Burien
Burien is in King County south of Seattle and borders Puget Sound to the west.
Understand
Burien is in many ways a classic suburb of Seattle full of strip malls and car dealerships, but there are many areas worth visiting including 'Old Town' Burien which has a wide variety of shops and restaurants and has held onto the areas early charm.
Although it is close to Seatac Airport, the flights paths generally parallel the city so there is actually little noise from jets.
Get in
By car
Burien's central location means that you can drive north to Seattle in 12 minutes, east to Sea-Tac Airport in five minutes, and south to Tacoma or east to Bellevue in 30 minutes.
Get around
By public transit
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.
The web trip planner is straightforward and accurate, as long as your bus is on time. Using Google Maps' trip planner works well too, but fare information can sometimes be incorrect. During rush hours (M-F 6-9AM and 3-6PM), adult bus fares are $2.50 within the city limits. All other times of day and weekends adult bus fare is $2.25. The youth fare is always $1.25.
Pay exact fare when boarding, as drivers carry no change. You can get a free paper transfer from one Metro bus to another Metro bus, but the only way to transfer for free between transit agencies is with an ORCA card, which costs $5.00 in addition to the money you put on it, available at all Link Light Rail and Sounder stations or online (Click on "Get a card").
When traveling to destinations outside of the downtown core, you should make sure to ask the drivers in Metro buses with green and white "EXPRESS" signs in their windows and those whose route signs say "VIA EXPRESS" if they are going to your destination. Some of these express routes are intended for regular commuters traveling between residential neighborhoods and downtown and make few or no stops between.
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). Buses have many convenient express routes that travel South (to Tacoma), East (Redmond, Bellevue), and North (Bothell, Everett) and pass through Burien. Some of these buses run during only rush hours, but most, including the routes to the destinations mentioned above, run all day. Check the schedule to make sure. The fare schedule is slightly different than Metro, with no off-peak discount: $2.50 all for trips within King County, and $3.50 for trips crossing the county line.
See
- Seahurst (Ed Munro) Park. Burien has many parks worth visiting, but chief among them is Seahurst.
Do
- Tin Room Bar and Theater, 923 SW 152nd St., ☏ +1 206-242-8040. The historic High-Line Tin Shop has been lovingly converted into a bar/theater that shows current movies, the occasional classic, comedy shows every 4th Thursday of the month and even magic shows.
Buy
- Burien Farmers Market (Downtown Burien). 11AM-6PM - every Thursday from the beginning of May through mid-October. Market with 40 to 50 vendors each week. Vendors include a food booth, handmade goods, farm fresh products and fresh baked products.
Eat
Burien offers a wide variety of ethnic restaurants including food from Australia, China, El Salvador, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam.
- Grand Central Bakery, 626 SW 152nd St., ☏ +1 206-436-1065. Artisan bread, buttery pastries, hand-made soups and a wide variety of sandwiches.
- Ivars, 125 SW 148th Suite D, ☏ +1 206-242-3281. A small local chain of casual NW seafood
Drink
- Elliot Bay Brewery, 255 SW 152nd St., ☏ +1 206-246-4211. Famous for their burgers, they have one of the largest hand crafted selections of Organic ales in the NW. Along with an extensive menu and great seasonal specials
Sleep
Burien is located only minutes away from Seatac Airport with one of the highest concentrations of hotels in the state, however there are also a few places located in Burien proper.
- Guest House Bed & Breakfast, 1121 Southwest 160th St, ☏ +1 206 439-7576. A two bedroom B&B.
Connect
- 1 Burien Library, 400 SW 152nd St, ☏ +1 206 243-3490. Large, well furnished and centrally located library with free wifi and computer access.
Go next
Burien is just south of White Center and Seattle and only a few minutes west of SeaTac.
| Routes through Burien |
| Seattle ← White Center ← | N  S |
→ SeaTac → Tacoma |
| END ← | W  E |
→ SeaTac → Tukwila |