Grunge rock n roll sites in Seattle - best way to get around?

[kaerofan]

I'm a big fan of Soundgarden and Chris Cornell and would love to see many of the sites (Black Hole Sun monument, the memorial statue, Soundgarden Park, etc.)  I have never been to Seattle but have 11am-8pm one day on a Princess cruise (Pier 66).  I can't find much info. on Seattle's public transportation so I just wondered about renting a car?  Will this be the best way to do it?  Are there car rentals close to the pier?  I also wondered about the hop on hop off but wasn't sure it would get me close to many of the sites that I want to get to?  Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Edited April 21, 2019 by kaerofan

[martincath]

Seattle's public transportation is actually very good by US standards. I find that Google Maps integrates the various options and you can also verify routes, timing etc. on the official website here. Includes ferries, light and heavy rail, buses, even the monorail.

 

Car rentals you can certainly find near the pier - Enterprise operate their usual 'come get you' service and there are other offices downtown that you could walk to or pay >$10 for a cab. I have no idea where the sites you're looking to visit are in relation to each other, so it might work out to be relatively efficient depending on the locations and how convenient transit is at getting you between them.But I'd guess that a mix of transit and the occasional Uber/Lyft/Taxi ride would be as cheap and let you get liquored-up while touring around - what kind of Rock pilgrimage would it be without booze after all???

 

Personally I avoid driving in Seattle as much as possible. We blow through it on the highway 20+ times a year but if we're staying in the city always just get to the hotel then walk or transit around. Traffic is bad at the best of times (and not helped by constant large-scale construction projects over the last few years which definitely impact the Pier 66 area at least a little - folks seem to like the new tunnel, but it's currently free so as soon as the toll goes on there will be more traffic on surface streets again), parking is pricey, and far too many Seattle area drivers have apparently completely non-functional indicators - at least up here it's only BMWs that they're an optional extra on rather than factory-installed! 😉

[Ferry_Watcher]

On 4/21/2019 at 6:51 AM, kaerofan said:

I'm a big fan of Soundgarden and Chris Cornell and would love to see many of the sites (Black Hole Sun monument, the memorial statue, Soundgarden Park, etc.)  I have never been to Seattle but have 11am-8pm one day on a Princess cruise (Pier 66).  I can't find much info. on Seattle's public transportation so I just wondered about renting a car?  Will this be the best way to do it?  Are there car rentals close to the pier?  I also wondered about the hop on hop off but wasn't sure it would get me close to many of the sites that I want to get to?  Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Those three sites are unfortunately not near each other.  Assuming that you don't have the money to hire a private guide/driver, you might consider the following:

 Beginning in DT Seattle, and using the trip planner app from Metro, catch a bus up to the Capital Hill neighborhood and then walk the 6-7 blocks from Broadway (or possibly where it turns into 10th Ave) to the Seattle Asian Art museum.  You will walk through a residential area to get to the museum.  You will find the Black Hole sculpture in front of the museum.  There is also a old brick/stone water tower that if opened that you can climb the stairs and get a great view of Seattle.

 

Then, I would return to DT Seattle and get on the Monorail (located at Westlake Center) and visit the Museum of Pop Culture (at Seattle Center) to see the Chris Cornell Memorial Statue which appears to be just just outside the museum.

 

Finally, I would suggest calling an Uber from Seattle Center to get SoundGarden Park.  This will be a distance from DT Seattle.  The Soundgarden is located in the Warren G Magnuson Park 7600 Sand Point Way NE Seattle.  It is unclear if you can even access the area of the park where Soundgarden is located.  A website suggests checking with NOAA for entrance availability.

 

Hoping others will chime in.

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

[kaerofan]

So very helpful...thank you so much!

[Ferry_Watcher]

4 hours ago, kaerofan said:

So very helpful...thank you so much!

Hope it did help.  You might consider re-posting this on the West Coast Departures (under Homeports) as that forum gets a lot more reader traffic than the CA Coastal / Pacific Northwest forum.  Take care!

[Ferry_Watcher]

On 4/24/2019 at 5:59 PM, kaerofan said:

So very helpful...thank you so much!

 

Believe that you will be in Seattle tomorrow - expected to be a warm and sunny day.  Hope your Grunge rock'n'roll tour works out for you.  Please report back.