Planning a Trip

Getting There

Tacoma is on I-5 south of Seattle at the junction of Wash. 16, which is the main route north through the Kitsap Peninsula to Port Townsend and the Olympic Peninsula. Wash. 7 from the Mount Rainier area leads into downtown Tacoma from the south. Tacoma's city center is accessed by I-705, a short spur that leads from I-5 into the middle of downtown.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is 22 miles north of Tacoma. ShuttleExpress (tel. 800/487-7433 or 425/981-7000; www.shuttleexpress.com) operates an airport shuttle service; the fare is $31 one-way to downtown Tacoma.

Amtrak (tel. 800/872-7245; www.amtrak.com) has service to Tacoma. The station is at 1001 Puyallup Ave.

Visitor Information

For more information on this area, contact the Tacoma Regional Convention & Visitor Bureau, 1119 Pacific Ave., Fifth Floor, Tacoma, WA 98402 (tel. 800/272-2662 or 253/627-2836; www.traveltacoma.com), which has an information desk inside the Courtyard by Marriott Tacoma Downtown, 1515 Commerce St (the entrance is actually at Pacific Avenue and 15th Street).

Getting Around

If you need a taxi, contact Tacoma Orange Cab (tel. 253/943-5555). Public bus service is provided by Pierce Transit (tel. 800/562-8109 or 253/581-8000; www.piercetransit.org).