SEATTLE – TRANSPORTATION

On arrival you have three ways to get to Downtown Seattle. The most convenient is a taxi as this will take you directly to your destination in under $50. The second and my preferred option is by the Central Link Light Rail, which will take you from the airport (Seatac Airport Station) to Downtown Seattle (Westlake Station). It is just behind the big garage at the airport. The third option is the bus. It cost about the same as the train ($2-3), but the route is much longer. The train is therefore the best option, but as the train and bus timetables show, they do not offer a 24 hour service. If you come at the wrong time a taxi will be your only option; consider this when buying your flight.

Taxi alternative – it’s hard not to notice the rising popularity of the UBER application.

The primary means of transport in Seattle is the bus. Ticket for it is bought from the bus driver (with exact change as there is no change given). The prices and other relevant information can be found here. An Orca Card is another, more convenient form of payment, as you do not have to carry change around with you all the time. It also applies on multiple transit systems located in Seattle. I did not buy one, but it would have come in useful. As far as I remember, the purchased bus ticket was valid for the next two hours. The final destination of most buses is not a particular bus stop but a general area e.g. for most buses it’s Downtown Seattle. As this is quite a large area, to find a particular station you will have to use Google Maps or the Seattle public transport map. Here is an example of a journey from Downtown Seattle to Fisherman’s Terminal (the home of some of the listed fishing companies).