Redmond, WA Road Trips

1 Microsoft Visitor Center, 15010 NE 36th St (Microsoft Building 92), ☏ +1 425 703-6214. M 10AM-7PM, Tu-F 9AM-7PM; occasionally closed early or all day. The majority of the campus is comprised of office buildings closed to the public, but there is a Visitor's Center. It's not much more than a few small marketing displays, rather than a decent history or behind-the-scenes museum. There's also a large Microsoft Store, which to its credit does have a lot of exclusive merchandise you can't buy elsewhere. To give you an idea of how underwhelming the Visitor Center is, the most popular attraction appears to be taking photos with the large Microsoft sign in front of the building. (updated Dec 2018)

1 Marymoor Park. There are a number of things to do in its vast 640 acres (259 ha). It lies along Lake Sammamish and the Sammamish River. There are sports fields, tennis courts, a climbing wall, a radio-controlled airplane field, a dog park, and the Velodrome, which is a bicycle racing track that connects with the Sammamish River Trail. Parking is $1/day per vehicle. Sixty Acre Park (At Willow and 116th Sts). Has soccer fields and Radio Controlled airplane field, for primarily electric powered aircraft and gliders. 2 Redmond Cycle, 7495 159th Pl NE, ☏ +1 425-885-6363. Tu-F 10AM-6PM, Sa 9:30AM-5PM, Su 11AM-5PM. Located near the Sammamish River Trail, this bike shop is good place to rent a bike, helmet included. $10/hour, $40/day. (updated Feb 2020) 3 Second Story Repertory, 7325 166th AVE NE Suite F250, ☏ +1 425-881-6777. Live theater at the Redmond Town Center. (updated Feb 2020)

Redmond is heart of the Puget Sound's Indian community, and offers a wide variety of Indian dining options. Chinese cuisine is also prevalent. 1 Mayuri Indian Cuisine, 2115 Bel-Red Rd, ☏ +1 425 641-4442. Southern and Northern Indian food. One of the few restaurants in Washington that serves dosas. $8.95 lunch buffet daily ends at 2:30PM. 2 Kanishka Indian Restaurant, 16651 Redmond Way, ☏ +1 425 869-9182. M-F 11AM-3PM, Sa Su 11:30AM-PM. Great food. Daily lunch buffet $7.95. 3 The British Pantry Ltd., 8125 161st AVE NE, ☏ +1 425 883 7511. M Tu 10AM–4:30PM, W–Su 10AM–9PM. Full bakery and British imported food and gift shop, with a full restaurant for lunch and dinner. Serves high tea. 4 Ooba Tooba, 15802 NE 83rd St, ☏ +1 425 702-1694. This is authentic Mexican food. Fantastic salsas made right there. Great for kids as well. Get there early for lunch. $7.95 open 7 days a week.

Matador Tequila Bar (Corner of Leary Way NE and Cleveland St. in old town Redmond), ☏ +1 425 883-2855. 11AM-2AM daily. A trendy Tex-Mex style bar. Get there early on Friday and Saturday night as seating past 7PM is difficult. Woodblock, 6175 Cleveland St #109. Local draft beer in rotation, friendly staff and good quality food. Outside seating for warmer days. (updated Aug 2019) Palmer's East 7853 Leary Way NE in downtown Redmond, Palmer's is a cozy dive bar with drinks and food, and Karaoke 7 days a week.

1 Seattle Marriott Redmond, 7401 164th Ave NE, ☏ +1 425 498-4000, fax: +1 425 556-1231. (updated Oct 2019) 2 Residence Inn Seattle East/Redmond, 7575 164th Ave NE, ☏ +1 425 497-9226, toll-free: +1-800-331-3131, fax: +1 425 497-1909.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA IATA), nicknamed "Sea-Tac", is the nearest major airport. To get to Redmond by public transit from the airport, the best way is to take the Link light rail 1 Line to Downtown Seattle, and then transfer to the 2 Line to Redmond. The journey takes about 1.5 hours; if you're in any kind of hurry, a 30-min Uber (in good traffic) may be worth the premium. from & SR-520 connects Redmond to I-405 (Exit #14), north of downtown Bellevue. It continues across Lake Washington to I-5 (Exit #168B), between downtown Seattle and the University District. It's a 10-15 minute drive without traffic, but rush hour traffic can increase travel time between the Eastside and Seattle to approximately 30-40 minutes. The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge across Lake Washington is tolled with rates that vary by the time of day. 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. East Lake Sammamish Pkwy goes 12 mi (19 km) along the east side of Lake Sammamish from Front St & (Exit #17), north of Issaquah, to its intersection with SR-202 just east of downtown Redmond. Front St continues south though Issaquah and connects to at "Issaquah-Hobart Rd". West Lake Sammamish Pkwy goes 10 mi (16 km) along the west side of Lake Sammamish to Exit #13 of I-90 (Lakewood Blvd) just west of Issaquah. Sound Transit, toll-free: +1-888-889-6368.

Downtown Redmond is walkable, but better yet, get a bike (see #Do), as it is flat and bike-friendly. The city has numerous trails and the only velodrome in the state of Washington (at Marymoor Park). Just be careful, as some trails end on extremely busy roads. King County has great information on biking paths and trails. The public transit hubs in Redmond are Redmond Technology Station (Overlake Transit Center) at NE 40th St and SR-520 and 5 Redmond Transit Center on NE 83rd St and 161st Ave NE in downtown. King County Metro, ☏ +1 206-553-3000. Runs bus, streetcar and monorail routes within King County. Serves Auburn, Bellevue, Bothell, Burien, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kent, Kirkland, Mercer Island, North Bend, Redmond, Renton, SeaTac, Seattle, Shoreline, Tukwila, Vashon Island, White Center, and Woodinville. $3 for 2 hours ($1 seniors 65+, Free youth 0-18). (updated Sep 2025) The following are useful routes operating at least every 15 minutes throughout the day: RapidRide B. Goes from Redmond Transit Center (in Downtown Redmond), to Crossroads (in Bellevue) before heading to Bellevue Transit Center (in Downtown Bellevue). Travels through the Overlake area, which has Microsoft's main campus. 245. Goes from Kirkland Transit Center (in Downtown Kirkland) to Overlake Transit Center (in Redmond) before heading to three different parts of Bellevue: Crossroads, Eastgate, and Factoria. 250. Avondale, Bear Creek P&R, Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue 930.