One of the other major reasons for planning my trip to Seattle, was to visit the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island. In addition to a Japanese garden, this 150 acre site has some of the most well managed gardens I have ever seen. Traversing its grounds was simply transformative. There is no doubt that the Japanese Garden is one of the best in North America. It was absolutely stunning and visiting it left me speechless and not wanting to leave.
My advice is to visit on an early morning weekday and avoid weekends. Doing so allowed me to experience the reserve with little distraction from others - I essentially had the place to myself. Plan on staying a while. It may not seem large, but the beauty will captivate you and inspire you to move slowly as you take in all the sites.
Please note, for the purpose of this blog, I only included images of the Japanese Garden. The rest of the reserve also offers spectacular scenes of nature - be sure to check out their website.
As far as public transportation, this trip was a bit complicated. You need to take the Seattle-to-Bainbridge ferry to the island, upon arrival, there is a shuttle bus that can take you to the reserve. However, I found the time constraints too cumbersome to manage. So, this was one of those days where I rented a car. Doing so allowed me to better manage my time and my ability to move around during the rest of the day on the island.
Website: http://bloedelreserve.org
