I’m writing this while watching birds chase each other around the neighborhood while gazing out at the Space Needle, Mt. Rainier, Puget Sound and downtown Seattle. I didn’t realize until I landed here how much I missed this city.
We visited Seattle for 5 weeks this summer. The impetus for this journey was one of my best friends getting married, and since a ‘short’ trip to me is one month now π , 5 weeks sounded like a good amount of time. Previously we lived in Seattle from 2015–2020 and while a lot has changed, it’s mostly the same amazing city we loved.
Now that I’m a visitor, I decided to document our stay in a Slow Travel Review in case anyone else is interested in checking out this lovely city. So let’s get into it!
Walkability
Seattle is a wonderfully walkable city in that there are sidewalks everywhere along with pedestrian crossings and many walk signs. However, the one way walking here can be challenging, are THE HILLS! I didn’t know this before moving here, but Seattle can rival San Francisco with its hills. When I lived here, I loved the hills because walking my groceries up them was my main exercise since I didn’t make time for much else (besides using walking as my main form of transportation).
However, as a visitor who walks around all day, walking up a 450 ft hill multiple times a day to go home, was not the best decision π . My legs were sore the whole time we were there because of the hills plus my running schedule plus the free Zumba class I loved going to. So yes, Seattle is very walkable, but bring your comfy shoes if you are planning to climb the hills!
Random Fun Fact: Glaciers created the hills of Seattle by receding and leaving giant mounds of rock debris, which became Queen Anne Hill (where we lived!), Capitol Hill and other hilly places around the city.
Transit
Transit in Seattle is absolutely lovely. Compared to NYC, (where we lived from 2011-2015) the transit is so much cleaner and more pleasant to be on. Seattle has an extensive bus system, which is obviously above ground so you can see the city while going towards your destination (compared to the dark tunnels of the NYC subway).
One thing that freaked me out coming to Seattle from NYC, was that people speak to the bus drivers in Seattle – I guess New York was trying to make me stop seeing people as people or something…Yikes. When you get on a bus in Seattle, people say “hello!” to the bus driver and when they get off, they often wave and say “thank you!” before exiting. It’s lovely π .
Since we moved away from Seattle, they have expanded their subway called the Link Light Rail. It used to basically go from downtown to the airport, but now it goes further in the northern and southern directions.
In fact, it’s expanded so much that I had absolutely no trouble getting around even far south of the city, and am going to expand my possibilities of where to stay in the future as a result.
I thought I had to find an Airbnb IN the city, which is understandably expensive during the gorgeous summer months. Next time, I’m going to pick a place a little further out since it’s so easy to travel around now.
Inclusivity
Seattle is still as welcoming as I remember. People are friendly and willing to help and I often hear “Good morning!” while walking around the neighborhood, which also freaked me out after living in NYC…that place really tried to break me huh? π . Anyway, Seattle is a great place to be yourself and find people who will appreciate you for it.
Nature
One thing that shocked me about Seattle when I first visited was the abundance of water! It’s literally in every direction around the city. As a result, ferries are abundant and a totally normal way for a lot of people to travel to work π .
Obviously having water in every direction is wonderful to look upon, but something else that’s amazing are the mountains we also have in every direction. This fact has other benefits that I’ll get into below, but the beauty of it is unmatched in my opinion. Despite living here for so long, Mt. Rainier peeking out behind the skyscrapers still looks like it’s been photoshopped to me. Too pretty to be real π .
Seattle is also the greenest city I’ve ever seen. Some of that is by design – one of the original designers of the city wanted it to have ample green space and it shows. The climate in Seattle also seems to help everything be green year round and welcome all kinds of flowers and plants all the time. For example, blackberries were ripening on bushes all around our neighborhood this visit. I was tempted to grab a snack on my way to my next destination π . However, I didn’t since I didn’t know what’s been going on with the bush. Instead, I enjoyed some safe goodies from Angela’sΒ garden.
Just to drive the point home that the landscape around Seattle is ridiculous, it’s only a few hours away from my (so far) favorite National Park: Olympic π . It’s gorgeous and has so many different climates within it it’s ridiculous.
Anyway, I could wax poetic about Seattle’s looks forever, so let me just say that it’s beauty means that there is an infinite number of things to do for free or cheap around here, such as checking out any of the numerous beaches around the city, strolling through giant parks or (if you’re feeling up to it) hiking mountains and visiting national parks.
Climate
Seattle has a temperate climate year round because the mountains that surround it, protect it from the extreme hot and cold that hits the rest of the state. It’s a lovely little oasis π . Before I visited Seattle, I assumed it was a dreary, rainy place, but that’s actually not true (don’t tell anyone though π ).
Seattle actually doesn’t have that many more cloudy days than New York for example, and it has less rainfall per year. However, in Seattle, it’s usually a drizzle over multiple days instead of a deluge like in NYC. This is one of the reasons I was told when I visited, that people don’t use umbrellas – you don’t really need one if you’re not at risk of getting a little wet. I still used one while living here though π . I prefer them over raincoats.
One challenge of Seattle is that in the winter, the sun can set at 4pm – before the workday is done π . That’s rough, but having sunlight until almost 10pm in the summer makes up for it. And then the sun decides to pop back out at 5am – there isn’t a whole lot of darkness in the summer, which I love π .
