It would be from Milwaukee to Seattle on the Empire Builder.
We are looking to stay in Seattle for about two night and sight see during the day. Any suggestions for hotels relativity close to the station? We aren’t looking for anything fancy, we are just going to be sleeping there.
We are looking to get around mostly by public transit or taxi. We don’t want to bother with renting cars, etc. How is the public transit system in Seattle?
Next up would be taking the Cascades train from Seattle to Vancouver, BC.
We are looking to spend a night in Vancouver and check out the sights up there. Anyone have experience with the public transportation in Vancouver?
We are possibly interested in heading to Whistler, BC for a night and checking out the Gondola and the Mountains. The village seems to be small so getting around shouldn’t be too hard.
We will be flying back to Milwaukee from Seattle to save time.
So that is the rough plan. My biggest concern is getting from place to place with luggage. We will be packing light but my main concern is with the Cascades Train. Can you check baggage on the Cascades?
Trains had an article about the “Sounder” just recently.(NOV 2009)you will be taken near Safeco field in Seattle when you arrive.Don’t forget you will need a passport to come back from canada.
Will answer your questions about Amtrak Cascades checked baggage, public transit in in Seattle, public transit in Vancouver and hotel locations in Seattle and Vancouver in less than 15 minutes.
To help you locate a hotel, please know that the Empire Builder passenger train stops at the King Street Station, 303 South Jackson Street, Seattle, Washington.
Hi, my wife and I did most of the trip you are thinking about in October 2008. Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle, sightseeing in Seattle, then on to Vancouver by Amtrak for more sightseeing , then home by train again. I don’t recall any hotels near the train station in Seattle, but I’m sure there are some. We stayed at the Ramada Inn Downtown, 2200 Fifth Street (corner of Blanchard and Fifth). Nothing fancy, but we didn’t think it was too bad. If you google Ramada Inn Downtown Seattle, some guests have bad mouthed it(reviews), others thought it Ok. A Westin hotel is near that too, might be better. You’ll just have to do your own research and decide how much money you want to spend. We took a taxi from the hotel and back to the train station, but otherwise these hotels are within walking distance of Pike Market Place and the monorail which gets you to the Space Needle.
We carried our luggage onto the train to Vancouver. I don’t know if they have checked baggage or not to Van. Amtrak should be able to tell you. In Vancouver , we stayed at the Best Western Downtown, 718 Drake Street. Again, we took a taxi from the train station to the hotel, but this hotel had a shuttle van to help you get around. We used it to get to Stanley Park (a “must see” in Van.).Also took a bus once, and walked alot too. We rented bicycles and rode around Stanley Park, 5.7 miles? around the perimeter. This hotel was nicer than Ramada in Seattle.
I’ll think of more to tell you just as soon as I post this. Anyway, Have a great trip and enjoy!
The Best Western Pioneer Square is about the closest hotel to the station. The hotel does not have a restaurant, but it does provide a light breakfast, which we have found to be good. You can check baggage on the train to Vancouver. I don’t know how Customs handles it northbound; we checked it once southbound, and US Customs inspected it in Vancouver.
Hi again, Another suggestion I have is to be in the sleeping car on Amtrak from Milwaukee to Seattle. Your trip will be much more enjoyable that way. And NOW is not too early to make those sleeping car reservations. You’ll get better prices when you book this far in advance. Downside is that you’ll have to pay for the tickets now also.
Bill did not tell us that when you travel in a sleeper, the cost of breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included; the cost of alcoholic beverages or appetizers is not included, nor are tips included.
Bill started at an earlier age than I did; I was twenty-five months old when I began traveling by train–and my mother has told me that I screamed from Plant City, where we boarded, to Lakeland (fifteen minutes). Somehow, I got over my terror, and have traveled more than a quarter of a million miles by rail since (I can’t hope to catch up with Mr. Frimbo).
