Bellevue, WA Road Trips

1 Bellevue Botanical Gardens, 12001 Main St, ☏ +1 425-452-2750. Daily dawn-dusk. A must-see, especially the Garden d'Lights in the winter with extended hours until 21:30. Free and free parking, though some events and classes charge for admission (Garden d'Lights charges $5 for admission and an extra $5 for on-site parking, with free parking at the nearby Wilburton Hill park). 2 Kelsey Creek Farm, 410 130th Pl SE, ☏ +1 425-452-7688. Barn: daily 9:30AM-3:30PM, park: dawn to dusk. Meadows with trails and barns with farm animals. (updated Jan 2018) 3 KidsQuest Museum, 1116 108th Ave NE (2 blocks north of Bellevue Transit Center), ☏ +1 425-637-8100. Tu-Th 9AM-5PM, F 9AM-8PM, Sa 9AM-5PM, Su noon-5PM, open 9AM-5PM most Mondays when local schools are closed. Museums for kids with curiosity, opportunities for hands-on learning abound. $12. (updated Jan 2018)

1 Lincoln Square Cinemas, 700 Bellevue Way NE (third floor of Lincoln Square North, two blocks west of Bellevue Transit Center), ☏ +1 425-450-9100, [email protected]. Movie theater with many first-run films from both the US and Asia. $13 adults, $9 children (1-11) and seniors (62+). 2 Meydenbauer Center, 11100 NE 6th St (one block east of Bellevue Transit Center). Has a convention center and a theater, with frequent live performances of music and theater 3 Resonance at Soma Towers, 288 106th Avenue NE, Suite 203, ☏ +1 425-443-2585, [email protected]. Venue for classical music and comedy shows. (updated Feb 2020) 4 Lucky Strike, 700 Bellevue Way NE (second floor of Lincoln Square North, two blocks west of Bellevue Transit Center), ☏ +1 425-453-5137. Su-Th 11:30AM-midnight, F 11:30AM-2AM, Sa 11AM-2AM. Bowling alley, video arcade, and night club. (updated Feb 2020) Nestled between two lakes, Bellevue is blessed with high terrain that offers beautiful natural vistas at its parks and a chance to unwind into natural habitats. 5 Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park (from I-90: take Exit 13 and drive south on Lakemont Blvd SE for 3.1 miles; look for the entrance to the Red Town Trailhead on the left side of the road). Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park (CMRWP) is a more than 3000-acre park with 36 miles of hiking trails (12 miles suitable for equestrian use). It showcases a variety of natural features from forests and waterfalls to meadows and cliffs. There are four primary trailheads, each offering a different experience. Free.

Bellevue contains a whole lot more Chinese and Japanese restaurants than Seattle. You may also have better luck finding Indian dishes here, where its tech workers would typically flock for lunch. Due to the nature of the district however, prices tend to be more expensive than Seattle and quality is uneven. 1 MOD Pizza, 317 Bellevue Way NE and 14309 NE 20th St, ☏ +1 425-455-0141, +1 425-214-9903. Su-Th 10:30AM-10PM, F Sa 10:30AM-11PM. A pizza joint where you can pick your own ingredients and quickly baked in wooden ovens. Various lemonade flavors for the drink. Pizza: medium $9, large $11, salads $5. (updated Jan 2018) 2 Cafe Bollywood, 102B Bellevue Way NE, ☏ +1 425-641-9997. Su 1-9PM; lunch: Tu-F 11AM-3PM, Sa noon-3PM; dinner: Tu-Th 4:30PM-midnight, F Sa 4:30PM-2AM. Cheap yet delicious Indian food, with the combos and biryani being the best seller. Combos $10-12, individual dishes $5-12 (in 8 or 16oz). (updated Jan 2018) 3 Pho Ever, 12015 NE 8th St, ☏ +1 425-455-0439. Daily 11AM-9PM. If you are peckish for a Vietnamese fix, this is where you can get it cheaply. Pho $8-12, other dishes $9-14. (updated Jan 2018) 4 Sukhothai, 15045 Bel-Red Rd, ☏ +1 425-401-0823. Tu-F 11AM-9PM, Sa Su noon-9PM. Perhaps the most vegetarian-friendly restaurant of the bunch, with its lunch buffets and on-the-menu items at best containing fish for meats. $9-14. (updated Jan 2018) 5 Foodshion, 707 148th Ave NE, ☏ +1 425-505-2270. M-Th 11AM-10PM, F Sa 11AM-10:30PM, Su noon-9:30PM. Cavernous restaurant offering Chinese delicacies and some Japanese, plus karaoke bar.

