[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":131},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-best-time-to-drive-seattle-to-portland":3},{"bannerImage":4,"title":5,"slug":6,"datePublished":7,"bannerAlt":8,"bannerCredit":9,"description":14,"keywords":15,"markdownText":20,"forecast":21,"route":78,"modes":110},"\u002Fblog-images\u002Fseattle-to-portland.jpg","Seattle to Portland on I-5: Best Friday Departure Time","best-time-to-drive-seattle-to-portland","2026-10-08","Interstate 5 traffic passing the Seattle skyline at night",{"author":10,"sourceUrl":11,"license":12,"licenseUrl":13},"Dllu","https:\u002F\u002Fcommons.wikimedia.org\u002Fwiki\u002FFile:Seattle_I-5_skyline_dllu.jpg","CC BY-SA 4.0","https:\u002F\u002Fcreativecommons.org\u002Flicenses\u002Fby-sa\u002F4.0","Leave Seattle by 9:00 AM or after 7:00 PM: under 2 hr 55 min to Portland. A 3:00 PM start is forecast at 3 hr 25 min.",[16,17,18,19],"seattle to portland drive time","i-5 traffic seattle portland","best time to drive to portland","friday i-5 forecast","# Seattle to Portland on I-5: Best Friday Departure Time\n\nThis is a steady I-5 drive with a simple rule: leave before late morning or wait for the evening. The route and distance stay the same all day, so the gap between the fastest start and the 3:00 PM peak, 48 minutes, is all traffic. A late start is the fastest of all: 9:00 PM beats even dawn.\n\n## When to leave\n\nStarts from 5:00 to 9:00 AM all come in under three hours. The slowdown builds from midday and peaks between 2:00 and 4:00 PM. After 6:00 PM it eases quickly, which makes an after-work departure an easy way to reach Portland with time left for dinner.\n\n## Other ways to go\n\n\u003C!-- modes -->\n\nAmtrak Cascades runs six round trips a day, plus the Coast Starlight, and takes about three and a half hours along Puget Sound. That is a little slower than the best drive, but you can read, work and skip Portland parking. In August 2026, buses replaced trains for a few weeks after a fire near Portland Union Station; full service returned on August 19-20.\n\nFlixBus runs the corridor several times a day and is usually the cheapest option. Alaska and Delta fly SEA-PDX in under an hour, but for a downtown-to-downtown trip the airports add more time than the flight saves.\n\n## Parking in Portland\n\nPortland's SmartPark garages are open around the clock. The first hour costs $2.35, all-day parking is $13 to $18 and weekend days are $7. Street meters cost $3.20 an hour and are enforced 8:00 AM-7:00 PM Monday to Saturday and 1:00-7:00 PM on Sunday; pay with the Parking Kitty app. On Timbers or Thorns game days, meters around Providence Park go up to $7.40 an hour.\n\n## On the road\n\nThere is still no toll on the Interstate Bridge over the Columbia; tolling is now set to begin on July 1, 2028. In heavy winter rain, keep an eye on the stretch near Chehalis, where flooding closed 20 miles of I-5 in January 2022. [WSDOT's travel map](https:\u002F\u002Fwsdot.com\u002Ftravel\u002Freal-time\u002Fmap) shows current closures.\n\nPlanning another trip? Read [Chicago to Milwaukee](\u002Fblog\u002Fbest-time-to-drive-chicago-to-milwaukee).",{"date":22,"madeOn":7,"from":23,"to":24,"chartUrl":25,"source":26,"points":27},"2026-10-09","Seattle","Portland","\u002F?from=Seattle%2C%20WA%2C%20USA&to=Portland%2C%20OR%2C%20USA","TomTom",[28,31,34,37,40,43,46,49,52,55,58,61,64,67,70,73,75],[29,30],5,161,[32,33],6,165,[35,36],7,169,[38,39],8,171,[41,42],9,172,[44,45],10,174,[47,48],11,178,[50,51],12,183,[53,54],13,187,[56,57],14,197,[59,60],15,205,[62,63],16,202,[65,66],17,190,[68,69],18,177,[71,72],19,166,[74,30],20,[76,77],21,157,{"stops":79,"roads":108,"miles":109},[80,84,89,93,97,101,104],[23,81,82,83],47.61,-122.33,"s",[85,86,87,88],"Tacoma",47.25,-122.44,"v",[90,91,92,88],"Olympia",47.04,-122.9,[94,95,96,88],"Chehalis",46.66,-122.96,[98,99,100,98],"",46.15,-122.91,[98,102,103,98],45.64,-122.66,[24,105,106,107],45.52,-122.68,"e","I-5","174 mi",[111,116,121,126],[112,113,114,115],"car","Drive","2 hr 37 min - 3 hr 25 min","Fastest after 8 PM",[117,118,119,120],"train","Train","~3 hr 30 min","Amtrak Cascades, 6 a day",[122,123,124,125],"bus","Bus","Several a day","FlixBus, usually cheapest",[127,128,129,130],"plane","Fly","Under 1 hr in the air","Alaska, Delta",1791538342771]