Fredd

It's a 20- to 30-minute taxi ride, depending on traffic.

Our favorite option is the Central Link light rail, which is fairly new, convenient and very cost-effective compared to a taxi.

To get to the King Street Station you get off at the International District/Chinatown stop and walk a short couple of blocks. Be aware only that the walk could be unpleasant in bad weather (if you're not equipped for it-and you really should be in Seattle!) or with a lot of luggage.

For us it's a great deal. ^

RafKa

Am organizing a tight schedule of meetings which will see me and a colleague arriving in SEA after a LONG flight (GIG-ATL-SEA), and a meeting in town about 70 minutes later, around noon. I'm calculating we'd have 30 minutes to shower and change: are there any arrivals lounges at SEA? Or any hotels attached to the terminal?

Plan B would be to make a dash for the Westin, next door to the meeting, and get a day rate.

Any other ideas?

Gardyloo

No hotels attached to the airport; the only showers I know about are in the Delta lounge, accessible if you're traveling internationally J/F on DL and/or have DL status.

What about ATL? I would imagine the GIG-ATL flight would be the killer. Do you have enough layover time at ATL?

Assuming you have only carry-on luggage, count on it taking ~ 40 min. from doors open to downtown.

evergrn

I's say 40min is the best-case scenario. More likely, it'll take longer.

iahphx

I have the classic layover conundrum: family of 5 (parents, teenagers), 5 hours -- from about 6:30 pm to 11:30 pm. Seems too long to hang out at the airport, too short to go into town, and the evening hours would further limit our choices.

Any good ideas?

Leaving the airport seems tough because, realistically, we'd have (at most) 3 1/2 hours. I know there's now easier public transport into town, but wouldn't that use up more than an hour? And then what could we realistically do downtown -- other than perhaps grab a bite to eat -- at say 8 pm? Also I see that luggage storage is expensive at SEA (we could check our rollaboards, but we'd have some modest hand luggage to carry around). And it doesn't seem like we could get very far with a car rental.

Anything to do AT the airport, in the evening? Any interesting, not-too-expensive (I'll need to feed a family) restaurant? I could get us into the UA Club, but that would not seem like a good place to kill 4 hours.

Thanks for any suggestions.

njxbean

thats tight. assuming your flight is at 11:30pm, and you plan to get back 1.5 hrs before the flight, that gives you 3:30hrs. assume an hr each way and that gives you 1.5 hours. being that you are traveling with the entire family that is tough.

Maybe if there is a restaurant near the airport you all could cab it. or rent a car and drive around for an hour and half.

iahphx

Yeah, it just doesn't seem like I have enough time to leave the airport to make it worth the trouble and expense. I think we're better off patronizing a restaurant at the airport and then hanging out in the UA Club for a couple hours.

If we want to eat something "Seattle-ish" at the airport that's not too expensive, what's a good option? I've heard of Ivar's. Too bad it seems to be counter service instead of sit-down: we'd have enough time for sit-down!

jackal

I have friends that have had mostly positive experiences at Anthony's, and that's a sit-down place (just across the big central hall from Ivar's--in the direction of the B gates).

There are several well-regarded restaurants outside of the airport in the SeaTac area nearby that I've seen posted about here on FT and discussed among friends. I can't really name them off the top of my head, but some are walking distance and some are an easy cab ride away. (One of them is a supposedly awesome Thai restaurant nearby.) Perhaps others can contribute suggestions along those lines if that's something that interests you.

chexfan

If you're really itching to get out of the airport, take a cab to SouthCenter Mall. Should be about 10 minutes. There are some nicer mall restaurants (i'm thinking Racha, Joey's, & Blue C Sushi) there (in addition to the typicals).

Not great Seattle fare, but if you're looking to get out of the airport, that could entertain you.

cblaisd

Anthony's is good. Be careful of the clam chowder. The last time it was served dangerously hot.

Very good sushi there.

Be warned that the one time I needed to take a cab there, the cab driver was so angry at the short distance that it was scary.

missydarlin

Another vote for Anthony's. Try to get seats out by the big window.

allset2travel

Got plenty of good info here. Thanks FTers and local experts.

I have a loooong layover (by design) that affords me of an entire day in Seattle. Fly out 20:00-ish. A few questions please:

1. Should I bring rain gears in Late October? (silly question, I thought)
2. Do I have time to do: Flight Museum; Pike Place Market; Int'l District; Kerry Park and a ferry ride.
3. Tell me where are landscape/cityscape photo-op locations?

TIA.

EmailKid

1. Yes.
2. Depends on when you arrive. Note that by that time of year the day is shorter.
3. Love the view of Seattle skyline as you approach on Ferry.

jewels421

1. I mean, check the weather report in advance, since sometimes there's a dry stretch in October. But, I'd plan to bring rain gear unless weather report is pretty definite about no rain. Note that an umbrella is not strictly necessary since the rain doesn't tend to be as hard -- most people wear hooded rain jackets.
2. That seems like a lot to me. But, I guess it depends on how much time you spend in the museum/market?
3. Anyplace on the water is great. Olympic Sculpture Park and the nearby piers. Discovery Park.

Gardyloo

Not knowing when the day starts, the answer to no. 2 is a little difficult.

But let me throw out an idea: rent a car for the day.

The car will provide weather protection, transport to and from the airport, and it will widen your options hugely with respect to where you can go, time spent visiting places rather than riding buses, the ability to change things on the fly or visit places outside the downtown/airport corridor. Yes, you might have to pay to park the vehicle near the Pike Place market, but there's plenty of nearby parking, and in late October prices and availability of parking won't be as tight and expensive as during tourist/cruise season.

Kerry Park will be a snap, the Museum of Flight easily visited in concert with other places, and if you didn't want to take two hours for the ferry, you could drive the car to West Seattle (the peninsula across Elliott Bay from downtown) for views of the skyline such as this -



- or drive around to Alki Beach for mountain/passing ferry views such as this -



Those views are comparable to the ones from the ferries, but it will be much cheaper and quicker, and easily combined with other activities around the city, such as maybe a drive through the Washington Park Arboretum (the marvelous Japanese Garden ought to have great autumn color around then) or along Lake Washington, or if the day's fine, scrub some Seattle destinations and drive 30 min. east to visit Snoqualmie Falls, a marvelous sight in the autumn when the rains have started and the water coming over the falls is running higher than in the dry summer.

Or go visit Fishermen's Terminal, home of the Alaska crab fleet. Or, if you're really into airplanes, head right off the bat up to Everett for the Boeing factory tour - http://www.futureofflight.org/ - then have lunch in cute little Mukilteo -



- before heading back south to Seattle for the rest of the day.

A car will increase your options hugely.