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Just a few tips based on my recent visit to the Emerald City:

If you're arriving by Amtrak, you will be getting off at King Street Station, a little south of downtown. If you go straight out the door, you will be in Pioneer Square, the oldest part of Seattle. Some of this area can appear a bit rough looking, with the occasional homeless person wandering about, but it seemed safe enough to me when I was there, especially in the daytime. If you're heading uptown, you will be going uphill. I was staying at the Marriott Courtyard on 2nd Ave, which is a short walk from the station, but which has a slight upgrade, which one can notice more if hauling luggage. The cross streets connecting 2nd Ave and 3rd Ave. and so on have a more distinct grade. I don't see Downtown Seattle as hilly as parts of central San Fransisco, but the grades are pretty steep. Thus, it was a nice downhill walk from my hotel to Alaska Way along the waterfront, but a stiff climb back up.

If you are riding the Link "light rail" (more like a subway train with low, level boarding platforms), You can avoid the uphill walk to 3rd. Ave. by taking the elevator up to the 2nd floor, and then exit of the plaza facing Jackson St.. Turn right on Jackson St., cross 2nd. Ave Extended and 4th Ave, go past the old Union Station and you will soon find the entrance to the "International District/Chinatown" Link Stop. There are ticket vending machines, but no faregates. They apparently do random checks to make sure you're paying the fares. The Seattle Streetcar runs along Jackson Street and links Pioneer Square to a neighborhood called "Capitol Hill," even though Seattle isn't the capitol of anything. Note that the Link light rail also has a stop at Capitol Hill. You can buy an Orca card, which is good on pretty much everything transitwise in the city, though if you buy a day pass, I know it's not good for the Bainbridge Island Ferry, and I suspect it's not good for the Sounder commuter trains, so you would need to put some cash on the Orca card to be able to use it for those two services.

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King St. Station from the plaza on Jackson St.

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Streetcar to Capitol Hill on Jackson St.

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This is Union Station, right next to the Link light rail station, it was built for the Union Pacific and Milwaukee Road. It's no longer in use as a train station but serves as the HQ for Sound Transit.

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Here's the "Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel," originally used for trolleybuses (or "trackless trolleys" to those of us from Philadelphia), now used exclusively for the Link light rail.

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Here's a Link train. They call it "light rail," but the parts I rode sure seemed more like metro with low platforms as far as I was concerned.

I only had a day and a half to spend in town, so I focused my visit to the waterfront, including a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, hanging around the Pike Place Market, a visit to the Space Needle via the monorail, and a ride on the streetcar to South Lake Union.
 

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The ferry terminal is at Alaska Way and Marion St. Pedestrians will have to go up a flight of stairs to the boarding concourse on the upper level. Access is controlled by faregates, which take Orca Cards, but not Orca Day passes, so you'll need to add money to your Orca card or buy a separate ticket. The crossing time is 35 minutes, and when I was there, they were using only one boat, so the headways were almost 2 hours between sailings. Thus, when I got to Bainbridge Island, I just did the Staten Island Ferry thing, got off the boat and got right back on. The crossing from Bainbridge Island to Seattle (at least for foot passengers) was free. Bainbridge Island looked like an interesting place, very countrified in contrast to downtown Seattle, and I guess I'll have to come back and spend some more time exploring.

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These ferries are 460 ft. long and have a displacement of 6,200 tons. They're definitely bigger than the boats of the Staten Island Ferry. I'm not sure how well they handle in rough seas, as it was pretty calm the day I took my trip.

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Seattle skyline, including the Space Needle.

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Bainbridge Island. Still some fall colors left, even though it was mid-November

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Bainbridge Island terminal

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Seattle Terminal. The tall building wioth the pointy top is the Smith Tower, built in 1914, and until the Space Needle was built in 1962, the tallest building in Seattle.
 
From the ferry terminal, one can walk along Alaska Way for a while, and then climb some steps to reach the Pike Place Market. There's also an elevator I found. The market building itself has 5 or 6 levels, but the interesting stuff is at the top on Pike Place.

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The famous local salmon. There's one stall where they have a schtick of tossing fish around.

https://seattlemag.com/pike-place-fish-tossoffensive-or-fun/
Now for lunch as Lowell's Restaurant, apparently a local institution, with 3 floors of tables with views or the water.

