Seattle Light Link Rail

Before our cruise I read several comments about the Light Link Rail, so I thought I would share my experience. I thought it was a great option for us! We were staying at the Seattle Sheraton. It is a bit of a walk, but they have the little golf carts to take you to the ticketing stations if you need it. We paid $6 for the two of us. We got off at the Westlake stop. The only time it felt a little crowded was between Pioneer Square and Westlake which was only about 5 minutes. We had two large suitcases, and we each had a backpack. The Seattle Sheraton was about one block from where we exited. Super easy!

Our friends stayed closer to the Needle (at the Quality Inn). They had to take the light rail and then a monorail to get to their hotel, but they also said it was easy.

Thank you for sharing this info! I came to this board to see if there was any info on this option. We have a late afternoon flight after our cruise and will probably use the Port Valet service, then take a cab to downtown for a few hours of sightseeing. Glad to hear Monorail-to Light Rail-to Airport worked well!

Was it a long walk to the Terminal/Check In area once at SeaTac? How much extra time in addition to the posted schedule should we give ourselves? Did security take long at SeaTac?

Thanks!

Did you find any issues with the homeless in the downtown area? Been reading some negative press...

Did you find any issues with the homeless in the downtown area? Been reading some negative press...

Not more than any other major city and nothing dangerous...especially along the light rail. Just as an example, my 18 year old daughter goes to UW (the north end of the light rail) and have no worries when she travels to the stadium area to work at evening events at Centurylink Field (south end of town) or heads downtown with her friends.

Thank you for sharing this info! I came to this board to see if there was any info on this option. We have a late afternoon flight after our cruise and will probably use the Port Valet service, then take a cab to downtown for a few hours of sightseeing. Glad to hear Monorail-to Light Rail-to Airport worked well!

 

Was it a long walk to the Terminal/Check In area once at SeaTac? How much extra time in addition to the posted schedule should we give ourselves? Did security take long at SeaTac?

Thanks!

I actually did it the opposite way. It took about 15 minutes to walk from our gate to the light rail. Then it was about a 25 minute ride from the airport to Westlake Station. Security did not take long at all, but I have TSA precheck. We had a friend in our group without it, and she said it wasn't bad in the regular line. I think it took us about 10-15 min and maybe 25 max for her.

Not more than any other major city and nothing dangerous...especially along the light rail. Just as an example, my 18 year old daughter goes to UW (the north end of the light rail) and have no worries when she travels to the stadium area to work at evening events at Centurylink Field (south end of town) or heads downtown with her friends.

Great - thank you...

Were thinking about doing this as well. We would be arriving at SeaTac around 2:40 on a Friday afternoon so I suspect we would taking the train sometime after 3:30 which will be during rush hour. Just wondering if it will be too chaotic getting off the train with all that we have to carry?

We would be taking the train from SeaTac to the Westlake Center. There are 4 of us and we each would have 1 suitcase and a backback.

Were thinking about doing this as well. We would be arriving at SeaTac around 2:40 on a Friday afternoon so I suspect we would taking the train sometime after 3:30 which will be during rush hour. Just wondering if it will be too chaotic getting off the train with all that we have to carry?

 

We would be taking the train from SeaTac to the Westlake Center. There are 4 of us and we each would have 1 suitcase and a backback.

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Did you find any issues with the homeless in the downtown area? Been reading some negative press...

We stayed out at Sea Tac for 2 days.

First day we took a 10 minute taxi to the Museum of Flight near SeaTac. This museum has over 100 planes, including the first wooden planes, military aircraft-WW1,WW2 and other wars. The Museum has the Concord, Airforce One ( Presidential Jet) and the new 787 that you can walk thru. We spent 5 hours at the Museum and for us it is one the best attractions in the Seattle Area.

On Friday we took the almost empty light rail to downtown. We went to the Pike Place Market and then we headed north to the Space Needle as it opened that day after the extensive remodeling. We walked 3 or 4 blocks when we noticed tents and tarps on the sidewalk. There was a strong smell of garbage and sewer smell coming from that area. We asked a local what are all the tents. He said that is the Homeless and they are allowed to set up tents anywhere in the city including parks and soccer fields. The local pointed out RV's on the street and said those are occupied by the Homeless. The RV's are allowed to park indefinitely without paying for parking. We turned around and went up to the Colombia Tower (200 ft Higher than the Space Needle)instead and then had a great lunch at the Park Place Market. We ran into homeless people throughout downtown and seen drug deals, one urinating in a storefront and crap on the sidewalks. Downtown Seattle is not a very clean city. There is a lot to do and see outside of the downtown area.

Did you find any issues with the homeless in the downtown area? Been reading some negative press...

We live in Belltown just north of the downtown core area and walk downtown almost daily at different times. PIke Place Market is a 10 minute walk. There are homeless most certainly although we never feel unsafe. As fastpitchdad noted, "Not more than any other major city and nothing dangerous". Agree with this completely.

We asked a local what are all the tents. He said that is the Homeless and they are allowed to set up tents anywhere in the city including parks and soccer fields. The local pointed out RV's on the street and said those are occupied by the Homeless. The RV's are allowed to park indefinitely without paying for parking.

Your "local" is seriously misinformed. https://www.seattle.gov/homelessness/unauthorized-encampments

It would be early rush hour and that is the reverse commute...I think you will be fine.

 

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Thanks, I suspect we will take the train.

We live in Belltown just north of the downtown core area and walk downtown almost daily at different times. PIke Place Market is a 10 minute walk. There are homeless most certainly although we never feel unsafe. As fastpitchdad noted, "Not more than any other major city and nothing dangerous". Agree with this completely.

