Gonna be there for 4 or 5 days. Any recommendations on where to stay and things to check out.
Thanks
Thanks
OT: Seattle
- Thread starter BonzoGoesToCollege
- Start date
I went about 10 years ago and stayed downtown and did the market, Queen Anne neighborhood, and went out to UW's campus. If you have time, UW has an nice campus and Husky Stadium is right on Lake Washington and neat to see.
I have been told by those who have gone more recent that the homeless issue is pretty bad downtown, so be aware.
I have been told by those who have gone more recent that the homeless issue is pretty bad downtown, so be aware.
Gotta check out Pikes Place market. If you're like me and a big fan of a restaurant with a view, check out Ivar's and Ray's Boathouse.
Grab a drink at the top of the space needle if it's a clear day. The Chihuly Garden and Glass museum is at the base of the space needle and it's absolutely incredible, definitely check that out.
Ballard is a cool neighborhood to explore, good bars and restaurants. Old Norwegian area of town, hub for the fishing industry. From there you can walk down to the locks and watch some boats come through. Close by is the Lockspot, a locals bar/restaurant that's always fun.
Also, the Museum of Flight at Boeing field is a great way to kill a few hours. Huge museum, lots of airplanes there to check out including one of the old Air Force One planes that you can walk through.
If the mariners are playing while you're in town, go catch a game. Buy the cheapest ticket you can find then just go hang out in the beer garden in the outfield.
Give yourself plenty of time at SeaTac when flying out. There's construction going on and security there is always a nightmare.
For work, I stayed at the Residence Inn Seattle Downtown / Lake Union by Fred Hutchinson.
You can fly into Seattle, ride the train to downtown, then ride the streetcar to a station immediately outside your hotel, so no car.
The stops are close enough to walk to Pike Market or catch the train /other streetcar to Capitol Hill.
The train goes right by the stadiums if you want to catch a baseball game.
I only need Uber to Fremont or Ballard. If you are beer drinker, there are a ridiculous number of good breweries in the area.
Enjoy, one of my favorite places to visit for a few days.
You can fly into Seattle, ride the train to downtown, then ride the streetcar to a station immediately outside your hotel, so no car.
The stops are close enough to walk to Pike Market or catch the train /other streetcar to Capitol Hill.
The train goes right by the stadiums if you want to catch a baseball game.
I only need Uber to Fremont or Ballard. If you are beer drinker, there are a ridiculous number of good breweries in the area.
Enjoy, one of my favorite places to visit for a few days.
We went to Seattle for a night when I was visiting my brother. I thought Portland was nicer than Seattle. We actually stayed in Redmond which was a nice area.
We did a hop on/hop off tour and went to the Mariners game. The next morning - we ate here (Welcome - Village Square Cafe (cafesinc.com) in Redmond and then drove back to Portland.
We did a hop on/hop off tour and went to the Mariners game. The next morning - we ate here (Welcome - Village Square Cafe (cafesinc.com) in Redmond and then drove back to Portland.
Awesome town. Love it there. Just got back last week. This is video of me stepping off the plane to 68 degrees and no humidity.
Sorry if I repeat anyone...
The tram from SeaTac to Downtown is pretty cheap. My uber from airport to Sheraton Grand downtown was $83.
Dedicate plenty of time to walk around Pike Place Markets. Tons of unique shops, variety of great places to eat (I always get small things, but make many stops). Be sure to go to the Gum Wall down the alley.
On one trip, we did the Underground Tour (LINK). Really enjoyed it.
Take the monorail (seperate from the Tram). It's out of the Westlate Mall and only makes one stop to the Space Needle. $7 round trip.
With that said...don't go in the Space Needle. I didn't think it was worth the money.
If you want to get a high view, go to the observation deck at Columbia Center (LINK). I think it's the tallest building on the West Coast. You can see everything and on clear days you can see Mt. St. Helens. Keep in mind that is on south side of city.
Area around the baseball and football stadiums are kinda cool.
If looking for bars, you can go to Capital Hill (do not go past Cal Anderson Park, esp at night), but I also like to take uber over the water to go where University of Washington is. More variety, stay open later (but going from Central Time to Pacific Time, you'll be dragging by 9 p.m.).
When it comes to food, I was kinda underwhelmed. But you can't go wrong with most sushi or poke bowl options.
Have fun!
Everyone going to the market for the first time has to eat a piece of gum of the wall. And, even though there's literally a Starbucks one block away, you should stand in line for an hour to get a coffee at the original Starbucks. If you're really quick you can intercept a salmon being tossed around at the fish market. They love that. Sorry those are the rules.
We liked a little restaurant called Bingo Biang Noodles. Nothing fancy. Cap Hill area.
We thought The Pink Door that everyone likes at Pikes Place was a little overrated. It was fine though.
If it's a clear day drive up to Kerry Park and take a picture. Pretty cool view of the skyline with Mt. Ranier in the background.
The Starbucks Reserve was cool if you've never been to one. Lots of really good coffee options in Seattle though obviously.
I haven’t been there in several years now, but when I was working I had to go out there a couple of times a year. Interesting place but I never felt very comfortable in the downtown area. Homeless and creepy people lurking around all over the place. I’d be very surprised if it’s changed for the better since my last visit.
Where did you actually stay? I've heard the same about the homeless population. Where would you recommend staying?
