In short
Seattle is framed by the Olympic mountains to the west and the Cascades to the east, with Mount Rainier — an active volcano of four thousand three hundred and ninety-two metres — visible from the city on a clear day.
Three national parks lie within three hours: Olympic, Rainier and North Cascades.
What it really costs
Housing is expensive, at a level close to the major American cities, but Washington State levies no income tax.
Trips to the parks need a car. Public transport covers the city, not the mountains.
What nobody tells you
It does not rain that much by volume, but it rains often and the sky is grey from October to June. That is nine months of low cloud, and many newcomers underestimate it.
July, August and September, by contrast, are among the finest summers in North America: dry, twenty-five degrees, very long days.
Mount Rainier requires timed entry reservations in summer on its main sectors, with daily quotas.