This the area where we were walking and the homeless had tents and blue tarps on the sidewalk. Glaciers- Do you live in Anchorage as your profile says??

http://mynorthwest.com/1020180/homeless-man-tent-attacks-tourist/

Wow. Terrible story. But you can read stories just like this about any major US city. We got to Seattle all the time as we live about an hour away. We go to the theatre. We go to dinner. We go to happy hour and so on. Two of my sons work in Pioneer Square. I have never seen anyone urinating nor defecating in the street. I have seen drug deals but we just don’t watch and keep walking. It’s unfortunate that Seattle’s homeless problem impacts tourists. Residents too certainly. But this problem is becoming more and more widespread. I’m not going to stay in my house and live in fear. Stuff happens everywhere.

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Glaciers- Do you live in Anchorage as your profile says??

Nope, we live in Belltown now. We moved down and love living in the city!

Thanks for the heads up. I'll change that.

Thanks, I suspect we will take the train.

Just want to report that we actually did take the Train. We took the train from SeaTac to Westlake on a Friday at 3 pm. It was good except when we took it, everybody else from the Airport had the same idea. It was a full load when we left SeaTac. Thankfully, not a lot of people got on at the other stations. Its about a 35-40 minute trip so if your having to stand(which I did), its a bit uncomfortable. I would do this again but if you have trouble standing, you may have to think twice.

When we left the ship and walked around Seattle before our flight ( Thank You Port Valet), we took the train back to SeaTac .

We'll be in Seattle in 2 weeks, we are staying at a SeaTac hotel. We would like to take the light rail to the Space Needle, get off & see Chulilly Garden, etc, then take the rail to Pikes Market. How do we go about doing this? Also, to get to Pioneer Square when we're done at the market, do we walk or take the rail again? We have dinner reservations at an Italian place. We would need to take the rail back to the hotel. Any recommendations or advice appreciated !

We'll be in Seattle in 2 weeks, we are staying at a SeaTac hotel. We would like to take the light rail to the Space Needle, get off & see Chulilly Garden, etc, then take the rail to Pikes Market. How do we go about doing this? Also, to get to Pioneer Square when we're done at the market, do we walk or take the rail again? We have dinner reservations at an Italian place. We would need to take the rail back to the hotel. Any recommendations or advice appreciated !

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Thank you !

We stayed out at Sea Tac for 2 days.

There was a strong smell of garbage and sewer smell coming from that area. We asked a local what are all the tents. He said that is the Homeless and they are allowed to set up tents anywhere in the city including parks and soccer fields. The local pointed out RV's on the street and said those are occupied by the Homeless. The RV's are allowed to park indefinitely without paying for parking. We turned around and went up to the Colombia Tower (200 ft Higher than the Space Needle)instead and then had a great lunch at the Park Place Market. We ran into homeless people throughout downtown and seen drug deals, one urinating in a storefront and crap on the sidewalks. Downtown Seattle is not a very clean city. There is a lot to do and see outside of the downtown area.

Yep. The whole area smells of old urine and cheap weed. The RVs are heroin RVs that dump their sewage into storm drains. As far as the law, they're not allowed the encampments. It's not enforced. They're more concerned with fining homeowners for minor infractions. Last time I was in the park in Pioneer Square, I wouldn't give a guy money and he threw poop at me, so, yes, it's a problem. The Seattle Convention Center area is relatively clean as is Westlake.

Took Light Link Rail Friday morning. Very easy to use. Felt very safe. $1.00 senior fare to Westlake Center.

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Yep. The whole area smells of old urine and cheap weed. The RVs are heroin RVs that dump their sewage into storm drains. As far as the law, they're not allowed the encampments. It's not enforced. They're more concerned with fining homeowners for minor infractions. Last time I was in the park in Pioneer Square, I wouldn't give a guy money and he threw poop at me, so, yes, it's a problem. The Seattle Convention Center area is relatively clean as is Westlake.

I had jury duty at the King County Courthouse in Downtown Seattle 3 months ago. Had to watch where you walked, feces all over the side walk.

The homeless were very aggressive in asking for money. A lot of the people that were on Jury duty left after a couple of days. I was on a jury where 2 of our fellow Jurors quit right in the middle of the trial because they were assaulted by the homeless. We had to start the trail all over again. The Judge says that it has been a problem for the last 3 years in getting Jurors to stay, because of the Homeless in downtown Seattle and the crap, urine and needles in the downtown area. City of Seattle does not do anything about the conditions. The City treats the homeless better than the citizens. Downtown Seattle is a cesspool and I would advise to stay at the Airport or Surrounding Cities. .

June 30, 2018

I had Jury duty last Summer and after 2 or 3 days 50% of the Jurors never showed up.

July 23, 2018

I had jury duty at the King County Courthouse in Downtown Seattle 3 months ago.

How lucky is that to be chosen for jury duty twice in a years time.

This is exactly the information I was looking for, thank you! We fly to Seattle in the morning. My husband showed me a video getting from baggage claim to the light rail. I was concerned about us each having a big suitcase, but this eased my mind.

Before our cruise I read several comments about the Light Link Rail, so I thought I would share my experience. I thought it was a great option for us! We were staying at the Seattle Sheraton. It is a bit of a walk, but they have the little golf carts to take you to the ticketing stations if you need it. We paid $6 for the two of us. We got off at the Westlake stop. The only time it felt a little crowded was between Pioneer Square and Westlake which was only about 5 minutes. We had two large suitcases, and we each had a backpack. The Seattle Sheraton was about one block from where we exited. Super easy!

Our friends stayed closer to the Needle (at the Quality Inn). They had to take the light rail and then a monorail to get to their hotel, but they also said it was easy.