Olympia

Understand

Olympia's art and music scene is unusually large and active for a town of its size, and its identity as a city remains distinct despite strong influences from Seattle, Tacoma and Everett to the north and from Portland/Vancouver to the south.

It is the home to the Evergreen State College, one of six public four-year schools in Washington.

The city's downtown has been designated as a National Historic District, and is surrounded by natural beauty. From downtown, one can see the Olympic Mountains to the northwest set behind Puget Sound's Budd Bay, as well as the towering Mt. Rainier to the southeast set next to the state capitol building and Capitol Lake.

• Experience Olympia website

Get in

By plane

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) is the nearest commercial airport.

Olympia Regional Airport, in neighboring Tumwater, offers private and charter flights.

By car

Olympia is along Interstate 5 (I-5), approximately 65 mi south of Seattle (65 min) and 100 mi (2 hr) north of Portland. Olympia is accessed from exits #99 ("93rd Ave SW") through #109 ("Martin Way E").

• Downtown can be accessed from Exit #105 ("State Capitol City Center/Port of Olympia") from both directions. The off ramp comes into town as 14th Ave SE towards the state capitol. From the northbound lanes the off ramp from Exit #105 further splits to #105A which goes into 14th Ave SE or #105B which goes into Plum Ave SE on the east side of the downtown core.
• Or exit off at Pacific Ave at Exit #107 which comes into downtown as State Ave NE.

From Aberdeen and Grays Harbor, go east on State Route 8 (SR-8) until it merges with US-101 5 mi west of the city.

From Port Angeles and the Olympic Peninsula, go south on US Highway 101 (US-101). It joins with I-5 near the city center.

From Kitsap Peninsula, go south on State Route 3 (SR-3) and follow signs for " South Belfair" Continue south along WA-3 through Belfair and Shelton where it ends into US-101 south of Shelton. Merges into a freeway continuing east into Olympia as US-101 or west to Aberdeen as SR-8.

By bus

*1 The One is a direct and frequent cross-town route from Capitol Mall Station (in the west side) to Lacey P&R via downtown along Harrison Ave. 4th Ave and Martin Way *13 Frequent local route to East Tumwater from the Labor & Industries (L&I) office in Tumwater to the downtown Olympia Transit Center (Bay 'D') along Capitol Way/Capitol Blvd. Transfer to Rural Transit (see below) at Tumwater Square along Cleveland Ave SE & Emerson. (Rt #609 from Tumwater no longer operates) * 62a & 62b frequent local routes in Lacey from Lacey to the downtown Transit Center (Bay 'H') via Martin Way. * 64 College St/Amtrak local route from Bay 'I' to the Amtrak Station in Lacey via College St. Makes multiple stops to pick up and drop off people on request. * 600 Lakewood Commuter from downtown Olympia Transit Center to Lakewood (SR-512/I-5 P&R and Lakewood Sounder Station) via Martin Way P&R in Lacey along I-5. Transfer to Sound Transit Seattle Tacoma International Airport via via Downtown Tacoma/Tacoma Dome and Federal Way (574); downtown Seattle via Downtown Tacoma/Tacoma Dome (592,594,Sounder); and Lakewood Mall (3,4,574). Pierce Transit operates local connections to Lakewood, Tacoma, Spanaway, and other areas of Pierce County and the Sound Transit bus routes up into Seattle from Pierce County. * 610 Lacey Connector Connects Olympia to Lakewood via Lacey Transit Center and Hawks Prairie P&R with local stops in between in Lacey.

See their website for a list of additional local routes in and around Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater.

* Rt #2 Goes from Tumwater Square along Old Hwy 99 SE to Tenino and east towards Rainier along Sussex Ave E * Rt #3 Goes from Tumwater Square along I-5 and Case Rd Sw to Grand Mound P&R (Exit #88 from I-5) and then west on US Hwy 12 to Rochester and the Chehalis Tribal Center on the Chehalis Indian Reservation. * Rt #4 goes from Centralia to Grand Mount P&R, to Tenino (Tenino Library), Bucoda and back to Centralia from Bucoda.

By train

• Intercity Transit bus route 64 bus travels between the train station and downtown Olympia. See Lacey for details about intercity train services stopping at the station, which are operated by

Get around

Olympia's numbered streets run East-West, and the city is broken into four quadrants with the center point in downtown. Northwest, Northeast, Southwest and Southeast. These indicators come after any address.

Capitol Way is the main north-south street in the downtown area. Fourth Avenue is the main connector that runs through downtown east-west.

The city's downtown district lies in the middle of what residents refer to as the Westside and the Eastside. Most residents of the city will claim these two areas are distinctively different.

By public transit

Stay safe

As the state capitol, Olympia sees all sorts of protests and political demonstrations. Some of these groups may have causes or tactics that make you deeply uncomfortable, such as extremist groups and militias.

Go next

• Seattle
• Tacoma
• Wolf Haven International — one of the top wolf sanctuaries in the U.S. is about a half an hour southeast of Olympia.
• Olympic National Park — The diverse heart of the Olympic Peninsula offers jagged mountains, rugged coast and lush rainforests.
• Mount Rainier National Park — The most prominent mountain in the contiguous U.S. is crowned with waterfalls, meadows and glaciers.
• Mount St. Helens — This volcano, famous for its 1980 eruption lies an hour and 45 minutes from Olympia.