Seattle Travel Tips: 8 Things to Know Before You Go
213,616
Published 2019-09-20
💲💲💲 Get up to 40% off hotels in Seattle by signing up here:
plannin.com/en/search?googleResult=ChIJVTPokywQkFQ…
2 - Weather
150 days of rain a year, with an average rainfall of 37 inches. It's generally not a huge downpour, but more of a steady drizzle. Make sure to bring a raincoat and umbrella.. Although you generally wont see the locals using an umbrella, just a raincoat. And if it's not raining, it's usually cloudy. Don't expect blue skies and sun here. Cloudy 201 days out of the year and partly cloudy 93 days. Winter is quite cold. Averages about 5 inches of snow per year.. If its snowing, don’t plan on going much of anywhere. The city mostly shuts down.
3 - Getting in
Flying in you’ll likely land at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SeaTac for short)
Home to Alaska Airlines
Take the light rail in to downtown. Takes approximately 40 minutes from the airport to downtown.
Amtrak trains
Coast Starlight from LA via Portland
Cascades runs from Vancouver, through Seattle, to Eugene Oregon
Empire Builder comes in all the way from Chicago
Driving in, it’s about 3 hours from Portland or Vancouver
4 - Getting around
Lots of water around. Which makes getting around slow.
Seattle traffic is awful.. I personally still get a rental car.
Don't want to rent one for the whole trip? Use Car2Go.
Seattle has one light rail line. Trains arrive every 6 to 15 minutes.
2 street car lines. Fares are $2.50 for adults.
1 Monorail line, from Westlake Center to Seattle Center. It’s a 2 minute ride for $2.50
Lots of bus lines too.
Oh and I mentioned water.. There’s also water taxis, and ferries.
Uber and Lyft are plentiful
Walking is the best way to get around.. but it's quite hilly. Maybe even more so than San Francisco. So bring your hill climbing shoes.
5 - Food
Just like NYC, Seattle has lots of very good restaurants, but they are expensive. Known for seafood. Locally caught Salmon and Crab. Shellfish, oysters.
Eat a Geoduck (gooey-duck) Clam, native to Washington. Popular in Asian cuisine.. 50% of all geoducks get exported to China. somewhere between "chewy clam and a tender abalone, though crisper in texture than either”
Seattle hot dog.. with grilled onions Cream Cheese
Fast food of choice is Teriyaki
Adding to Seattle’s well-known hipster status it has a wide variety of micro-breweries. Over 200 breweries
6 - Coffee
Seattlite love coffee, and coffee shops. The coffee shop is like an extension of most people's homes, they study, they meet people, oh, and they drink some coffee.
Starbucks started in Seattle. There are more Starbucks per person in Seattle than in any other city. In Pike Place they call it the original.. But the original one is no more. If you are a fan of Starbucks visit their flagship Starbucks Reserve Seattle Roastery on Capitol Hill.
Bikini Baristas started in Seattle too.
7 - Hotels
I think the best place to stay is in the heart of downtown. Then you won’t have to fight traffic, or deal with the lousy public transit because you can walk to most things. Expensive during the weekend. Try visiting on the weekend when all the business folks are gone.
Want something a little quieter? Try the Queen Anne Neighborhood by the space needle. Still close, and probably a bit cheaper. Just not in the middle of it all.
Bainbridge Island for cheaper hotels
It's a 35 minute ferry ride in to Seattle for a cheap $8 round trip.
Or even around Seatac Airport
8 - Big attractions
Pike Place Market, Seattle Space Needle, the Waterfront.
You might enjoy watching some of these other videos:
San Francisco Travel Tips: • San Francisco Travel Tips: 11 Things ...
LA Travel Tips: • Los Angeles Travel Tips: 13 Things to...
San Diego Travel Tips: • San Diego Travel Tips: 11 Things to K...
