- Eight things to know
before you go to Seattle. I'm Chris, this is Yellow Productions. I do travel guides that are fun, informative, and entertaining. This video's part of my
series of Things to Know on great cities around the world. I've got other Things to Know series including Tokyo, Japan, L.A., Las Vegas, San Francisco, lots more, you'll find linked at
the end of this video, or in the description below. If you're traveling to
any of those other cities, and more, but in this video, I'm going to be telling you
everything you need to know before you go to Seattle. And first, we'll start with some general
information about Seattle. Seattle is the capital of
the State of Washington. It's located in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle is surrounding
by mountains, water, and evergreen forests, lots of trees. Because of those evergreen forests, Seattle's nickname is the Emerald City. No, not "The Wizard of Oz," but Seattle. Seattle is also known as
the gateway to Alaska, because it's the closest big
city in the U.S. to Alaska. Many flights leave here to go
to Alaska, as well as cruises. So, if you're taking an Alaskan cruise, chances are you might very
well be leaving out of Seattle. Seattle is home to some
major U.S. tech companies including Amazon and Microsoft. It was formerly home to Boeing, but there's a lot of big
industry here in Seattle. Sometimes, people also call it the San Francisco of the northwest. It resembles San Francisco
in a lot of ways, including similar food. Clam chowder and seafood
are really popular here, as well as the architecture in Seattle kinda has that classic feel. And please don't confuse
Seattle with Portland. Portland is basically
Seattle's biggest rival, just down in the south. Second thing to know is about the weather. And simply put, Seattle is wet. Seattle is known for
being rainy and cloudy. Seattle, on average, gets about
150 days of rainy weather. Only 37 inches. So, 37 inches a year, not a day. So, when it does rain, it's
usually not a huge downpour, but it's more of a steady drizzle. So, you may be inclined to
bring an umbrella with you, but the local Seattleites, they
don't really use umbrellas, 'cause it's not that
much to need an umbrella. Just bring a good raincoat. All the Seattleites have a raincoat. Now, I'd probably still bring an umbrella, but I stick out and
look like a sore thumb, like I'm not from here, 'cause I'm carrying that umbrella. So, you may be wondering, "Are there ever sunny days in Seattle?" You know what, summer
does have some sunny days. Look! Blue skies right now. But this is not all that often. So, what's the weather like in summer? It's pretty warm in summer. It gets really cold in winter. Kind of bitterly wet, cold. It doesn't snow all that much in Seattle. Seattle only gets about, on average, five inches of snow per year, but when it does snow, it pretty much shuts down the city. Spring and fall also on the cool side. So, make sure you bring a light jacket pretty much any season
you come to Seattle, because even if it's warm in the day, it'll generally get cold at night, and you will likely
want that light jacket. Okay, Chris, so it's hot in the summer, it's cold and miserable in the winter, it's rainy the rest of the year or cloudy, when is the best time to go? Well, Seattleites will tell
you the best time to come is in September. It's still on the warm-ish side. The crowds have gone away
from the summer time. So, check out Seattle in September. The third thing to know
is about getting in. If you're flying, chances
are you'll be landing into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Sea-Tac for short. It's 14 miles, give or
take, from downtown Seattle. It's where most of the
major airlines come into. It's also the hub for Alaska Airlines. If you're looking for direct flights from somewhere in the U.S., chances are Alaska Airlines
is gonna be offering it. They've kind of cornered
the market here in Seattle. One of the best ways to get
into the city from the airport is to take the light rail. The light rail takes about 40 minutes, and it costs less than four bucks to bring you from the
airport into downtown. I think it's one of the best
airport transportation options of any major U.S. city. Now, from the airport,
you'll also find taxis, and Ubers will be plentiful. The drive from the airport into the city without traffic is 25 minutes. If there's traffic, double it. Another great option for
getting into Seattle, is to take the Amtrak train. There's a big Amtrak
station here in Seattle, and there's three major
Amtrak lines that run in here. There's trains that'll run
