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Across the Pacific, sprawling Seattle is a trendy harbour city, not far south of the Canadian border. It’s most famous for its music scene and being the birthplace of Starbucks, although coffee lovers will be delighted with the choice of independent coffee shops and roasters. In the summer months the sun doesn’t go down until around 10pm, and the city comes to life with festivals. National parks and mountain ranges surround the city and are well worth exploring.
Like Sydney, ferries are a tourist attraction as well as a transport method. Australians can get between these two harbour cities very easily via Vancouver, but there are plenty of routes and flight deals to Seattle from all over Australia.
Seattle flight times
- From Sydney: 16 hrs 25 mins+
- From Melbourne: 19 hrs 50 mins+
- From Perth: 24 hrs 40 mins+
- From Brisbane: 15 hrs 55 mins+
Airlines that fly to Seattle
- Air Canada
- American Airlines
- Qantas
- United Airlines
- Virgin Australia
Seattle insider flight tips
- Seattle is 18 hours behind Sydney so you will inevitably experience some jet lag. The key to recovery is to keep hydrated and catch up on sleep. Go to bed when night falls on your first night in Seattle and try to get into the rhythm. You can also try to choose your flights to coincide best with your sleeping habits and how easily you sleep on a plane. Try reserving a window seat for when you do want to sleep or an aisle seat if you want to try to keep awake.
- May and September are considered ‘shoulder season’ months, when the weather is pleasant, it’s outside of rainy season, and you’re likely to find flight deals to Seattle.
- Seattle is only a three-hour drive or a one-hour flight from Vancouver. Air Canada flies direct between Sydney and Brisbane and Vancouver on a daily basis. In fact you might find the best flight deals to Seattle with Air Canada, changing at Vancouver (YVR). Make sure you’re up to date with both American and Canadian entry requirements on Smartraveller if you decide to fly in to one and out of the other.
- Seattle International (SEA) is a major hub for Alaska Airlines and there is quite a choice of airlines, routes and stopovers to get to Seattle. You could combine your trip with a stop in Hawaii, New Zealand and Los Angeles.
How to get from the airport
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is around 20 kilometres from the centre of Seattle. The most convenient transport method is the Light Link Rail which takes 30 minutes to the centre and stops at many places on the way, ending at the University of Washington. It runs regularly from 5am to 1am (6am to midnight on Sundays). The station is on the fourth floor of the car park. Taxis, shuttle services and ride-sharing services are available from the third floor. There are lots of private shuttle companies which can be booked online, some going to the ferry terminal. You’ll also need to take a shuttle to the car rental facility – they run 24 hours from outside the baggage claim areas. For the airport’s list of how to reach different places in alphabetical order, click here.
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