Redmond (Washington)

Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, 15 miles (24 km) east of Seattle, of which it is often considered a suburb.

Redmond is famous for being 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 biking capital of the United States of America.

Get in

By plane
Main article: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

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 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 train

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 car
  • from & SR-520 Connects Redmond to I-405 (Exit #14), north of downtown Bellevue and I-5 (Exit #168B), south of Lake Union, between downtown Seattle and the University District. The SR-520 bridge crossing Lake Washington is a toll bridge. Tolls vary depending on the time of day and is automatically deducted from a prepaid "Good to Go" pass on the windshield of the car. If no "Good to Go" tag is on the windshield the transponders take a picture of the license plates, front and back, and mail the toll bill to the legal owner of the vehicle. There are no toll booths to collect the tolls.
  • 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

For intercity bus services beyond the region, travel to Seattle.

By bicycle

Given that Redmond styles itself the "Biking Capital of the Country", 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.

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 🌍 Redmond Tech Station (Overlake Transit Center) at NE 40th St and SR-520 and 🌍 Redmond Transit Center on NE 83rd St and 161st Ave NE in downtown.

  • 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:
    • 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. 
  • Link Light Rail Line 2 from Bellefields Nature Park in South Bellevue to Redmond Technology Center via downtown Bellevue (along 12th Ave SE & 10th NE) and Overlake.

(See above under "Getting in" for a list of Sound Transit bus routes serving Bellevue). Construction is underway to extend Link Line 2 into downtown Seattle and SODO via I-90 from South Bellevue.

See
  • 🌍 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. If this would be your only reason to journey to Redmond, skip it and go to the Living Computer: Museum + Labs in SoDo instead. (updated Dec 2018)

Do
  • 🌍 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. 
  • 🌍 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)
  • 🌍 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.

  • 🌍 Redmond Town Center. An outdoor mall between downtown Redmond and Marymoor Park, with around 50 of the usual mall boutiques. 
  • 🌍 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. 
  • 🌍 Brugge Chocolates, 15946 Redmond Way, Ste 103, ☏ +1-425-882-4722, . If you're looking for local chocolates to sample then this shop is well worth a visit. (updated Oct 2019)
  • 🌍 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. 
  • 🌍 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)
  • 🌍 Half Price Books, 7805 Leary Way. 9AM-10PM. Used book store. Has a particularly good selection of computer programming books. (updated Feb 2020)

Eat

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

Go next
  • Seattle is right across Lake Washington, about a 10-15-min drive (barring rush hour traffic). I-90 and State Route 520 (SR-520) both have bridges that cross Lake Washington and connect the East Side (Redmond, Bellevue, etc.) to Seattle. Rush hour traffic can increase travel time between the East Side and Seattle to approximately 30-40 min - go at off-peak hours!
Routes through Redmond
END in Seattle at (Exit 168B) ← Bellevue at(Exit 14) ←  W  E  → END
Jct in Woodinville ←  N  SE  → Jct in Fall City


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