I happen to have some Amtrak credits that I need to use…and soon. So, what better way than an easy weekend getaway from Portland to Seattle by Amtrak. I hopped on the train from Portland Union Station Saturday morning and returned Sunday afternoon.
There are seven trains departing from Portland to Seattle, and vice versa which is a decent schedule for train travel on the West Coast.
Just like booking an airline ticket, prices fluctuate based on what time you travel and how far in advance you purchase your ticket.
The coach seats on the Amtrak Cascade is vastly superior to any coach seat on a plane. Much more plush and significantly more legroom than economy class on a plane.
The travel time was estimated on Amtrak’s website as 3 hours 25 minutes from Portland to Seattle. Actual arrival time was closer to 3 hours and 40 minutes, which is not bad.
I brought my own food and drinks but the train does have a cafe car.
Once in Seattle, I bought an ORCA card which allows me to travel around the city using Seattle’s light rail and bus system. It was $3 for the card and $8 for the day pass. I also tend to make my travel plans around food. So I took the light rail to Capitol Hill and got some lunch at Biang Biang Noodles. The photos of their food look a lot better on Yelp than the ones I took, so you can check out the photos here.
Then I wanted to view the burial site of Bruce Lee. Yes, that Bruce Lee.
From there, it was a combination of taking the bus, light rail and walking to see some sights.
Since this was a quick getaway, I wanted to stay close to the Amtrak Station, which is near International District/Chinatown. There’s lots of food and drink options in this area. For dinner, I opted for something simple at the food court in Uwijiyama, then went to Joe’s Bar & Grill for a beer and finally to Panda Yogurt for an interesting rice dessert drink. Again, Yelp has much better photos for both Joe's Bar & Grill as well as Panda Yogurt. Click on the link under their names if you'd like to see photos of those places.
The following morning I went to Dim Sum King for a quick breakfast and then back to Uwijiyama for a little grocery shopping before hopping back on Amtrak back to Portland.
The beauty of train travel is I can bring almost anything I want onto the train (that’s why I went grocery shopping before leaving). There is no TSA rummaging through my personal items, I can bring lots of water with me and I do not have to arrive 1.5 hours before departure.
Below are a few more photos. BTW, I have noticed train stations in major cities in the US are absolutely stunning. Seattle and Portland are no exception.
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