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Things to do/see in Seattle!
bioreboot
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I will be attending my first PAX this coming September, and am also a Seattle virgin. At the moment I am trying to decide between renting a room for 3 days and seeing nothing but PAX, or taking a day or two to explore Seattle. For those that have been... or are natives... what are the must sees and dos in town? Any places you would not recommend seeing or were wastes of time?
Thanks guys!
Also, is it worth getting a hotel by the airport on the cheaps, or the one half a block from the Convention Center?
Thanks guys!
Also, is it worth getting a hotel by the airport on the cheaps, or the one half a block from the Convention Center?
bioreboot on
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For touristy stuff to do, there is quite a bit. Pike Place market is free and pretty cool. You can see the guys tossing fish around and check out the various vendors there. The Space Needle was neat the first time I went up, but now it seems less interesting and expensive when friends come to town and beg me to take them there. The Seattle Underground Tour is actually quite interesting - you can see some of the original parts of Seattle that are under the current sidewalks and buildings, and learn a fair amount about Seattle's history.
Other things that could be fun depending on your tastes: Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium, catching a Seattle Mariners game, walking around Green Lake (if the weather is nice). Whatever you end up doing, I recommend staying flexible and having a good weather and bad weather plan. While the rumors of rain here are sometimes exaggerated, it can certainly strike at any time
Magical Mystery Tour
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=116560
Parkour
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=116552
Those are just two, I highly suggest checking that thread out.
I just visited Seattle for the first time in March myself, its an amazing city.
As Jorax said, don't stay near the airport, its a haul, its best to stay in the downtown area, and take the Link Light train from the airport to downtown, its only a couple bucks and takes about 30 minutes plus its an awesome view of the city heading to downtown.
When we went in March we didn't bother with a car, its really not necessary, most things are walking distance from downtown or a short bus ride away. Also buses in the downtown area are free for the larger portion of the day 7 days a week.
The Pike Place market is cool, lots of neat stuff and I highly recommend trying for breakfast at least one day at Lowell's in the market. Make sure you ask for a table by the windows, the view is awesome.
The Sci Fi/Music museum near the space needle is a cool experience, and I'll also second the Underground Tour.
The other thing I can recommend and its a bit of a bus trip and a walk but its worth it is Gas Works park on the opposite side of Lake Union from Downtown. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_Works_Park
Really though I found it just a fun city to explore and check out stores/restaurants and other cool places.
Awesome Magical Mystery Tour Thread! Thank you very much for that link! That's exactly what I was looking for!
Any suggestions for cheap hotels? Would it make any sense to take the Link Light Train daily if you're staying at one of the cheap hotels by the airport? I'm definitely not going to rent a car, hope to rely solely on public transportation for this trip.
You can definitely easily rely on mass transit. I dunno about taking the Link Light everyday though, but it seems it runs till 1 AM (http://www.soundtransit.org/x11204.xml).
As far as hotels go, really depends on how you define cheap. I know there are some good deals in downtown Seattle but I tend to go for a nicer hotel and spend a bit more myself nowadays.
I would check out hotels.com I generally find awesome deals there, and check out the PAX Forum, you might be able to score a room to share.
But yeah depends on how you define cheap >_<
If you don't mind sharing a room with some strangers, it will only run you $30-$35 per night.
The bus system is a good way to get around. It can get a little complicated if you need to transfer, but usually the bus drivers are pretty helpful and if you have a fancy phone that can go on the internet things get a lot simpler. It costs like $2.50 for a pass to ride around for the day.
Gas Works Park is super cool, also Myrtle Edwards, Green Lake, and all the parks on Lake Washington. The EMP/Sci-fi museum is really cool if you are into rock music and seeing props from sci-fi movies. The Aliens powerloader and alien queen are almost worth admission by themselves. I could see some people not being into it, though. Space Needle is okay if you have extra money. Mariners are cool, the stadium particularly so, but try to get tickets early since the cheap seats sometimes sell out. The Zoo is cool, but sucks if it rains.
Basically Seattle on a warm summer day is the best place on the planet, you can just walk around and look at how green and great everything is and have a blast.
so: Sci-fi Museum good. Uncrossable highway of Peril, bad.
First, I'll go walk around Pike Place Market, look at stuff, stop by the comic book store, and maybe buy a cookie or something. Then I'll head over to Cafe Yamarka and purchase a delicious piroschki.
After that, I'll head down to the waterfront, walk around there for a while, and maybe stop at the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop before I get some fish and chips and chowder at Ivars.
I dunno man, that comic book/toy store in the lower level was pretty awesome. And I was personally digging the produce and difference foods/weird items people had for sale. Some of the art stuff was cool too. But again I like flea markets too.
But again I live in DC, people go on and on about how awesome the smithsonian is, and I can definitely tell you, its only awesome the first 40 times you go. Then it gets meh really fast.
Eh, hope diamond, so what. Gigantic dino bones, meh. Air planes, meh.
Likewise for all the tourist trap stuff here.
I want to steal Gas Works from Seattle and transplant it here until I move. The day we went it was bright, sunny, and just amazing outside.
I'm from DC as well. I don't think I'll ever get bored of the air and space museum...
Does September have warm summer days for Seattle? I'll be visiting the week of PAX... what kinda weather do you guys usually see around then?
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBFI/2009/9/3/DailyHistory.html?req_city=Seattle&req_state=WA&req_statename=Washington
Thank you, sir.
I got bored of the Air and Space on the mall. The new annex out by Dulles however is still awesome.
But I've lived here/near here most of my life, I can't even remember how many times I've been to those museums.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4MrLpc6twQ