3rd Ave, Downtown (Central Business District)

Save the International District on the south end of the city, 3rd Ave. hits every other district in the downtown area: shopping, business, financial, and residential. Belltown, at the north end, is pricey and has been known to be the less-than-safest place in the city. It does offer some fun attractions and terrific restaurants, though. Bed, Bath & Beyond, Macy's, Westlake Center and several boutique and chain stores line the 4-block shopping area. As you head south toward the original city, you'll see some of the beautiful architecture amid the new all-glass high rises giving it an eclectic look. At the south end of the avenue are some popular clubs and hangouts for the after-hours crowd. And, typical Seattle, there are approximately twenty Starbucks, SBCs, Tully's, Pegasus Coffee or other espresso shops along the 22-block avenue. Sadly, when the city was reconstructing the bus tunnels in 2007, they closed 3rd Ave. to all but bus traffic during the morning and afternoon rush hours and, also typical Seattle, thought it would be a good idea not to move the buses back to the bus tunnels when it was finished. So be careful where you drive between 6am-9am and 3pm-6pm because police still patrol pretty heavily for (gasp!) cars that drive on the public street!

If you're visiting downtown Seattle, you absolutely must go to 3rd Avenue. The metro tunnel will let you off right there. To the south there is an area called Pioneer Square, which is more historic. It has some nice older bookstores and a few bars. As you get closer to Belltowne there is a Macy's and Bed Batha nd Beyond. There is a bit of everything in this area...restaurants, shopping, coffee, art, and plenty of nightlife activities. The area is really cool; it's historic, but funky too.