Minutes From Seattle Airport Is An Affordable, Accessible Washington City With Diverse Dining, Hotels, And Trails

Airports are often marooned on the far-flung edge of a city — places you'd typically visit to catch a flight and nothing more. Yet, minutes from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport lies Tukwila, a city with phenomenal choices for shopping, eating out, and entertainment. Boasting more than five million square feet of retail space and the world-class Museum of Flight, the largest independent air and space museum on Earth, there is plenty of reason to stay overnight in one of the city's over a dozen hotels. The city's variety of global gastronomic offerings are immense. The quality of its cuisine matches that of the charming restaurants on nearby Vashon Island, except in Tukwila, the culinary fare is far more international.

A six minute drive from the airport to Tukwila, as well as its close proximity to Seattle itself, means that the city is immensely accessible. Those arriving from downtown Seattle can get there in as little as 20 minutes using the King County Metro's Route 150 bus. The service is frequent, making it particularly useful to those visiting who want to dine out until late but are instead staying the night in Seattle. Furthermore, Tukwila has its own train station where the Amtrak Cascades service from America's quietest city, Portland, Oregon, comes to a stop. Trains also arrive from smaller historic Washington cities such as Centralia.

Those arriving to Tukwila could do worse than to start their international gastronomy odyssey at the Westfield Southcenter Mall. There, visitors will find Din Tai Fung, which delivers Taiwanese staples, with perhaps its most special dish being the Truffle & Kurobuta Pork Xiao Long Bao. Another one of the global choices found clustered in the mall is Miyabi, a Japanese joint which offers a special Omasake chef's choice menu. For other flavors from the Far East, tuck into Filipino classics like fried lumpia at Manila Sunset or slurp fragrant bowls of Vietnamese noodles at Old Saigon Pho. If you are looking to branch out, try Somali dishes like Halwo Kismayo Grill's signature Beef Katakata or seek out Haitian griot, a fried pork dish marinated with citrus fruits, served at Juju's Carribean Kitchen. Hungry visitors who want to get another sense of Tukwila's world cooking pedigree should also seek out local markets, events, and pop ups run by the female migrant chefs who graduated from the Tukwila Village global food hall called Spice Bridge, helping chefs showcase flavors from countries including Tanzania, Iraq, and Jamaica.

Those with a sweet tooth can tour Seattle Chocolate Factory, try one of its seasonal escape rooms, or pick up discounted chocolate on their weekly "Seconds Saturday" . To keep sweet treats internationally-inspired, try Kakigori Dessert Cafe's for a series of photogenic Japanese desserts including bingsu.

Green pockets lace through Tukwila, where many of which serve as important Native American historical sites, with references to the Duwamish Hill Preserve and Cecil Moses Memorial Park in stories passed down from the Southern Puget Sound Salish tribe in their oral tradition. What's more, the 19-mile Green River Trail begins at the aforementioned Cecil Moses Memorial Park, where hikers will discover spectacular river valley views. Elsewhere, the paths of the 11-acre wood Crystal Springs Park is a great place for visitors to stretch their legs between meals, and anyone traveling to the city with furry friends should head to Crestview Park's off-leash dog play areas where little pups can run around carefree. 

The nature of being located so near to an airport means that staying over is easy and varied. For incredible views of Mount Rainier, Hotel Interurban is the place to stay. There, a cocktail can be enjoyed at sunset after a workout in its fitness center. For those looking to wind down, Element Seattle Sea-Tac Airport Hotel by Marriot offers a spa and saline pool to decompress in, whilst WoodSpring Suites provides a more budget-friendly option, with apartment-style amenities and suites that can sleep up to half a dozen people. With shopping, global dining, trails, and seamless access by air, rail, highway, and bus, Tukwila is too great a city to treat as a mere pass-through; given its accessibility, it would be a crime to miss out on it.