Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Car Rentals See “Getting Around,” above.
Climate See “When to Go,” earlier in this chapter.
Driving Rules See “Getting Around,” above.
Drugstores Rite-Aid (www.riteaid.com for locations) and Walgreens
( & 800/WALGREENS for locations) are two large pharmacy chains found
in the Northwest.
Embassies & Consulates See “Fast Facts: For the International Traveler,”
in chapter 3.
Emergencies Call & 911 for fire, police, and ambulance.
Information See “Visitor Information,” earlier in this chapter, and indi-
vidual city chapters for local information offices.
Liquor Laws The legal minimum drinking age in Washington state is 21.
Aside from on-premise sales of cocktails in bars and restaurants, hard
liquor can only be purchased in liquor stores. Beer and wine are available
in convenience stores and grocery stores. Brewpubs tend to sell only beer
and wine, but some also have licenses to sell hard liquor.
Maps See “Getting Around,” above.
Police To reach the police, dial & 911.
Taxes The state of Washington makes up for its lack of an income tax
with its heavy sales tax, and counties add on their own as well. In Seattle
you'll pay 8.8%. Hotel-room tax in the Seattle metro area ranges from
10% to 16%. On rental cars, you'll pay not only an 18.5% car-rental tax,
but also, if you rent at the airport, an additional 10% to 11% airport con-
cession fee, for a whopping total of around 30%! You eliminate 10% of
this by renting your car somewhere other than the airport.
Time Zone Washington state is on Pacific Standard Time (PST) and observes
daylight savings time from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in
October, making it consistently 3 hours behind the U.S. East Coast.
Weather To check the weather report, call 206/442-2800, ext. 2032. Check
the Seattle Times or Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspapers for forecasts. If
you want to know how to pack before you arrive, go to www.wrh.noaa.
gov/seattle , www.cnn.com/weather , or www.weather.com .
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