I, too, recommend the Best Western “Pioneer Square”. I like Best Western, even in Vermont or Ontario! Beware the “Habib” cab drivers in SEA!!! There are great eateries along the waterfront in Seattle, adjacent to Pioneer Square! Also, the trolley car goes by, if it is again running. Go for some Dungeness Crab! Yum!!! Again, as noted, carry your passport, but in both directions. The "Border NAZ…, (sorry, I can’t say that word on this forum [I am learning]) “Guards” are total…maybe ararschlochs will slip by the moderators. Dunno, but them guys have to get out in the real world, ex-WI/SD/MN, sometime soon! Beware! Vancouver is the Olympics (read: Silliness) venue in 2010. “Whistler” hasn’t had a lift tower collapse in almost a year! I wonder what the Vermont Tramway Board would say about that… Have fun, on your “Death Tube” ride home!
Both Vancouver and Seattle have excellent public transit systems, both with a combination of one or more types of rail and buses, with extensive use of electric trolley buses in Seattle. (Possibly Vancouver still has a few lines as it did when I last visited it, but I know Seattle bought some new Flyer tracklesses a few years ago, recylcing motors and useful stuff from older electric buses.) Seattle has an underground subway or tunnel that accomodates both buses and light rail cars, on the same lanes, stopping at the same station platforms, and only the Pittsburgh Mt. Washington tunnel is another example. Vancouver has an elevated railroad system that is worth riding just for railfan reasons, it reminded me of the old Manhattan elevateds, even though it is modern and uses the linear motor principle and is very quiet. And by al means ride the Seattle monorail.
My wife and I stayed at the Mayflower Park Hotel in downtown Seattle and found it to be very nice and close to everything. The Anduluca Restaurant in the hotel is one of the best in the city. It also has an excellent breakfast.We found that downtown Seattle has a lot of coffee houses and fast food places but very few sit down restaurants that serve breakfast. The thing that we liked best was they had our room ready when we arrived on the Builder. I also would recommend booking a sleeper,well worth the money. The food is the best served on Amtrak.
We did not rent a car and used public transit. It is excellent, they have a trolley from Melbourne Australia which is a fun ride and be sure to ride the trolley buses. Downtown Seattle is very hilly so bring good walking shoes. I would strongly recommend that you use cabs after dark. Be sure to ride the ferry to Bremerton.
Aricat mentioned riding the ferry to Bremerton and I will “second” that idea, especially if you are a “landlubber” like me. First of all, a round trip ticket is very reasonable (aka “cheap entertainment”). You don’t have to spend any time in Bremerton, or any other destination that the ferries go; they’ll make you step off the boat for a few minutes while employees do a quick search of the boat for unattended packages ( a Homeland Security inspection) and then passengers board the ferry again for the return trip to Seattle.
Another boat ride that you can take is one that gives you a tour of Lake Washington and then thru the locks leading out to Puget Sound and back to the waterfront. The tickets for this tour are bought at the waterfront, then a bus takes you inland a few miles to the lake where the boat tour begins, IIRC.I think this tour goes past Bill Gates’ mansion and also the houseboat featured in the movie “Sleepless In Seattle”.
When you are in Vancouver and at Stanley Park, the horse drawn trolley ride is a good way to see and learn about the park and interesting facts about Vancouver as your driver gives a good narration.
Amtrak’s 26 Oct 09 System Timetable shows checked baggage available on trains 510/517 SEA-VAC. Not so on 516/513. Strange… Also, there is a misprint in the 513/516 Service Notice (pg. 81). I believe the date should be “during March 2010”, not March 2009. That would be when they discontinue the service, if the Canadian Customs Service wants to institute an exorbitant charge for checking out passengers.
The Amtrak website is little more up-to-date on the service. I just looked at the Cascades schedule there, and saw that there is baggage service on all of the these trains. There is also a note that the southbound evening train will run two hours later from February 1, 2010 through March 31, 2010 (so you can see a little more of what is going on, I presume).
Sounder is an excalant system, and it can get you to other city’s in the Seattle, but, i’m not sure how it would get you around the city. A taxi would be the best choice for that.