from Los Angeles in the south, through Portland, Oregon into Seattle. You can take trains from the north from Vancouver into Seattle. And there's also a train line
that runs out to the east. You can take that from Chicago
all the way to Seattle, too. That's probably gonna take a while. If you're driving into Seattle, it's about three hours
from Portland, Oregon, and also about three hours from Vancouver, give or take 30 minutes depending upon how long
the border wait takes. Okay, so now that you're in Seattle, the next thing to know is
about getting around Seattle. Seattle has a lot of water, which makes getting around really slow. Seattle, in addition to being
famous for trees and water, is famous for some of
the U.S.'s worst traffic. Seattle has one rail line. It has a light rail line. It runs actually right under
this tunnel through downtown. The trains run every six to 15 minutes. That's the one that I mentioned you can take from the airport. That's a really great way
to get around, if you can. To ride it, it's a tap in system. You can buy single tickets, but if you're gonna ride it a lot, buy the ORCA card. It's the stored value card that you can use on the light rail, you can use on the buses, and a lot of the other
systems around here. There are two street car lines. There's one monorail line that'll take you to the space needle, but the major public
transportation option in Seattle they are the buses. They're buses because
there just isn't that much transportation infrastructure in Seattle. Now, I did mention there's a lot of water, and so the water, there's actually water taxis
and ferries that you can take around to a lot of the
different parts of Seattle. Question I always get from people is, "Chris, should I rent a car?" That is up to you. I've rented a car when I have come here 'cause I like to see
some of the attractions outside of downtown. If you're just planning to
stay in downtown, though, then the car's probably
gonna be pretty useless, because getting around downtown, parking's expensive,
and the traffic is bad. And so if you're goin' around downtown, you're pretty just gonna want
to take public transportation. Actually, the best thing is to walk. But when you're walking, don't jaywalk. The Seattle cops love to
write jaywalking tickets. They are $56, so just don't do it. You've been warned. And what about Uber and Lyft? Uber and Lyft are plentiful in Seattle. It is a big tech city, so, you're not gonna
have to wait very long for an Uber and Lyft. If personal wheeled
transportation is more your style, you'll find ton of these dockless
bicycles around the city. They're operated by a number of different app-enabled companies. Here, you'll find the red ones by Uber, the green ones are by Lime. Ton of these. Just download the app
and you can unlock them, and you pay for as long
as you're riding it. The fifth thing to know
before you go is about food. There's a lot of great food in Seattle, but the food scene in Seattle, kinda like that in
Manhattan or New York City, and that is there's a lot
of really good restaurants, there's a lot of choice. But in the center of the city, they're often really expensive. So, what do you do if you want something
that's not that expensive? Well, the fast food of choice
in Seattle is teriyaki. And if you don't believe me, I'm standing here at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Michigan, and there's a teriyaki restaurant
right across the street from a teriyaki restaurant. You probably can't see
it 'cause of the sun, but just over there it's
called Mikou Teriyaki. And these are typically run by Koreans. Teriyaki's kind of a Japanese food, right? Chicken teriyaki, beef teriyaki. I stopped here, and I love teriyaki. Got some chicken teriyaki, fried rice, and some salad for nine bucks. Pretty inexpensive. So, give that a try in a pinch. The other big Seattle iconic fast food. It's the Seattle hot dog. What's special about a Seattle dog? Well, it's a hot dog with
grilled onions and cream cheese. That is right. You just have to give it a try if you wanna know what that's like. Seattle, because it's near a lot of water, it's also famous for seafood. Clams, crabs, shellfish,
and, in particular, there is one shellfish. The geoduck. It looks like geoduck. But it's geoduck. It's this two and a half pound clam. They are native to Washington. Most of them are actually sold to China because they're really
popular in Asian food. But if you want something particularly Seattle and Washingtonious, and you're adventurous, get a geoduck. If you like Asian food, your
belly will be happy in Seattle. Seattle has a lot of
really good Asian food. In particular, in the
