Washington · United States
Where to stay in Tacoma
Tacoma is a city in Washington, United States, home to about 219,000 people.
- Best months
- May to September
- Nearest airport
- TIW10 km · Tacoma Narrows Airport
- Currency
- USDUnited States dollar
- Time zone
- America/Los Angeles
- Language
- Carolinian, Chamorro, Hawaiian
About
About Tacoma
Tacoma ( tə-KOH-mə) is a city in and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Puget Sound roughly 30 miles (48 km) from Seattle and Olympia, and 58 miles (93 km) northwest of Mount Rainier National Park.
Tacoma adopted its name after the nearby Mount Rainier, called təˡqʷuʔbəʔ in the Puget Sound Salish dialect. In the late 19th century, the city was chosen to be the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, influenced by its deep-water harbor at Commencement Bay, which became Washington's largest port. The city gained notoriety in 1940 for the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which earned the nickname "Galloping Gertie" due to the vertical movement of the deck during windy conditions.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Tacoma
See
- Point Defiance Park
- Fort Nisqually Living History Museum
- Foss Waterway Seaport
- LeMay – America's Car Museum
- Stratford House
- Tacoma Art Museum
- Tacoma Children's Museum
- Tacoma Museum of Glass
- Washington State History Museum
- W.W. Seymour Conservatory
- Tacoma Union Station
- University of Washington Tacoma Campus
Do
- Tacoma Convention and Trade Center
- Tacoma Musical Playhouse
- Tacoma Rainiers
- Tacoma Defiance
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Hotels in Tacoma
4 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Elks Temple | 0.8 km | |
| Glencove Hotel | 23.7 km | |
| Hotel Murano | 2007 | 0.6 km |
| The Villa | 1.5 km |
When to go
The best time to visit Tacoma
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Tacoma are May to September. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 25 °C; November is the wettest, with about 179 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Tacoma: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Tacoma Narrows Airport (TIW), about 9.9 km from the city centre in a straight line; Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA, 24 km) and King County International Airport - Boeing Field (BFI, 33 km) are also within reach.
Getting in
The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SeaTac) (SEA) is the nearest airport for commercial flights. It is 25 mi/40 km north of Tacoma. The airport serves much of the greater Seattle Metropolitan area and the Pacific NW.
Getting around
The area's roads are more or less on a grid system, numbered based on their distance from Tacoma's city center. Nearly all streets run with the compass directions. "A" St, one block east of Pacific Ave (SR-7), divides east from south while Orchard St divides south from west. 6th Ave and Division Ave divide north from south. The numbered roads run east-west, parallel to 6th Avenue, while the named roads run north-south (except for one corner in the North End where everything is rotated by 60°).
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
TIW · Tacoma Narrows Airport
SEA · Seattle–Tacoma International Airport
BFI · King County International Airport - Boeing Field
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Tacoma
Eat
6th Avenue has some affordable restaurants. Most of the suggested venues below are along 6th Ave between Sprague and Union.
Stay safe
While Tacoma's crime problem has improved over the past decade, the city still has a high crime rate relative to other Northwest cities. Much of the crime is concentrated on the Hilltop and Eastside neighborhoods and the hotels along S Hosmer/Steele St between 8400-9900 blocks, particularly at a boarded up hotel on 8820 S Hosmer St and its surrounding areas. The Stadium District area towards the north end has the lowest crime rate in the city and Downtown has a low crime rate compared to downtown areas of other cities (including Seattle), however visitors should be cautious as in any urban area.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Questions
Tacoma: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Tacoma?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Tacoma are May to September. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 25 °C; November is the wettest, with about 179 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Tacoma?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Tacoma Narrows Airport (TIW), about 9.9 km from the city centre in a straight line; Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA, 24 km) and King County International Airport - Boeing Field (BFI, 33 km) are also within reach.
What currency is used in Tacoma?
United States dollar (USD).
Nearby
Destinations near Tacoma
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.