cheap travel, cheap rooms
CHEAPEST LODGING I KNOW
reservations recommended
• American Hotel Hostel
• Ballard Inn
• Couchsurfing
• Dash Point State Park (campsite; 27 miles to Seattle)
• Fay Bainbridge Park (campsite; ferry to Seattle)
• Green Tortoise Hostel
• Hostel Fish
• Hotel Hotel
I’ve stayed at the American and Green Tortoise, and they’re both fine and safe for visiting on a budget. American is in Chinatown, and very close to transit.
GETTING HERE
book early for better deals
• Amtrak via RailForLess
• Green Tortoise Adventure Travel
• Greyhound
• Megabus
If you’re coming by plane, good luck. Sea-Tac Airport is like the old Soviet Union — prepare to be delayed, herded, insulted, bored, infuriated, prodded, wanded, strip-searched, and possibly detained, but welcome to Seattle!
SAFETY
Fox News is lying — Seattle is one of America’s safest cities, and has no unsafe neighborhoods.
You might see homeless folks and drug addicts, but 99+% of them are no worry at all. Same as anywhere, keep your wits about you on smaller streets and after dark.
Also same as anywhere, the only real worry is if someone’s actively making you nervous or uncomfortable with threatening behavior. Trust your gut, have the mace in your pocket and flip the handle so you’re ready.
Other than that, practice ordinary urban common sense, and you’ll be fine.
WHILE YOU’RE HERE
Transit is better than driving — traffic can suck, and parking is expensive and impossible. There are very few places worth going in the Seattle metro area that you can’t get to by bus, train, light rail, or ferry. Best of all, public transit is slow, so you’ll have time to savor the views.
Here are some Seattle area transit links, but if you still can’t figure out how to get where you’re going, ask me anything, and the odds are 60/40 that maybe I can help: thatguy@seattlesoon.com.
updated 1/10/2026
