Redmond (Washington)

Redmond is a city in King County, Washington in the United States of America.

Sammamish River at Marymoor Park in Redmond

Redmond is famous for being home to Microsoft Corporation and it has a large presence over the area. It is also home to Nintendo of America along with numerous other companies. It is the self-proclaimed biking capital of the country.

Get in

Fly into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA ^IATA) and then it's only a short drive to Redmond (30 min). SeaTac airport as it is called by locals is located in the city of SeaTac, which is between Seattle and Tacoma.

Get around

Pick up a bike. The city has numerous trails and the only velodrome in the state of Washington (at Marymoor Park). Just be careful as some trails end on extremely busy roads. King County has great information on biking paths and trails.

See

• 🌍 Microsoft Visitor Center, 15010 NE 36th St (Microsoft Building 92), ☎ [phone]. M 10AM-7PM, Tu-F 9AM-7PM; occasionally closed early or all day. The majority of the campus is comprised of office buildings closed to the public, but there is a Visitor's Center. Unfortunately, it's not much more than a few small marketing displays, rather than a decent history or behind-the-scenes museum. There's also a large Microsoft Store, which to its credit does have a lot of exclusive merchandise you can't buy elsewhere. To give you an idea of how underwhelming the Visitor Center is, the most popular attraction appears to be taking photos with the large Microsoft sign in front of the building. If this would be your only reason to journey to Redmond, skip it and go to the Living Computer: Museum + Labs in SoDo instead. (updated Dec 2018)

Do

• 🌍 Marymoor Park. There are a number of things to do in its vast 640 acres (259 ha). It lies along Lake Sammamish and the Sammamish River. There are sports fields, tennis courts, a climbing wall, a radio-controlled airplane field, a dog park, and the Velodrome, which is a bicycle racing track that connects with the Sammamish River Trail. Parking is $1/day per vehicle.  
• 🌍 Redmond Town Center. Shopping galore in the heart of Redmond. The predominately outdoor mall is a host to a variety of stores ranging from "Mom and Pop" to large franchise (Macy's and Eddie Bauer to name a couple). Stop by Borders for a cup of coffee and a book, then head to the other side of the Town Center to catch a latest release at the AMC movie theater (Note the AMC is now out of business and has been replaced by the more expensive Gold Class Cinemas).  
• Sixty Acre Park (At Willow and 116th Sts). Has soccer fields and Radio Controlled airplane field, for primarily electric powered aircraft and gliders. 

Buy

Redmond's main shopping district is the Redmond Way/Cleveland Street corridor in downtown Redmond. It consists of a variety of small stores and a few strip malls.

• 🌍 Redmond Town Center. An outdoor mall between downtown Redmond and Marymoor Park, with around 50 of the usual mall boutiques.  
• Redmond Farmer's Market, 7730 Leary Way. Starting in May, every Saturday the farmer's market operates from 9AM-3PM. You'll find a wide variety of products that are grown or crafted within the state. 
• Tree Top Toys. A great independent toy store. 
• Brugge Chocolates. If you're looking for local chocolates to sample then this shop is well worth a visit. 
• iPic Theater. Now occupies the space where Gold Class Cinemas was located. IPic theaters still have the same concept of a nice inclusive theater, complete with a bar, food and plush chairs to view your movie. Tickets sold online. 

Eat

• Mayuri Indian Cuisine, 15400 NE 20th St #6, ☎ [phone]. Southern and Northern Indian food. One of the few restaurants in Washington that serves dosas. $8.95 lunch buffet daily ends at 2:30PM. 
• Kanishka Indian Restaurant, 16651 Redmond Way, ☎ [phone]. M-F 11AM-3PM, Sa Su 11:30AM-PM. Great food. Daily lunch buffet $7.95. 
• Ooba Tooba, 15802 NE 83rd Way, ☎ [phone]. This is authentic Mexican Food. Fantastic salsas made right there. Great for kids as well. Get there early for lunch. $7.95 open 7 days a week. 

Drink

• Matador Tequila Bar (Corner of Leary Way NE and Cleveland St. in old town Redmond), ☎ [phone]. 11AM-2AM daily. A trendy tex-mex style bar. Get there early on Friday and Saturday night as seating past 7PM is difficult. 

Sleep

• Redmond Marriott Town Center, 7401 164th Ave NE, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. 
• Residence Inn Seattle East/Redmond, 7575 164th Ave NE, ☎ [phone], toll-free: [phone], fax: [phone]. 

Go next

• Seattle is right across Lake Washington, about a 10-15-min drive (barring rush hour traffic). I-90 and State Route 520 (SR-520) both have bridges that cross Lake Washington and connect the East Side (Redmond, Bellevue, etc.) to Seattle. Rush hour traffic can increase travel time between the East Side and Seattle to approximately 30-40 min - go at off-peak hours!

Routes through Redmond

Seattle ← Bellevue ←

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