Yellow Productions on Social Media:
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/YellowProductionsTravel
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/yellowwproductions/
TWITTER: twitter.com/chrisraney
Explore more of my content on my 2nd channel, the Office Survival Guide: / @officesurvivalguide
Check out my blog:
yelloww.net/
All Comments (21)
-
💲💲💲 Get up to 40% off hotels in Seattle by signing up here: plannin.com/en/search?googleResult=ChIJVTPokywQkFQ… You might enjoy watching some of these other videos: San Francisco Travel Tips: https://youtu.be/WUkIPSxUfyg LA Travel Tips: https://youtu.be/qfUE8xQ_SgE San Diego Travel Tips: https://youtu.be/r7boZsSKlts
-
I don't know why I'm watching this. I literally live in Seattle
-
In planning my FIRST trip to Seattle I watched tons of Seattle tourism/info videos. Yours is the best. Kudos sir.
-
Seeing your videos really inspires me and raises my spirits that I’ll be able to travel again one day.
-
I was born and raised in Seattle now live 30min outside of Seattle. ❤😃
-
Love the Pacific Northwest. I haven't been to Seattle in a long time, but your video makes me want to get back there asap! Thanks for the great tips!
-
The weather in the summer is just about perfect not too hot (75 degrees) compare to other areas. In the winter it never gets very cold high 40’s but it does get dark early with short days because of it’s northern location (opposite in the summer with long days). As far as attractions you didn’t mention the Museum of Flight (almost as good as the Smithsonian) and the Glass Museum as they are rank high with the Pike Place Market.
-
We were there for a day in May, the weather was perfect. As usual some great information Chris, we will be back in Seattle at the end of a cruise in 2021.
-
Late spring, all summer, and very early autumn tend to be sunny and lovely. Winters are actually pretty mild most years. As you mentioned, Sept. is a GREAT time to come visit.
-
THANK YOU FOR THE AWESOME INFO.
-
Once again another fantastic video to help us out, thanks
-
This was the most informative seattle video ive watched! loved it, thanks so much
-
I thought this was a great video! I went to Seattle before I saw this video. I pretty much did everything that you suggested!! I thought you nailed it!! Keep up the good work!!
-
Thanks 😊😘 for your wonderful video n helpful commentary..God 🙏🙌 bless you
-
I love all the info you always give us, Awesome video. Thanks a lot!💜💜💜
-
This video was great! It mentioned some things I would not have realized. Thanks!
-
My husband and I recently have taken cruises to Alaska from Seattle and Vancouver. Seattle, the homeless were a surprise that they are allowed to TENT or hangout in front of hotels, stores, restaurants, supermarkets and along sidewalks/highways. They didn't bother us, but we were unprepared seniors (68 & 80). We would not walk around or go out at night...UBER everywhere. I took the Boeing tour and the guide said 1,000 people a WEEK move to Seattle. The Tech companies are raising the rents, so previous tenants end up evicted/vacating with no where to go but the street. Cops are not allowed to harass. 3 cruise ships a day fund the Pike Market. My family lived in Seattle in the 1980's. Washington is a beautiful state. Sorry for this comment, but travelers must know their surroundings. That is one reason I look on youtube for current travel advice. Chris, you are always realistic/honest with your advice. Thank you...much appreciated.
-
Great video on Seattle ! You give so much wonderful information, lucky you got a sunny day to film. The Gum wall so gross haha! Enjoyed this video. Thanks Chris
-
I’ve visited Seattle last year and again this year (2019). If you are staying in downtown Seattle I recommend NOT renting a car and just using Lyft or Uber. I rented a car my first time going and it was a waste of money for sure. We only drove it from the airport to the hotel and back. The food was really good. My favorite place to eat was Zeke’s pizzeria. I went both times for Labor Day weekend. The weather around that time was perfect!
-
When we went to Seattle we did not do our due diligence on transportation from the airport to downtown and we got an expensive taxi. Thanks for the info on the light rail.