International District, also Chinatown, there's a light rail station that'll bring you up right here, right in front of the Chinatown gate. The street signs are in Chinese. Probably one of my favorite places here is the Japanese supermarket, Uwajimaya. They've got a food court. They've got lots of tasty Japanese food, and if you only want to be
here for an hour to explore, well, $10 purchase at Uwajimaya will get you one hour of free parking. And adding to Seattle's hipster status, microbreweries have totally taken off. There are over two hundred
beer breweries in the city, so you can totally make a day or a week of just visiting microbreweries. The sixth thing to know is about coffee. Seattleites love their coffee. Coffee shops in Seattle are basically extensions
of Seattleites homes. They study there, they work there, they meet friends there,
they hang out there, and of course, I'm sure you already know, Starbucks started in Seattle. Their original, famous, first store is in the Pike Place Market. But what I will tell
you is if you're looking for a really cool coffee shop
or a really cool Starbucks, don't go to the Pike Place Market. That one is just full. There's lines to get in it. Come to the Starbucks Reserve
Roastery on Capitol Hill. Right behind me, this place is the biggest
coffee shop I have ever seen. They have special reserve
roasts of Starbucks. So, coffee from Africa and Peru. Different coffees everyday. You can even get coffee
cocktails from Starbucks. They've got really good pastries. They've got an Experience Bar. They've got limited edition merchandise. I mean, I don't usually love Starbucks, but this Starbucks Reserve
Roastery on Capitol Hill is a coffee shop you need to go to, even if you don't like coffee. But Seattle is home to
more than just Starbucks. There are a ton of coffee
shops, independent coffee shops. Other chains, like Seattle's Best Coffee. But you know, one other coffee trend that started in Seattle, bikini baristas. That's right. Girls serving coffee in bikinis, 'cause what's better than that? Yeah, and apparently
Seattleites are not too proud of that particular trend
that it started here. The seventh thing to know is about hotels. Where should you stay in Seattle? My recommendation is to
stay in downtown Seattle, Stay in the middle of it. Stay in the thick of it. There's a lot of great
hotels in downtown Seattle. There's high end hotels,
and there's low end hotels. I'm standing in front of the Four Seasons. This is definitely on the higher end. Because Seattle's a big business city, it's gonna be expensive during the week. If you want cheaper rates,
come on the weekend. Friday, Saturday, Sunday nights. Typically, the business
travelers aren't here, so if you're coming here for leisure, check it out then. If you're looking for
something a little quieter, well then you might want to
consider Bainbridge Island. It's gonna be really quieter. It's about a 30 minute ferry
ride just across the water, and there's some cheaper
hotels over there. You could also check out the
Capitol Hill neighborhood, the Queen Anne neighborhood
for maybe some Airbnbs. And another cheap option, if you're looking for cheap hotels, you could actually stay
down by the airport, down by Sea-Tac Airport, and then you could take the
light rail in to the city. There's a lot of more inexpensive hotels down by the airport, but if you really want
the Seattle experience, stay downtown. That's what I do. Now, the one problem
with staying in downtown, being a big business center, it does kinda clear out at night. And Seattle, like San Francisco, does have a fairly large
homeless population. So, some parts of downtown
and some parts of Seattle, can be fairly creepy late at night. Probably the reason why
the streets clear out is most things close. I said teriyaki was popular, right? Here's a teriyaki place
in downtown Seattle. It closes at 6:00 p.m. It does not open on weekends. Here's a burger place
that also closes at 6:00. The eighth thing to know is about what are the big attractions in Seattle? Well, probably Seattle's
most famous attraction is right here. It is the Pike Place Market. Not Pike's Place. Singular Pike. Pike Place Market. This is the oldest continuously operated farmer's market in the United States. It's been open since 1907, and it started because
there was, basically, a disagreement about the price of onions. People in the city
thought that the vendors were gouging for prices of onions. And so, the City of
Seattle set up this market where people could buy
produce at reasonable prices. So, if you're coming to Pike
Place Market, it's busy, 'cause everybody and
their mother comes here. So, when's the best time to come here? Early morning is the