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Grilled salmon, shrimp and crab cakes. The salmon was great. The Seattle style crab cakes were OK, but I think the Maryland type made with eastern blue crab are far superior.

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Olympic Mountains across the sound. I'm going to have to return, rent a car, and check them out.

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The original Starbucks! But the line is long, and the menu is the same as what I can get back home, so why not try something more local?

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Or you can even have your drink made by a robot barista!

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The Bainbridge Ferry is one of the highlights of any trip to Seattle, because you can have a great day out as a foot passenger, no car needed. Steps from the ferry dock is the town of Bainbridge Island, nee Winslow, which all Seattle natives still call it. Great little shops, ice cream parlors, breweries, etc. all within a comfortable stroll. And the views of Seattle and the surrounding mountains from the ferry are every bit as great as from the expensive tour boats.

Here is a website with some Bainbridge visit ideas; Winslow Bainbridge Island - Bainbridge Island Neighborhoods
 
I visit Seattle once or twice a year, since it's in close proximity, relatively speaking (I live in Eastern Washington) and always enjoy it. Lowell's is my go-to for breakfast; I love their Dungeness crab omelets. I usually take the longer ferry trip, to Bremerton; it's an interesting place to explore as well. My sister lives in Lynnwood, north of Seattle, and I'm in hopes that by next summer, by the time I visit her again, the Link light rail to Lynnwood will be completed. Best guesstimate now is that it won't be completed until after I'm there. But one can always hope.
 
MARC Rider said:
The ferry terminal is at Alaska Way and Marion St. Pedestrians will have to go up a flight of stairs to the boarding concourse on the upper level. Access is controlled by faregates, which take Orca Cards, but not Orca Day passes, so you'll need to add money to your Orca card or buy a separate ticket. The crossing time is 35 minutes, and when I was there, they were using only one boat, so the headways were almost 2 hours between sailings. Thus, when I got to Bainbridge Island, I just did the Staten Island Ferry thing, got off the boat and got right back on. The crossing from Bainbridge Island to Seattle (at least for foot passengers) was free. Bainbridge Island looked like an interesting place, very countrified in contrast to downtown Seattle, and I guess I'll have to come back and spend some more time exploring.

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These ferries are 460 ft. long and have a displacement of 6,200 tons. They're definitely bigger than the boats of the Staten Island Ferry. I'm not sure how well they handle in rough seas, as it was pretty calm the day I took my trip.

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Seattle skyline, including the Space Needle.

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Bainbridge Island. Still some fall colors left, even though it was mid-November

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Bainbridge Island terminal

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Seattle Terminal. The tall building wioth the pointy top is the Smith Tower, built in 1914, and until the Space Needle was built in 1962, the tallest building in Seattle.
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Yeah they've been tossing fish there as far back as I can remember. The Starbucks always makes me shake my head in disappointment. I've always chalked it up to those being the same people who go to NYC and eat at Olive Garden in Times Square. Or Chili's, TGI Fridays, Red Lobster, Applebee's, etc.
 
moosejunky99 said:
I'm doing my first trip to Seattle in May of 2024 though the empire builder. Is the zoo worth going too? I was planning that and a few breweries along the way.
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It is a decent zoo, though maybe a bit small as it is in the city. It's close to Ballard, Fremont, U-District, and Greenwood, so there's plenty of stuff to do in the area in addition to the zoo.
 
moosejunky99 said:
I'm doing my first trip to Seattle in May of 2024 though the empire builder. Is the zoo worth going too? I was planning that and a few breweries along the way.
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The zoo is fine, though not necessarily a world class one. Like most zoos, it has pivoted to emphasizing breeding endangered species, having its animals in naturalistic settings, and focusing on animals who best tolerate our local weather conditions. There's a fabulous rose garden adjacent to it, if you're visiting in late May. Personally, I love roses as long as they're in someone else's care; too fussy for my gardening interests.

As for breweries, you'll be spoiled for choice. Seems like there are breweries all over, often with food trucks adjacent for your dining needs. One unusual brewery I will recommend is Machine House Brewery, in the south end of town. They brew honest-to-goodness authentic British style cask conditioned ales, hand pumped from the basement where they are kept at 55 degrees, as befits the style. They've always got four or five British ales, together with a few IPAs from other breweries on tap. There are only a handful of breweries in the whole country brewing that kind of beer, so Machine House is a real treasure. Also, because British real ale is much lower in alcohol than IPAs and the like, they are, as the Brits say, 'sessionable.'
 