If you’re curious, Seattle gets so much sun, it’s because we’re actually further north than Montreal, Canada. Wild right π ? Anyway, my favorite months to visit Seattle are June and July. Before that, it’s still usually a drizzly spring, but during June and July, it’s pretty standard for it to be 70Β° Fahrenheit (21Β° Celsius) and with a clear blue sky.
In August while I lived here, the wildfires in California (and recently Washington as well), would sadly be blazing and the air wouldn’t be very breathable. A few years ago, the sky even turned red, which was pretty scary. So if you’re planning a trip to Seattle and want the weather to be clear, I would recommend June or July.
Food
Seattle has wonderful food. Whether it’s the expected Asian cuisines, seafood, dairy or (unexpectedly) Tex-Mex, there are people creating some deliciousness around here. A few examples:
Cost
I like to base estimates on solid facts and that’s why I began my retirement calculations by assuming I would continue spending the same amount that I did during my awesome HCOL life in Seattle, which cost $18,000 a year. I then added 11% on top of that amount just in case, to come to a round $20,000 for my annual retirement budget.
Usually this is the part in the post where I compare costs in my last home of Seattle to a new city, but since we’re in Seattle, let’s get this info right from the source π .
LodgingΒ
Cost: $699.13/week
Basically this:
We stayed in the city 2 weeks, but as I mentioned in the transit section, I’m going to be open next time to expanding my lodging search to farther locations that are more affordable for high summer season. We’ll see if my partner goes for that plan π .
Food
Grocery Cost: $49.85/month
We bought a few groceries, but I knew that we would mostly be eating our faces off at restaurants and eating leftovers since most of the portions are American sized (aka huge) π . And I was right. This is just a few odds and ends that got us through breakfast and at times lunch, but most of the money went to local restaurants.
Eating Out Cost: $392.49/month
Yep π . That’s basically what I expected. We ate out a lot and I have no regrets. These restaurants deserve every penny.
Alcohol Cost: $119.49/month
Seattle has some wonderful cideries and local brews and I enjoyed sampling them while we were out at restaurants.
Transit
Cost: $69.07/month
I love having walking as my main form of transportation, but between the hills, my running, Zumba and touristy walking routes, at times my body had enough and we grabbed a Lyft. We also had to go back and forth to the city several times for wedding stuff (and didn’t want to chance it on transit with a time crunch). Anyway, no regrets π .
Entertainment
Cost: $44.56/month
As I mentioned, there is so much to do in Seattle for free revolving around nature and costs either nothing to walk to, or costs the price of a bus ticket. However, there are also wonderful things to do that cost money. Most museums are free the first Thursday of every month, but otherwise, they’re often an affordable “pay what you want” model, or around $20.
I went full tourist and visited several museums I never made the time for when I lived here (I know it’s bad, but I was so exhausted, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it anyway, I promise π ). I also enjoyed a few movie matinees and generally was shocked at how cheaply you can have a great time in this town π .
Conclusion
And that’s what I discovered after living in my old stomping grounds of Seattle as a tourist! It was fascinating to see the city with fresh eyes after two years and lots of travel. It’s proven that it’s still my favorite city in the US, and the only one that feels like home, so we’ll see what the future brings π . Anyway, until next time, this was my Slow Travel Review!
What’s your favorite city?
If you’re interested in my other Slow Travel Reviews, they’re all here:
- Slow Travel Review: Portland, Maine, USA – The Land Of Deliciousness
- Slow Travel Review: Catskill, New York, USA β The Land Of Mountains
- Slow Travel Review: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA β The Land Of Chili Peppers
- Slow Travel Review: Decatur, Georgia, USA β The Land Of Flowers And Food
- Slow Travel Review: Phuket, Thailand β The Land Of Sea & Food
- Slow Travel Review: MΓ©rida, MΓ©xico β The Land Of Color & Nature
I’m from WA (in upstate NY currently) so this was a fun & familiar read, I can vouch for what you’ve said 100%! Nice to see you found the good good at Pho Bac, SAM, the ferries, etc. I thought for sure you’d mention Discovery Park, the Sounders, Reign, Storm, Kraken (the soccer, basketball, & hockey teams) as sports are a huge part of the summertime. If you’re into that, I’d recommend!
That’s awesome! I do love Discovery Park and I’ve mentioned it previously. I’m sadly not into sports though and have never been to a game in Seattle – Oops π .
In 2001 just before I started grad school, my son and I went to Seattle via the Empire Builder train. I have always loved what I saw but the cost of living is a bit tough to swallow especially since I earned midwest income. It looks like a wonderful time. While I know your retirement plans include not owning property, leaving the midwest where we own to go to PNW and not be able to afford to own makes it tough. Global warming makes me worry so as much as I would love to live there, I’ll stay in the midwest. I can’t wait to go visit again though.
That’s so cool! And yeah the cost of living is challenging compared to other places – luckily my “grounding” in one of the most expensive cities of NYC makes it seem cheap to me (or maybe that’s a bad thing π ). Global warming is also obviously a consideration. It’s a lovely place to visit regardless π .