# Redmond (Washington)

Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, on the Eastside of Lake Washington. It is a suburb of Seattle, 15 miles (24 km) away. Redmond is home to Microsoft Corporation, which has a large presence in the area. It is also home to Nintendo of America and numerous other companies. It is the self-proclaimed Bicycle Capital of the Northwest.

## Understand
### Local information

* Redmond City Council website

## Get in
### By plane

    Main article: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), nicknamed "Sea-Tac", is the nearest major airport. To get to Redmond by public transit from the airport, the best way is to take Sound Transit Link light rail to Downtown Seattle, and then transfer to the Sound Transit Express bus route 545 (see #By bus). Exit Link at International District/Chinatown Station, then walk over to the bus stop on 4th Avenue South.

### By car

* 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.

### By bus

* Sound Transit, toll-free: +1-888-889-6368. Has regional public transit routes including Sounder trains, Link light rail, and express bus in King County (e.g. Bellevue, Federal Way, Kent, Renton, Seattle), Snohomish County (e.g. Everett, Lynnwood), and Pierce County (e.g. Puyallup, Tacoma). (updated Jun 2023) Operates the following route at least every 15 minutes throughout the day:
   * 542 Redmond Transit Center, University of Washington in the U-District
   * 545. Stops at Bear Creek Park-and-Ride (in Redmond), Redmond Transit Center (in Downtown Redmond), and Overlake Transit Center (in Redmond, in the midst of the main Microsoft campus) before running nonstop to Downtown Seattle.
   * 566 Redmond, Bellevue, Renton, Kent and Auburn on SR-167, I-405 & SR-520.
For intercity bus services beyond the region, travel to Seattle.

### By train

* Link light rail - The 2 Line runs from South Bellevue to Redmond Technology Center via downtown Bellevue and Overlake. Construction is underway to extend the line to downtown Seattle via I-90 from South Bellevue, expected to complete in late 2025 or 2026.
** 47.63639-122.138881 Overlake Village Station
** 47.6448-122.133712 Redmond Technology Station
* Amtrak provides service to Seattle's King Street Station. To get to Redmond, take Sound Transit Express bus route 545 (see #By bus), which stops just around the corner from the station, on 4th Avenue South.

### By bicycle

Given that Redmond styles itself the "Biking Capital of the Northwest", you might expect Redmond to be accessible by bike from surrounding areas, but this isn't always the case. Redmond is internally well-connected by bicycle paths, but getting into Redmond, especially from areas due west like Kirkland, can be more difficult than you'd expect.
* From the south The 520 Bike Trail offers the safest route into Redmond, as a paved trail separate from the road. 520 Terminates at the Sammamish River near Leary Rd directly south of Downtown and offers connections to several other bike trails from there. West Lake Sammamish Pkway has a bikelane, but it is not protected from high-speed vehicles and can feel very dangerous to ride.
* From the west Redmond Rd does not have bike lanes, so the main artery into the city from areas west of Redmond is inaccessible to bicycle traffic. The best option for getting into Redmond from Kirkland is to take Old Redmond Rd, which does have bike lanes (unprotected, but better than nothing) and either taking 154th Ave NE South to connect with the 520 Bike Trail, or riding the short distance from the end of Old Redmond Rd east to the trails on Leary Rd

## Get around

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$^{[deadlink]}$.
Outside of downtown, you are probably best off driving, though public transit is available in some areas.

### By public transit

The public transportation hubs in Redmond are 47.6433-122.13263 Redmond Tech Station (Overlake Transit Center) at NE 40th St and SR-520 and 47.6767-122.12444 Redmond Transit Center on NE 83rd St and 161st Ave NE in downtown.
* King County Metro, ☏ +1 206-553-3000. Operates bus, streetcar, and monorail routes in King County. Communities within the county served by this operator's routes include 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. (updated Jun 2023) 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. Serves as a local bus in/around Redmond between Kingsgate P&R, Totem Lake Transit Center, Willows Road, Redmond Transit Center, Redmond Town Center

## See

* 47.6422-122.13691 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)

## Do

* 47.6592-122.1091 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.
* 47.67182-122.128252 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)
* 47.67009-122.119723 Second Story Repertory, 7325 166th AVE NE Suite F250, ☏ +1 425-881-6777. Live theater at the Redmond Town Center. (updated Feb 2020)

## Buy

Redmond's main shopping district is the Redmond Way/Cleveland Street corridor in downtown Redmond. It consists of a variety of small stores and a few strip malls.
* 47.67-122.121 Redmond Town Center. An outdoor mall between downtown Redmond and Marymoor Park, with around 50 of the usual mall boutiques.
* 47.671601-122.1251822 Redmond Saturday Market, 7730 Leary Way, ☏ +1-425-556-0636. Starting in May, every Saturday the farmer's market operates from 9AM-3PM. You'll find a wide variety of products that are grown or crafted within the state.
* 47.674978-122.1300693 Brugge Chocolates, 15946 Redmond Way, Ste 103, ☏ +1-425-882-4722, info@bruggechocolates.com. If you're looking for local chocolates to sample then this shop is well worth a visit. (updated Oct 2019)
* 47.670308-122.1210854 IPIC Redmond, 7330 164th Ave NE, Ste E200, ☏ +1-425-636-5601. It occupies the space where Gold Class Cinemas was located. IPIC theaters still have the same concept of a nice inclusive theater, complete with a bar, food and plush chairs to view your movie. Tickets sold online.
* 47.67539-122.130595 Snapdoodle Toys, 15752 Redmond Way, ☏ +1 425-869-9713. M-F 9:30AM-7PM, Sa 9AM-7PM, Su 10AM-5PM. Well-curated toy store. (updated Feb 2020)
* 47.6732-122.123636 Half Price Books, 7805 Leary Way. 9AM-10PM. Used book store. Has a particularly good selection of computer programming books. (updated Feb 2020)

## Eat

Redmond is heart of the Puget Sound's Indian community, and offers a wide variety of Indian dining options. Chinese cuisine is also prevalent.
* 47.628744-122.1352811 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.
* 47.672441-122.1199552 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.
* 47.67601-122.126633 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.
* 47.676817-122.1322854 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.

## Drink

* 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.

## Sleep

* 47.670987-122.1240691 Seattle Marriott Redmond, 7401 164th Ave NE, ☏ +1 425 498-4000, fax: +1 425 556-1231. (updated Oct 2019)
* 47.671838-122.1241732 Residence Inn Seattle East/Redmond, 7575 164th Ave NE, ☏ +1 425 497-9226, toll-free: +1-800-331-3131, fax: +1 425 497-1909.

## Go next

* Seattle is right across Lake Washington. It's the headquarters for Amazon, the region's other massive tech company.
* Everett has a massive tourable factory for Boeing, the region's other big employer.
* Woodinville Wine Country starts just to the north of the city.