What To Do In Seattle

[GBRBEB]

We Are Taking An Alaska Cruise On June 23-30 Out Of Vancouver. We Will Fly Into Seattle On The Day Before Take Amtrak To Vancouver And Am Returning To Seattle Via Quickcoach On 6/30/07. Hopefully Quick Coach Will Get Is To Sea Tac About 1:30...we Have A 10:35 Pm Return Flight On The 30th..

 

Anyone Have Anysuggestion As To What We Can Do In Seattle For The 5 Or So Hours We Do Not Have To Be At The Airport ?

[kittnhawk]

I'm not from Seattle but Eastern Wa and have been to Seattle alot. You could go to South Center shopping which is not far from the airport. Downtown seattle is the Space Needle and Pacific Science Center along with the Music experience. I have never went in there myself but here it's real cool and cover music dating way back to the present. 5 hrs is really not along of time since you have to check in and go thru security and sometimes the lines there can be real long. I personally wouldn't chance leaving the airport as most things that are close still take time and parking at Sea Tac can be hectic at times if you have a rental car or your own. Maybe take a good book and stick to the airport

[GBRBEB]

What can we do in Seattle for about 5 hours ....

[Splinter]

Since you have said you are going straight to the airport from the train, your options are more limited. The airport is quite some distance from downtown (and often with a lot traffic), so going back into Seattle to see the usual sights would be problematic in this time period. If you could find someplace to store your luggage (not sure if they offer this service at the Amtrak station, worth a try) then I would wait to go to the airport and plan to go into downtown Seattle and go to Pike Street Market. Have lunch there and check out all the shops and vendors, then go back to the Amtrak station (cabs would be fastest) and then take the shuttle to the airport.

 

The other option would be to go straight to the airport, check your luggage and then take a cab to see the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, which is an amazing place, and has great exhibits of the art glass for which the Seattle area is well known world-wide.

[GBRBEB]

Thanks for the thoughts... QUICKCOACH and RCCL say they can get us to Seatac by 2PM on the 30th...that leave us 3 or 4 hours to do something as our return flight is not until 10:35 I would figure to be back at the airport by 6:30: 7:)) pm...I have a 10 year old so waiting 5 hours at the airport is not a good scenario...

 

I; ll look into to the glass museum. No car how would I get there from the airport...

Actually I had thought about renting a car for the return trip to Seattle and stopping at the Boeing factory.. and then going to the airport...is this a good idea...

[Sailorgirlseattle]

Renting your own car is a great idea. Check with the agencies and see if you can rent in downtown Seattle and drop off at the airport. If not, cab to the Boeing Museum and then again to the airport. The Boeing Museum is right on the way to the airport and definitely a good attraction to hit ... especially with a 10-year-old boy along. He should love it!

[Sailorgirlseattle]

Oh, and we've also got a couple of museums right on the waterfront in downtown. There's the Seattle Aquarium, and also the Odyssey, I think they call it, which is a hands-on maritime museum. I've not been in the Odyssey, but what I've heard about it sounds pretty cool. If you can get over to South Lake Union (not far, another part of downtown, but too far to walk) there's the Center for Wooden Boats, which is a hands-on working museum of old wooden boats. Some are sail and some are rowboats, etc. You can rent the boats and take them out on the lake. It is very cool.

[momthecruisedirector]

I saw a similar question from someone else today - you may be on the same flight!

 

 

Check out this website

 

http://www.portseattle.org/seaport/concierge.shtml

 

to see where you can store your luggage.

 

I would grab a cab to the new Seattle Art Museum's outdoor statue museum. Then walk back on the waterfront (south), there are plenty of fun places to eat and shop and window shop along the way. Across from the aquarium you can walk up to the Pike Place Market and see the flying fish, the magic shop, bakeries.... You can continue walking up to Westlake Center for some shopping or site seeing of the city.

 

From the waterfront you can take a horse and carriage tour through the Pioneer Square area and the International District.

 

There is an Argosy ticket office on the waterfront where you can arrange tours to the Ballard Locks.

 

You can take a Duck Tour that will take you through the city and into Lake Union to see the houseboats.

 

You can take the Water Taxi over to Alki Beach for a great photo op of the Seattle skyline, great fish and chips right at the dock or a cocktail at Salty's.

 

There is a lot to see and do

[Cruisin' Chick]

One word of advice concerning Amtrak is that they don't always run on time. Maybe the motorcoaches are different...but still you should have a backup plan.

 

We took Amtrak from Southern California to Seattle a couple of years ago and padded a day before our cruise and a few days after. We spent many hours at the Pacific Science Museum. It was my second time but the first time for hubby and our girl (7 at the time).

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Maybe the bus would be quicker - they use the freeways and you would get a good look at the city.

 

http://transit.metrokc.gov/tops/bus/schedules/s194_0_.html

[Lightsluvr]

We thoroughly enjoyed several hours at the Market in downtown. We loved to watch the fishmongers tossing the salmon to each other. Quite a show.

 

LL