Getting to Washington State’s Half Price Books from Downtown Seattle by Bus or Train

I’m very choosy as to which stores I publicly endorse, but the Half Price Books chain, at least in Washington State always has a decent selection of used and remaindered books, comics, DVDs, and CDs. If you’re at all into pop culture and part of your reason for travelling is to shop for books, movies, etc., it’s worth going out of your way to check a few of these out.  All Washington branches of the franchise can be reached from Seattle by public transportation. I may at some point cover other states, but I’m only able to properly verify the Washington ones.  All suggestions below assume Pike Place Market as a starting point.

1.      Capitol Hill, Seattle (115 Belmont Ave E): This one you can walk to if you’re so inclined. Otherwise, shortest (and most expensive) bus ride is to take the 402 (Community Transit) from 4^th & Union St to Howell St & Yale Ave.  Cheaper and with less of a walk upon exiting is to take the 14 or 43 (Metro Transit) from Pike St & 4^th Ave to Summit Ave & E Olive Way.  Equally cheap and shorter bus ride but longer walk upon exiting is to take the 10 (Metro Transit) from Pike St & 4^th Ave to E Pine St & Summit Ave. In between in terms of price, ride length, and walking is 545 (Sound Transit); get on at 4^th Ave & Pike St and exit at Bellevue Ave & E Olive St.  This is a well-travelled area so there may be other busses as well.

2.      University District, Seattle (4709 Roosevelt Way NE): Another well-travelled area, so more options may be possible: 510, 511 (Sound Transit) from 4^th Ave & Union St to I-5 & NE 45^th St; 71, 72, 73 (Metro Transit) from University Street Station Bay A in downtown transit tunnel (any other locations in the tunnel okay  as long as they’re Bay A) to University Way NE & NE 45^th St; 66 (Metro Transit) from 3^rd Ave & Union St to 11^th Ave NE & NE 47^th St

3.      Note: only covering means that you can do in two busses. James Village, Lynnwood (19500 Hwy 99): 511 (Sound Transit) from 4^th Ave & Union St to Lynnwood Transit Bay D2, then from Bay C3, 115, 116 (Community Transit) to 200^th St & 64^th Ave W; a longer bus ride but cheaper way is 358 (Metro Transit) from 3^rd Ave & Union St to Aurora Village Transit Center Bay 10, then from bay 9, Swift bus (Community Transit) to Heron NB Station & 200^th St SW (or from Aurora Village, go to Bay 7 and take the 101 (Metro Transit) to Hwy 99 & 196^th St SW)

4.      Across from Everett Mall, Everett (1321 SE Everett Mall Way): Take the 510 (Everett Transit) from 4^th Ave & Union St (Sound Transit) to Everett Station Bay A4 then take the 7 from Bay F1, 17 from Bay D4, or 701 Express (Everett Transit) from Bay I2 to Everett Mall (702 going the other direction); you can also take the 501 bus but get off at South Everett Freeway station Bay 6 and take the 27 or 29 (Everett Transit) to the mall.

5.      Crossroads Shopping Centre, Bellevue (15600 N.E. 8th St.): Time-wise, your best best by far is to enter the Downtown Transit Tunnel at Bay D (e.g. University Station but any will do as long as it’s Bay D), take the 550 bus (Sound Transit) to Bellevue Transit Center Bay 12, then from Bay 3, take the new B bus (Metro Transit) to 156^th Ave

6.      Near Redmond Town Center, Redmond (7805 Leary Way): From 4^th Ave & Pike St take the 545 (Sound Transit) to SR 202 & 166^th Ave NE and walk from there.

7.      Parkway Square (Tukwila): The fastest way is to enter the Downtown Transit Tunnel at Bay C (e.g. University Station but any will do as long as it’s Bay C) and take the 150 (Metro Transit) to Andover Park & Baker Blvd, at Tukwila Southcenter. From there you can 155 (Metro Transit) to Southcenter Pkwy & S 168^th St or the 156 (Metro Transit) to Strander Blvd & 61^st Pl S but in all honesty it’s a lot faster to just walk north to Southcenter Pkwy and then walk west from there than it is to wait for the connecting bus. A longer, more expensive but also far more relaxing way to get there is, still starting from Bay C, to take the 599 Airport train (Sound Transit) to Tukwila International Blvd Station and from Bay 2 there, take the 140 bus to Baker Blvd W & Andover Park W, then follow the above instructions/

8.      Rainier Place, Tacoma (4027 Tacoma Mall Blvd.): From 2^nd Ave & Stewart St take the 594 (Sound Transit) to Commerce St Transit Area Zone G; from there take the 3 bus (Pierce Transit) to Pine St & S 38^th St or walk to Zone F and take the 57 (Pierce Transit) Tacoma Mall Blvd & S Steele St. Rainier Place is right across from Tacoma Mall