Seattle-rental car necessary?
 

We plan to visit Seattle for six days. Is there 5 day transportation pass or are we better of renting a car? Are cabs or public transportation readily available at night?

Seattle has a good transit system:
http://transit.metrokc.gov/

And, WA has a huge ferry system
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/

If you are staying in downtown, you would be better off without a car. However, you might want to rent a car for a day trip to Mt. Rainier or some other such attraction.

Depends on what you want to do, where you want to go, etc.

Seattle is blessed with an excellent in-city transportation system; however it's also a city of neighborhoods that are better explored with a car. You can certainly navigate the downtown core without a car, same as any big city. Of course there are buses and cabs at night.

However Seattle is also a city located in close proximity to some major attractions that require car access - 3 national parks, various islands and mountain areas, to name a few. If you don't want to go to those places, then a car becomes less necessary. If you do, then a car is necessary.

Of course you can also just rent a car for one or two days out of the six, use it for day trips or an overnight excursion. Really depends on what you want to do, where you want to stay, how you travel typically.

As above, depends where you want to go. If you stay at a downtown Seattle hotel, and just want to do the usual sight-seeing like Pike Place Market, Space Needle, Pioneer Square, the Waterfront, there is no need for a cat.

If you want to go out into the surrounding countryside on day trips, then you might want one.

Yes taxis and busses run at night.

Suze, is there a need for a cat anywhere?

After my visit to Seattle last year, I think that a car is definitely essential to Seattle, once outside of the downtown area; National Parks, Snoqualmie Falls, etc.

Funny :-)

But for DBW without knowing what they want to see & do I think it's impossible to answer. Sure a rental is good for going out to Snoqualmie Falls or the ONP, but plenty of tourists could spend 5 days right in and around the downtown core, for which I maintain as above you don't need a car (or a cat!).

Check the current car rental rates...that may help you make up your mind! I'm currently trying to rent a car from SeaTac for 6 days at the end of July and am finding the prices about triple what I usually pay. I've always been able to get a Priceline deal for about $15 a day and so far I've had bids as high as $55 a day refused.

I'm considering renting from a downtown location instead...it's much less expensive than SeaTac, but a bit of a PITA to get to.

Margy

Hi,

If I were you, arriving by plane @ Sea Tac airport...

get a reservation for multiple nights at a DOWNTOWN SEATTLE hotel, and take the city bus (#174 or #194) into town, and find your hotel.

A girl cabbed it from Sea Tac to downtown a couple of weeks ago and was charged $50 for the trip. Later someone said that wasn't out of the current range these days!!

The bus is $2.25 max!

Then, once bedded down in downtown Seattle, you're central to the city attractions, and can easily rent a car for a day or two if interested in a Mt. Rainier trip or the like.

You could even coordinate the car rental to coincide with your last day(s) in town, allowing you to return it (with all of your luggage) at the airport. But watch for an extra fee for the "one-way" rental.

Tourists can get a 3-day metro bus pass to get around to most in-town areas in handy fashion.

You don't need a car if staying central the whole time.

Hi,

Thanks for all the great information!!! We do plan to stay mostly downtown. We were planning a day trip to Mt Rainier, but we heard there is a bus tour. Does anyone have information on this tour?

Thanks!

When are you coming to the area? There's still 10 ft of snow up at Paradise (Mt. Rainier) as of this morning, so if your trip is soon, you might want to consider a daytrip somewhere else if you were planning to go hiking.

But all things being equal, I'd rent a car and go on my own rather than a bus tour, personally--that gives you more flexibility.

Sorry but if she really paid $50 she was "ripped off". I take taxis from SeaTac all the time (as recently as two weeks ago) to Capitol Hill, which is further than downtown, and pay ~$35-37.

Not sure about Seattle, but many cities have adjusted taxi fares to reflect current gasoline prices, so comparing this month to several months ago isn't exactly apples-apples.

Margyb - I'm finding the same problem on Priceline in early July. Love to know what's going on. Last year at the same time I paid $14/day, have never paid more than $15. Oh well - fallback position is borrow from parents.

But I'm saying it's cheaper than someone said they paid in the past, which does follow.

My information is from two weeks ago.

If you do decide to take the Metro bus into Seattle, take 194 (the express), not 174 (too many stops). I used the 194 last week and it was quite crowded -- apparently gas prices are making public transport a lot more appealing these days.

I would mention, though, that if you're carrying a lot of luggage, you might not feel comfortable lugging it all on to the bus...your fellow passengers won't appreciate it much either. :-)