Haven't been for many years, but definitely do the market. I would suggest Whidbey Island as well. Definitely catch a Mariners game if playing. It is a nice ballpark. I wanted to go to Gas Works park and the needle, but didn't have time so I can't recommend either.
Be prepared to get a leg workout walking up steep sidewalks.
Be prepared to get a leg workout walking up steep sidewalks.
Having just been there....
Just know you are walking into a place that smells like nothing else but piss and weed.
Homeless people EVERYWHERE doing drugs on the sidewalk as the "woke" mayor made it illegal for the cops to do anything about it.
I legit watched a group of 5 homeless people sitting in a circle on the sidewalk passing a heroin needle around at 2 pm.
Just know you are walking into a place that smells like nothing else but piss and weed.
Homeless people EVERYWHERE doing drugs on the sidewalk as the "woke" mayor made it illegal for the cops to do anything about it.
I legit watched a group of 5 homeless people sitting in a circle on the sidewalk passing a heroin needle around at 2 pm.
(1) Salty’s for dinner. Across the bay from downtown. Crab legs and an unbeatable view.
(2) Kerry Park is THE place for the Seattle photo op. View is fantastic.
(2) Kerry Park is THE place for the Seattle photo op. View is fantastic.
I was there for a day back in 2022. I stopped by the Filson flagship store and honestly I did not feel safe walkign around. The rental car company warned me to not leave anything insight (even a iphone cable or sun glasses) when parking my car. There was obviously a homeless and drug issue in the city. Down every side street there were old campers parked stealing electricity from street lamps. I even witnessed a shoplifting confrontation at a Office Depot and promply got out of town.
I'm sure there are better areas in the city but based my experence I don't have any inclantion to return.
I'm sure there are better areas in the city but based my experence I don't have any inclantion to return.
I only passed through the airport. It's got signs warning you to be woke or get arrested. Iy's got an all gender bathroom with trigger warnings. I only saw two noticeable trannies there.
I don’t remember for sure. It was a high rise not too far south of the needle. Seems like it might have been a Marriott property. Just stayed there once for some sort of conference. I usually stayed down near the airport, which is South of Seattle around Tacoma in a Hampton or something similar. I have been retired for 6 years now so it’s been awhile since I was there. I remember a couple of us walking over to the water front to some restaurant and there were homeless people hanging out in a lot of the doorways of businesses that had closed for the day. Also people sleeping on the sidewalk that you had to walk around. We felt pretty uncomfortable. I traveled all over and there were some places that I thought I would go back and visit after retirement but Seattle is not one of them. Nothing wrong with the city but I just didn’t like being around all those people. There was literally cities of them living under some of the bridges. If they would just clean up that mess it would be very nice and perhaps they have, I just don’t know.
I love this board. Folks that work in Jackson everyday and take regular trips to New Orleans are freaking out/scared about a trip to Seattle.
I was going to go to Seattle but I learned they had a shoplifting incident
Some folks are scared of their own shadow or so mind 17ed by politics they can't let themselves enjoy anything.
My wife and I went there over fall break last year. Stayed at the Sound downtown and really liked it. Can recommend Lola's for dinner and Top Pot Donuts for breakfast. Good coffee everywhere (except Starbucks***), we really liked Monorail Espresso.
Mt. Ranier is a good daytrip. We did a bus tour that picked us up at our hotel. Weather is a crapshoot, cloud cover obscured the peak but we still enjoyed the park. We had better views of Mt. Ranier from the plane, the Space Needle, and the Smith Tower.
You probably don't have time, but we spent a couple of days in Victoria, BC. Beautiful city.
Mt. Ranier is a good daytrip. We did a bus tour that picked us up at our hotel. Weather is a crapshoot, cloud cover obscured the peak but we still enjoyed the park. We had better views of Mt. Ranier from the plane, the Space Needle, and the Smith Tower.
You probably don't have time, but we spent a couple of days in Victoria, BC. Beautiful city.
Just giving you my experience in a fairly nice commercial business part of town. There was a camp next to the parking lot and the cashier told me this was a daily occurrence. After walking around like mentioned above having to walk around people sleeping on the street, witnessing that was the straw that broke camels back that made me want get out of town and head to where I would be working for the week. Not to say I was scared to be there just don't enjoy being in that environment.I was going to go to Seattle but I learned they had a shoplifting incident
All snark aside, spending time in places you want to be is completely reasonable. It's a big country with plenty different places.
There is some of that but a lot of it is there really isn't a city that is "Safe" or "unsafe" although there may be a few like Jackson or New Orleans or Detroit (guessing on this one) that are getting close to just being unsafe. I haven't been since everybody went crazy on allowing homeless to take over otherwise decent parts of a cities, but Seattle felt like the nicest and safest American City I have ever been to when I went. But even then, a local friend pointed out where we should not go (I think it was near their china town? been a while). I'm sure that place was probably not like Orange Mound, but it probably wasn't a great place to be.
If you experience a city's rougher areas, your impression is going to be very different than if you only experience its nicer areas.
People are also going to be more comfortable with what they know. 20 years ago, despite Jackson being very dangerous statistically even then, I never would have felt unsafe in Jackson because I knew exactly where I could and could not go and back then you really did not have any violent crime bleed over into those places (and relatively little property crime).
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