Walla Walla is ready to welcome you to the Pacific Northwest! Here are a few travel tips to help you with your planning:
HOTEL
The host hotel is the Marcus Whitman with a group block room rate of $159/night. Please note: if you are trying to book a room Wednesday night, the hotel is nearly sold out to another in-house group but there is still plenty of availability of WBC18 rooms Thursday-Sunday. At this time, pre-conference excursions are not scheduled to end in Walla Walla on Wednesday or start in Walla Walla on Thursday morning. To book your hotel room, please call the hotel directly at 866-826-9422 and refer to the Wine Bloggers Conference. The cut-off date for reservations is September 4, 2018.
AIR TRAVEL
You have multiple airport options for reaching Walla Walla. Presented in order of distance from the city:
- The Walla Walla Airport (code ALW) is a regional airport with approximately three flights per day on Alaska Airlines to and from Seattle.
- The Tri-Cities Airport (code PSC) is about an hour from Walla Walla and has flight connections to Seattle, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, and Denver. It serves as a regional hub and many of our 2010 attendees flew in using this airport. We will likely have at least one excursion pick up or drop off here.
- The Portland Airport (code PDX) in Oregon is 3:50 from Walla Walla and is Oregon’s largest airport.
- The Seattle-Tacoma Airport (code SEA) is 4:15 from Walla Walla and is the main airport for Washington state.
EXCURSIONS
If you plan to participate in pre-conference or post-conference excursions, which might include transportation from nearby airports, please do not book your travel to the region until we formally announce all the excursions as these will affect your travel plans. Registrations for the excursions will open up mid-February, so keep an eye out for that announcement.
One of the pre-conference excursions this year that has been finalized starts in the Tri-Cities and overnights at the Hotel Maison in Yakima, WA (booking information will be released with excursion information).
Yakima Valley’s grape vines and hop bines will fulfill your appetite for fine wine and craft beer. The flavors of two of YAKIMA VALLEY’S most notable agricultural products, WINE GRAPES and HOPS are defined by soil, elevation, water, and weather patterns. Join the farmers who grow these award-winning grape vines and hop bines for an immersive experience of identifying specific flavor profiles via microclimates. @WineYakimaValley
Other excursions are in the process of being finalized, so we will be sure to post those as soon as we have the information.
We look forward to welcoming you to Walla Walla in October!