Thinking of visiting Seattle without car (Tacoma, Vancouver: rental car, rental, hotels)

[Nibbidy]

I see that rental cars are expensive there. I'm interested in going to Seattle for the first time to check out a mariners game and see the scenery. Any recommendations on getting from the airport to safeco field. I plan on staying at a hotel across the street from the ballpark
Also how far is the area from attractions in downtown?

[IslandCityGirl]

Light rail should make things pretty easy for you. I think this might answer all of your questions at once:
Link light rail | Sound Transit

Buses can get you to some neighborhoods/destinations that light rail can't. Light rail stations also connect with the bus lines. On the site above, when you select an individual station, you'll see the bus lines that connect at that location.

For more about the buses and specific lines, stops, schedules, here's this:
Route List by Neighborhood - Schedules & Maps - King County Metro Transit

The schedules for light rail and buses should answer any specific questions about how long it takes to get to specific places. Seattle is not a humongous place, and you can get around to different attractions/neighborhoods fairly easily and quickly.

Hope that helps! Have fun!

[Ruth4Truth]

If you want to do sight-seeing, public transit would be an inefficient way to go about it, and would limit your time, so you'd have to plan strategically, selecting just a few destinations, and working with the bus schedules to achieve what you want. If you're coming on a weekend, Sunday is a bad day to use the transit system, as service is cut way back. Some bus lines only go once/hr., others--once/half-hour.

If you're coming on a weekend, you can rent a car at Enterprise for $30 or so for the whole weekend (they allow you 3 days for their special weekend rate), and they'll drive out to meet you wherever you call them from. I don't know if there's an exclusion for the airport, but you can call them to find out.

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by Nibbidy

I see that rental cars are expensive there. I'm interested in going to Seattle for the first time to check out a mariners game and see the scenery. Any recommendations on getting from the airport to safeco field. I plan on staying at a hotel across the street from the ballpark
Also how far is the area from attractions in downtown?

Go for it. Take the train from the airport to International District station. I've done it a few times, just for giggles since I have an ORCA pass that is pretty much all-access to transit and should I ever actually try mass transit from my front door to Seatac Airport, wanted to see how long it would take.

Either walk to downtown from there (Safeco Field), it isn't all that far, or get back on the train and go up to University or Westlake Station(s). Easy-peasy. I'd walk it, just to see the sights, but I do like walking in-general. OneBusAway or similar app will make navigating the bus system easy, if walking becomes tiresome: I've started in Fremont or U-district and hopped all around town on buses, then walked a mile or three to connect various points of interest many, many time.

I really like going to new-to-me cities and not renting cars, to see and smell the streets of our great nation on foot. I've found out a lot more about Lincoln Nebraska, San Diego, and half dozen other places in the past couple years that way. I found Charlotte NC and San Diego especially interesting on foot, though Seattle is not far behind if you stop and really look around.

Bring a raincoat, weather is "partly sunny with good chance of rain" on any given day in the spring.

[CrazyDonkey]

Yeah, take Link light rail from the airport to your hotel (get off at the International District Station, then walk west a couple blocks).

All the hotels near Safeco are in Pioneer Square:

You'll find nearby art galleries, museums, restaurants/cafes, bars/lounges, boutiques/shops, etc.

Within walking distance:

Pioneer Square/Stadiums: Underground Tour, Klondike Gold Rush Museum (free), Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum, Last Resort Fire Department Museum, Coast Guard Museum, Columbia Tower Observation Deck (S. Downtown)

International District/Little Saigon: Wing Luke Museum (International District), Seattle Pinball Museum, Uwajimaya, Asian restaurants (Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese)

Waterfront: Ferry Terminal (walk onto the Bainbridge ferry), Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, Argosy Cruises, Great Wheel, Waterfront Park, Seattle Aquarium, Sculpture Park

Downtown: Pike Place Market, Seattle Art Museum, Westlake Center/Nordstrom/Macy's

