Gina

Hi:

My husband and I are planning a trip to inlude the Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria loop in March. We are really looking forward to a vacation with no car -- just trains, ferries and public transport.

As I plan for this trip, I keep seeing vague warnings on other sites about walking around in Seattle. We will be staying near the waterfront and the Seattle Center, and my question is this: is it safe to walk in the more heavily touristed areas after dark? For example, what about walking from the Seattle Center to the waterfront if we chose to go a restaurant there, or along the waterfront itself? The trolley apparently stops running around 5 pm, and while the monorail runs until midnight, you still have to walk from Pioneer Square to the monorail station. I've read that areas around Pike's Place and Pioneer Square are somewhat seedy....anyone have any tips?

We're trying to decide if we should just stick close to our hotel for dinner or if we can venture out safely on foot. Thanks for your help.

xxxxxx

I was in Seattle in September and walked around a lot at night. I never felt unsafe as long as you use normal precautions. Definitely check out Capitol HIll..espcially Broadway after dark for some great street life.

sheri

Gina, Seattle's a relatively safe city, and I often walk alone at night in *some* areas of the city. I try to avoid walking alone in Pioneer Square after dark, however, and along Pike between 1st and 2nd, to give a couple examples.

You shouldn't have a problem walking between Seattle Center and the waterfront (although those streets will be fairly deserted at night and it's a long-ish walk, depending where on the waterfront you're going), but chances are, in March, you won't WANT to, because it will (most likely) be chilly and rainy! Also, it's a good 30-minute walk from Pioneer Square to the downtown end of the monorail, and I can't for the life of me figure out where you could be staying that is close to both Seattle Center and the waterfront, yet also near Pioneer Square!

I'd recommend asking your hotel help you with figuring out bus schedule and routes and/or plan on taking a few cabs here and there. You'll be much more comfortable.

MoebiusTrip

from the HI-Hostel < www.hiseattle.org >
at corner of Western and Union
you can confidently walk to the waterfront (2 blocks), the Pike Place Market (1 block up the Pike Alley), Pioneer Square (6-8 blocks down 1st), to the WestLake Center Shopping Mall ( 5 blocks to 5th, left 2 blocks to 5th&Pine) where you can board the Monorail.

HI-Seattle also has an arrangement with a shuttle (bearfoot?or Moose?) service that'll take you from Hi-Seattle to HI-Vancouver door-to-door during most of the year...and I think you can catch another(from there) to Victoria and back....
call HI-Seattle [ 1-888-622-5443 ] for details, they're very helpful.

Gina

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the information and advice.

We are staying at the Homewood Suites on Western Ave., which the hotel site claims overlooks Elliott Bay and is four blocks from the Seattle Center. We have no problem with walking or taking public transport as long as we feel safe and unless it's pouring rain! We just wondered if, for example, we go somewhere on Roy Street or along the waterfront for dinner, will we feel safe walking back to our hotel at night. Thanks for the tips.

sheri

The area around the Homewood should be fine, as should walking from Seattle Center/Roy Street back there. To get from there to the north end of the waterfront, you have to go past quite a few construction sites, over the railroad tracks, etc...it's not a long walk, exactly, just that it's not going to be very busy at night. Actually, for a great selection of good restaurants, I'd recommend going to Belltown rather than the waterfront, which is definitely walkable from the Homewood (walk up Denny to First Ave, then south on First). Most of the restaurants are on First and Second Avenue.

Gina

Thanks for the great tips!

Lynn

My husband and I recently stayed at the Homewood Suites also. They have a free shuttle van that will take you wherever you want to go. We had them drop us off at the Pike Place Market and then we walked back through Bell Town....good luck! The Homewood Suites are quite nice...mini kitchen, microwave, separate living room and a bedroom with a door that closes it off to the living room.

been there

Use caution, it looks creepy at Pikes Place market at night. But we went to a place to eat called 'Cutters' on the waterfront, the northern tip of Pike's market and it was wonderful and delightful. The salmon soup was amazing. Highly advise.

The waterfront seemed safer than the Pike's Market at night. But everything closes at the market itself at night so no need to be there past 6 or so...

Keith

Hi,

We were just in Seattle the last weekend of March/first weekend of April.

What we were told by a helpful hotel desk clerk was that there is a needle exchange around the Pike Place Market and at night and thus clients of the same hang around there.

According to Seattleweekly.com from July 2000 the "best place to get mugged" in Seattle is Regrade Park "(a.k.a. Needle Park)" at Third and Bell. This is in the Belltown/Denny Regrade area.

We actually stayed in the general Belltown vicinity at the Remada on Fifth. It wasn't bad.

From the Market into Belltown there is a mix of seedy old and trendy new. It's an interesting neighborhood, just be smart at night.

Keith

kam

I have never felt unsafe in Seattle, but it IS a city and so requires a certain amount of attention to safety. There are abundant taxis and I would think the best thing to do would be to ask at your hotel whether you should walk to the restaurant of your choice or call a taxi. Same thing when returning from the restaurant. It's a pretty small city and taxis are not too expensive because distances are short. By comparison, I think San Francisco is a more dangerous place, and even then, it's only hookers and drug pushers, not armed robbers that you might encounter. Just stay focused and aware and you'll be fine.

Gina

Hi, I was glad to see my original question resurrected here, because we returned from our trip a couple of weeks ago and had no trouble at all! Thanks to everyone who responded. We walked from the Homewood Suites to Lower Queen Anne, the Waterfront, and to Belltown at night, and we never felt unsafe. We even walked with our luggage from the Victoria Clipper ferry dock to the Homewood Suites at night, and we felt safe doing so. Both Belltown and Lower Queen Anne had all kinds of people walking around in the evening, going to shops and restaurants, so it was really nice to see!

Yes, we noticed the large groups of panhandlers around the marketplace, but thanks to all the helpful comments I read on Fodor's we knew to avoid that area at night.

Thanks again!