best time to come here. It shuts down at night. There's not much going on at night. There's a few restaurants
and things like that open, but most of the market's
shut down at night, except on Thursdays. Things you have to check out. You definitely have to
check out the fishmongers. They're right in this
main entrance right here. They're these people who they
throw fish back and forth. It's really a famous place. Did I mention Pike Place Market is big? It's big. It is really big. It's multiple buildings. It's multiple levels. So, if you love markets and exploration, allocate a few hours to
explore Pike Place Market. And if you like the odd attractions, just a floor below the fishmongers, check out the Gum Wall on Post Alley. Do you see all this right here? This is all chewing gum. Oh my gosh. There's no way I'm gonna touch that, and there's no way I'm
gonna put my gum on there. And it's not just one section of wall, it is this entire alley. That is so much chewing gum. And on this section, people have been artistic
with their chewing gum. They've spread it out a little bit. And there's also another
part of Post Alley, little less gross, this is the Post Alley It, where people post a
bunch of Post-it Notes. So, why don't you bring your Post-it Note instead of your gum to Post Alley. So, if you like the Gum Wall, that tells me you like
weird and wacky attractions. You will also like the Fremont Troll. Part weird, part awesome, totally amazing. It's this troll that lives
under a bridge in Seattle. Seattle has a lot of very interesting and unique attractions. And so when you're here,
definitely check out these things, because the Gum Wall and the troll that lives under a bridge, that's what makes Seattle, Seattle. Another big attraction is
the Seattle Waterfront. Just down the hill from Pike Place Market and most of downtown Seattle
right along the water. This Waterfront Boardwalk is
home to the Seattle Aquarium. Lots of restaurants and shops. But of course, it's got
this big Ferris wheel so you can't miss it. It is super touristy down here, but it's definitely worth the walk because of the immense beauty down here. You'll also see the water taxis
and the ferries come and go from down here as well. But I think one of the coolest attractions on the Seattle Waterfront, is Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. It's like these shops of old that sells everything under the sun. You could while away the hours in there and find that gift for that person that's impossible to find gifts for. Speaking of seafood, just down from the curiosity shop, is Ivar's Acres of Clams
and Ivar's Fish Bar. If you like seafood, one's a sit-down restaurant, the other one's kind of a take-out place. But on the take-out place, you can eat the food on
their waterfront balcony, and feed as many seagulls as you want. Seriously. Pay attention to your food so they don't get snagged by the seagulls. Seattle's most iconic attraction, I guarantee you've seen it, it is the Seattle Space Needle. Built for the 1962 World's Fair, it stands 400 feet tall, with 30 feet of it going below ground so it can withstand earthquakes
up to a magnitude of 9.1. If you're in Seattle, you have to go to the Space Needle to at least take a picture of
it or take a selfie with it. Do you have to go up to the top of it? It just depends how much
you like views of cities? If you like observatories
and observatory towers, definitely head up to the top of it. I do. I like them. There's lots of people, though, that said they could have passed on it. But my favorite thing to do in Seattle is to take the underground tour. This is pretty neat because it
takes you underneath Seattle. There's this whole other level to Seattle. Seattle actually had a big fire, and it was built up
basically in an entire level from the original Seattle. So, these buildings and
streets you see today, they're raised up one floor
from the original Seattle. And during the Prohibition
eras, things like that, there were a lot of
speakeasies down there. Anyway, you take this tour, you learn about the history, you see some kind of neat stuff that most people don't get to see. It's totally not sponsored by them. I just think this is one of the neatest things to do in Seattle. And the last thing to know,
is I've got more videos. If you're planning a trip to the U.S., and you're planning to visit some of the other big West Coast cities, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, I've got Things to Know
videos on all of those. You can click right here to watch them, or you can find links
in the description below to those videos or my
entire Thing to Know series. Well, I won't say goodbye, because I'm gonna see you
in one of those videos.