Thank you for tip
flitcraft said:
The zoo is fine, though not necessarily a world class one. Like most zoos, it has pivoted to emphasizing breeding endangered species, having its animals in naturalistic settings, and focusing on animals who best tolerate our local weather conditions. There's a fabulous rose garden adjacent to it, if you're visiting in late May. Personally, I love roses as long as they're in someone else's care; too fussy for my gardening interests.

As for breweries, you'll be spoiled for choice. Seems like there are breweries all over, often with food trucks adjacent for your dining needs. One unusual brewery I will recommend is Machine House Brewery, in the south end of town. They brew honest-to-goodness authentic British style cask conditioned ales, hand pumped from the basement where they are kept at 55 degrees, as befits the style. They've always got four or five British ales, together with a few IPAs from other breweries on tap. There are only a handful of breweries in the whole country brewing that kind of beer, so Machine House is a real treasure. Also, because British real ale is much lower in alcohol than IPAs and the like, they are, as the Brits say, 'sessionable.'
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Thank you for tips and information.

I decide to do 2 days in Seattle and 2 days in Portland and go back to SEA to take empire builder back home.

There are too many brewery that i could never see them all. I am more of a darker beer guy like stouts/porters but the alcohol level can be a lot.
 
moosejunky99 said:
How safe is mass transit in Seattle? I'll mainly be in the day time and not a night..
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Probably safer than driving in traffic. :) I had no worries of that sort during my recent visit. At the worst, there are a noticeable number of homeless around Pioneer Square (which includes the area immediately around King Street Station) and up along Third Avenue, but they appear to be harmless. Riding through the Link light rail or the streetcars were perfectly safe.

Personally, I think people worry too much about big-city crime, probably because the media sensationalizes it. Violent crime rates all over have been dropping anyway. In most big cities, it's a matter of avoiding a few neighborhoods where most visitors would have no interest in going to anyway. This is especially true if you're just going to be there during the day.
 
MARC Rider said:
Probably safer than driving in traffic. :) I had no worries of that sort during my recent visit. At the worst, there are a noticeable number of homeless around Pioneer Square (which includes the area immediately around King Street Station) and up along Third Avenue, but they appear to be harmless. Riding through the Link light rail or the streetcars were perfectly safe.

Personally, I think people worry too much about big-city crime, probably because the media sensationalizes it. Violent crime rates all over have been dropping anyway. In most big cities, it's a matter of avoiding a few neighborhoods where most visitors would have no interest in going to anyway. This is especially true if you're just going to be there during the day.
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Yes that is true about worried about big city. I'm doing waterfront / space needle / zoo and breweries near downtown by pike market... that is basically what i plan on doing so far lol.
 
moosejunky99 said:
Yes that is true about worried about big city. I'm doing waterfront / space needle / zoo and breweries near downtown by pike market... that is basically what i plan on doing so far lol.
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If you can, try to hit up Georgetown brewing, south of town, and Fremont brewing over by Gasworks park. Both are phenomenal.

I was in Seattle a couple of summers ago and took the busses and Link all over. I never felt unsafe even in the evenings.
 
I live in Seattle and use the busses, light rail and street car all the time. I have never felt unsafe, though coming back from the airport at about 11 pm, a man on the light rail was clearly having a bad time with mental illness and possibly drug withdrawal, acting very erratically. Other than that, I can't say that I've ever been concerned for my safety. I'm a woman in her seventies, just for reference.
 
justn said:
If you can, try to hit up Georgetown brewing, south of town, and Fremont brewing over by Gasworks park. Both are phenomenal.

I was in Seattle a couple of summers ago and took the busses and Link all over. I never felt unsafe even in the evenings.
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The georgetown is a little far for me. I'm going to Fremont brewing by the fremont troll.
 
moosejunky99 said:
I'm doing my first trip to Seattle in May of 2024 though the empire builder. Is the zoo worth going too? I was planning that and a few breweries along the way.
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I enjoyed a very nice day at that zoo on my trip ten years ago. Of course, things evolve, but I found it both big and diverse enough to be truly worth my while, as an animal lover. If I recall my various city zoo visits correctly, they have a lot of birds, not just in the avian house but in all kinds of buildings and exhibits throughout the zoo. It may not be San Diego or D.C. but if you enjoy animals, it's still very much a worthy place to visit.
 

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