1 Bellevue Brewing, 12190 NE District Way (NE District Way & 112th Pl NE), ☏ +1 425-497-8686, [email protected]. M-Th Sa 11:30-10PM; F 11:30-11PM; Su 11AM-9PM. Bellevue's first local brewery. Happy hour 3-6PM daily. (updated Nov 2021) 2 JOEY Bellevue, 800 Bellevue Way NE, Suite 118 (1st floor), ☏ +1 425-637-1117. Su-Th 11AM-midnight; F Sa 11AM-1AM. A decent restaurant and bar. 3 Black Bottle, 919 Bellevue Way NE, ☏ +1 425-223-5143. Su-Th 3-11PM, F Sa 3PM-midnight. Large collection of wine, a couple drafts, and tapas. Wine from $40, beer $6.50, cocktails $7-12, tapas $7-12. (updated Jan 2018) 4 Bake's Place Bar & Bistro, 155 108th Avenue NE (Columbia West Building on 108th Ave NE & NE 2nd St), ☏ +1 425-454-2778, [email protected]. M 3-9PM, Tu-Th 3-10:30PM, F 3PM-midnight, Sa 5PM-midnight. Bar and restaurant with live music (usually jazz, blues, classic rock, etc) five nights a week. $20 Fridays and Saturdays, free otherwise. (updated Feb 2020)

As Bellevue mainly houses business & industrial meetings, a few hotel rooms may be sold out on some weekdays; the cheapest prices are actually easier to be found on weekends, with prices half of those of weekdays! Due to the generally cheaper price than Seattle, travelers can make Bellevue as an alternative place to stay, and head down to Seattle using public transportation or a car. 1 Courtyard Seattle Bellevue/Redmond, 14615 NE 29th Pl, ☏ +1 425-869-5300, toll-free: +1-800-321-2211, fax: +1 425-883-9122. Located just off the 520 freeway. Within the heart of the Microsoft Main Campus. From $90 per night. 2 Extended Stay America, 11400 Main St, ☏ +1 425-453-8186. Suites with fully-equipped kitchen. Offers self-laundry and complimentary grab and go breakfast. Allows pets. From $85 per night. (updated Jan 2018) 3 Fairfield Inn Seattle Bellevue, 14595 NE 29th Pl, ☏ +1 425-869-6548, fax: +1 425-881-2861. A budget accommodation just a short walk from the Microsoft campus. Colorful small rooms, but free breakfast & WiFi makes up the experience. From $100 per night. 4 Hotel 116, 625 116th Ave NE, ☏ +1 425-455-9444. Basic business hotel just a five-minute walk from the Meydenbauer center. It may feel like a motel on the outside, but the lobby is chic & the rooms are spacious. Rooms have free WiFi and free buffet breakfast. Free shuttle within 5-mile radius. From $95 per night. (updated Jan 2018) 5 Red Lion Hotel, 11211 Main St, ☏ +1 425-455-5240. Two blocks away from downtown. Adequate rooms with free WiFi. A few open spaces & gardens at the hotel's inner circle.

Bellevue has reliable transportation access to Seattle and the Puget Sound area. The nearest airport is Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. To get to Bellevue, take eastbound State Route 518 and continue straight towards Interstate 405. State Route (SR) 520 connects Bellevue to Seattle, via the Evergreen Point floating bridge (the world's largest floating bridge) on Lake Washington. SR-520 serves as the northern border between Bellevue and Kirkland between the shores of Lake Washington and Interstate 405. The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge is tolled; see details below. The capacious Interstate 90 (I-90) provides another route from Seattle across Lake Washington, via Mercer Island. For Bellevue, exit to Bellevue Way SE or Interstate 405. Interstate 405 (I-405) is the outer loop of Interstate 5 that runs from Lynnwood to Tukwila (and the airport), through Bellevue. Rush hour traffic can be daunting: expect a 45-minute to 1-hour drive from each end of the freeway to Bellevue. There are tolls for the SR-520 floating bridge and the express lanes of I-405, with rates that vary by time of day and traffic levels. There are no toll booths. If the vehicle has a "Good to Go" sticker on the windshield, the toll is deducted from a prepaid account. Otherwise, transponders take a picture of the license plates, front and back, and mail the bill to the registered owner. Link light rail - The 2 Line runs from Downtown Redmond to the east via Overlake and downtown Bellevue. It runs from Lynnwood City Center to the northwest via Mercer Island and Seattle on I-90.

For trips outside of the core city, you'll probably want a car. King County Metro operates local bus routes. Some useful routes are: Route 221 runs from Bellevue Transit Center to Redmond Route 226 from Bellevue Transit Center to Eastgate Park & Ride, via Crossroads Mall and Lake Hills Park Route 240 travels south from Bellevue Transit Center and passes Factoria before continuing to Renton. Route 271 continues from Bellevue TC to Bellevue College, via Kelsey Creek Park & Wilburton Hill Park to Bellevue College before continuing to Issaquah. RapidRide Line B operates frequently to Redmond, with numerous stops along NE 8th St and turns left at Crossroads Mall.