Via Transit:

Seattle Center: Space Needle, EMP Museum, Chihuly Glass Museum, Pacific Science Center

South Lake Union: MOHAI (Seattle's history museum), Center for Wooden Boats

First Hill/Capitol Hill: Frye Art Museum (free), Seattle Asian Art Museum

Other: Woodland Park Zoo (Fremont/Phinney), Flight Museum (Boeing Field), Burke National History Museum (University District)

[Wheatridger]

It's very easy to ride light rail from the airport to the ballpark, and onward to downtown. Then you can walk two blocks and ride the monorail, because... monorail! Walk the old World's Fair grounds at Seattle Center, which is worth an hour or a day, depending on your taste for museums and performing arts. Stop at the Pike Place Market for lunch. I did this same trip two weeks ago, when I visited, and it seemed like a great introduction to this great city.

Don't overlook the ferry system. Well, you will overlook it from the Space Needle (don't you dare miss it, of the weather's promising), and that may remind you that you can get a nice maritime experience of a half-hour or more for about the price of lunch. It's not only a car ferry- many pedestrians ride.

What's harder to do is to access the forests and wild beaches that make the PNW so unique. My best suggestion is Discovery Park. It's a former military base on the west side of Capitol Hill, north of downtown. There's probably a bus to there (I took a car). There's a pretty lighthouse on a point of land, with the Sound on three sides. It seems remote, unspoiled, with the city nowhere apparent.

I can't name any old-growth forests close by, as you find in Vancouver, BC and Portland- or Tacoma, even. You'd probably have to rent a car for that. But I'd be as likely to ride a train up to Vancouver and take a stroll in Stanley Park. There's just so many possibilities for scenic touristry up there, you always run out of time before running out of attractions. These transit-accessed ones should keep you busy for an extended weekend, yes?

[Nibbidy]

Thanks for all the responses. I've never had to use public transportation before. So this is all new to me but I wanna try something different. I wanna see pike place and the needle tower.

I guess I just need to get from the airport to the closest drop off at the ballpark and I'll walk to my hotel. Interested in the Silver Cloud hotel. Then the next day I wanna sight see around downtown. Every year I try a new city but I've always rented a car. Seattle seems dense enough that I can just walk and take Public transportation.

[Pughnose]

Originally Posted by Wheatridger

What's harder to do is to access the forests and wild beaches that make the PNW so unique. My best suggestion is Discovery Park. It's a former military base on the west side of Capitol Hill, north of downtown. There's probably a bus to there (I took a car).

Discovery Park is great. West side of Magnolia, though, not Cap Hill. Route 33 runs from downtown to Discovery Park (passing within walking distance of Seattle Center.) Schedule and route map here: Route 33 - King County Metro Transit

I lived in Seattle for many years, got rid of my car as street parking was more hassle than taking the bus. If you rent a car, budget either time (to find spaces) and/or money (for meters and/or garages) to park. If you're staying in town, I wouldn't bother.

Light rail to/from the airport is the way to go. Bus service is more sparse on Sundays but still not bad in the central areas. If you want to get out of town you'll need to rent a car for the day.

[IslandCityGirl]

Originally Posted by Wheatridger

I can't name any old-growth forests close by, as you find in Vancouver, BC and Portland- or Tacoma, even. You'd probably have to rent a car for that. But I'd be as likely to ride a train up to Vancouver and take a stroll in Stanley Park. There's just so many possibilities for scenic touristry up there, you always run out of time before running out of attractions. These transit-accessed ones should keep you busy for an extended weekend, yes?

Seward Park. Right inside Seattle city limits. Over 100 acres of old growth forest, in fact. I definitely recommend it! Good suggestion, Wheatridger!

OP, there's alway Uber too...

[Ira500]

The Stadium station stop is a little closer to the Silver Cloud and Safeco than International Station, but not by much. It would be a four block walk to the hotel from Stadium Station.