ASTRONOMY DEPARTMENT

Useful Information for Visitors

• Campus map near the Physics-Astronomy Building
• Astro people
• Department Contacts
• Fun sites to see near campus and in Seattle.
• Hotels and motels near campus
• Seattle area public transportation
• 10-day weather prognosis (thanks to Intellicast/NBC)
• Annual weather
• Lunch Restaurants within easy walking distance (1995)
• More campus maps.
• Phone numbers of major campus services
• Visitor Information guide from the Institute for Nuclear Theory

Vectors (Directions)

• The Physics/Astronomy Building is on the corner of N.E. Pacific and 15th Ave. N.E. Our offices are on the third floor. The office phone is 543-2888.
• From I-5 take N.E. 45th Street (exit 169) and drive east for about a mile. Turn right on 15th Ave. N.E. and drive south to the last light (N.E. Pacific). It will help to print and bring the maps on this page.
• If you arrive by air, the SeaTac Airport is served by all major carriers, with especially frequent service on United, Northwest, and Alaska airlines. The campus is about 20 miles north of the airport and five miles north of downtown.
      The arriving passenger has many choices of conveyance to downtown and UW. See this regional map for a layout of the metropolitan region. Click this airport map to see the various passenger pickup/dropoff modes and locations of service. The campus map will help you to locate our building, and our office finding chart will guide you to our offices, all of which are on the third floor of the Physics-Astronomy Building. A local hotel map and list can also be useful.
• If you come by taxi or airport shuttle, tell the driver that our street address is 3910 15th Ave NE, at the NE corner of NE Pacific and 15th Ave NE. The cab fare to campus is about $45. Shuttles are less expnsive ($25) but can add 30-60 minutes.
• Express city busses also work well and cost $2 or less. Start with the Metro 194 express route (every 15-20 mins daytime M-F), and then transfer downtown to an express downtown-U.W. bus, numbers 71, 72, 73 (every 10 minutes daytimes M-F).
• Getting into the building from street (basement) level is tricky. Walk up a flight of outside stairs and find any doorway on the first floor (main campus level) of the B or C wings of the building.
• If you need to park, there's a large U.W. underground lot which is entered from the intersection of 15th N.E. and N.E. 41st St. Ask the attendant at the toll booth for a campus map. On-street parking is limited to 2 hours.
• The loading dock entry is at 3910 15th N.E., immediately north of the building. Drive down the ramp on the east side of the street north of the bus stop and into the basement. (Parking regulations in this area are strictly enforced!)