Olympia (Washington)

Olympia is in the South Sound region of Washington.



Olympia is the capital of Washington State, and the Thurston County seat. The city reflects a diverse economic base and culture. 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. Olympia is somewhat of a breeding ground for Pacific Northwest alternative culture having spawned or influenced many of the region's better-known personalities.

The city's downtown core has been designated as a National Historic District.

The natural beauty of Olympia is of particular note. From downtown, one can see the Olympic Mountains to the northwest set behind Puget Sound's Budd Bay - and towering Mt. Rainier to the southeast set next to the state capitol building and Capitol Lake.

Understand
It has a population of almost 56,000 (2020) and is also home to the Evergreen State College, one of six public four-year schools in Washington.


 * Experience Olympia website

By plane

 * Fly in through SeaTac Airport.
 * Olympia Regional Airport (private, charter)

By car
Olympia is located along Interstate 5 (I-5), approximately 65 mi south of Seattle (65 min), 100 mi (2 hr) north of Portland and  east from Grays Harbor.


 * From I-5.svg Olympia is accessed from exits #99 ("93rd Ave SW") through #109 ("Martin Way E") along I-5. 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.
 * US 101.svg to WA-8.svg From I-5 US-Hwy 101 is at Exit #103. If going west, the same highway becomes WA-8.svg after going past the US-Hwy 101 turnoff towards Shelton and Port Angeles.
 * From Kitsap Peninsula Go south on WA-3.svg and follow signs for "WA-3.svg South Belfair" Continue south along WA-3 through Belfair and Shelton where it ends into US-Hwy 101 south of Shelton. Merges into a freeway continuing east into Olympia as US-Hwy 101 or west to Aberdeen as SR 8.

By bus



 * 1 The One is a direct and frequent cross-town route from Capitol Way Mall (in the west side) to Lacey Transit Center via downtown.
 * 13 Frequent local route 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 route from Lacey to the downtown Transit Center (Bay 'H') via Martin Way.
 * 64 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.
 * 620 Express buses from downtown Olympia Transit Center to Lakewood (SR-512/I-5 P&R and Lakewood Sounder Station) via Martin Way P&R in Lacey. 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.
 * 13 Frequent local route 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 route from Lacey to the downtown Transit Center (Bay 'H') via Martin Way.
 * 64 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.
 * 620 Express buses from downtown Olympia Transit Center to Lakewood (SR-512/I-5 P&R and Lakewood Sounder Station) via Martin Way P&R in Lacey. 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.




 * 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.
 * 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.

See

 * Olympia has a thriving music community, with frequent local performances by rock, jazz, blues, folk, and other bands. Local noncommercial community radio station KAOS at 89.3 FM (which also streams live at ) features tremendous variety of independent artists, often live in their performance studio. The station is on the campus of The Evergreen State College.
 * Olympia has a thriving music community, with frequent local performances by rock, jazz, blues, folk, and other bands. Local noncommercial community radio station KAOS at 89.3 FM (which also streams live at ) features tremendous variety of independent artists, often live in their performance studio. The station is on the campus of The Evergreen State College.
 * Olympia has a thriving music community, with frequent local performances by rock, jazz, blues, folk, and other bands. Local noncommercial community radio station KAOS at 89.3 FM (which also streams live at ) features tremendous variety of independent artists, often live in their performance studio. The station is on the campus of The Evergreen State College.

Stay safe
Over the last few years there have been multiple marches by armed far right militias in both downtown and West Olympia. Be alert.

Connect

 * The Olympia Timberland Library, 313 8th Ave. SE, offers free wireless Internet.

Go next

 * Seattle
 * Tacoma
 * Olympic National Park The diverse heart of the Olympic Peninsula offers jagged mountains, rugged coast and lush rainforests.
 * Mount Rainier National Park Beautiful Mt. Rainer is crowned with waterfalls, meadows and glaciers.
 * Mt. St. Helens This volcano, famous for its 1980 eruption lies an hour and 45 minutes from Olympia.