This year you can get to Snowflake Lane by train from Seattle, Mercer Island or Redmond. The 2 Line has crossed Lake Washington since March 28, 2026. That makes this the first holiday season the Eastside light rail line has run end to end.
The free shuttle that Visit Bellevue launched to carry riders from Bellevue Downtown Station into the downtown core runs Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Most of the season's big draws happen after dark, and some of them happen on weekends. So the train gets you close to each one, and for the evening events the last stretch is on foot or by bus.
The season on one calendar
| Event | 2026 dates | Time | Nearest 2 Line station | Shuttle running at that hour? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellevue Downtown Ice Rink, Downtown Park | Nov. 13 to Jan. 18, 2027 | Open daily | Bellevue Downtown | Weekday daytimes only |
| Snowflake Lane, Bellevue Way | Nov. 27 to Dec. 24 | 7 p.m. nightly | Bellevue Downtown | No |
| Garden d'Lights, Bellevue Botanical Garden | Nov. 28 to Jan. 3, 2027 | Entry from 4:30 p.m. | Wilburton | Weekdays until 6 p.m. only |
| Holiday Barn Lighting, Kelsey Creek Farm | Dec. 5 | 5 to 6:30 p.m. | Not station-adjacent | No, it's a Saturday |
The table has a clear pattern. The shuttle is useful for one of these four events, and only on a weekday afternoon. For everything else, plan your trip around the walk from the station.
A shuttle built for weekday visitors
The Bellevue Light Rail Shuttle began August 3 as a pilot. It runs two Volkswagen ID Buzz electric vans, Amazon sponsors it, and 425 Business reported that it extends the existing BellHop service. Riding it is simple. There's no fare, no app and no reservation. You tell the driver where you're going, and if no van is waiting at the station, Sound Transit says one will come back within 10 to 15 minutes.
Those hours match a weekday visitor heading to hotels, offices and shops. They don't match a family arriving at 6:40 p.m. for a 7 p.m. parade. Visit Bellevue's announcement set the pilot to run through December 2026, and the current service page still lists weekday daytime hours only. The rink stays open until January 18, so its last few weeks fall after the pilot's announced end date. Unless an extension is announced, those weeks will have no shuttle at any hour.
Downtown Park is the trip the train handles best
The Bellevue Downtown Ice Rink opens November 13 in Downtown Park at 10201 NE 4th St. It's open every day through January 18, 2027, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. The Bellevue Downtown Association, which produces the rink, says this is its 29th season, with more than 45,000 skaters a year on over 9,000 square feet of covered ice.
From Bellevue Downtown Station, Connect Bellevue's directions put the rink about 0.5 miles and 12 minutes west along NE 6th Street on the Grand Connection. Trains run about every 8 minutes at rush hour, every 10 minutes midday and every 10 to 12 minutes on weekends. The standard adult fare is $3, and riders 18 and under ride free.
That free fare for riders 18 and under pairs well with something new at the rink this year. On select Mondays, "Cheapskate Mondays" admission is $12 with skate rental included. The BDA also says walk-up admission is limited and recommends buying tickets in advance at bellevueicerink.com. A weekday afternoon skate is the one holiday outing this season where the train, the shuttle and the event all line up.
Snowflake Lane starts an hour after the vans stop
Snowflake Lane runs every night from November 27 through December 24 at 7 p.m. on Bellevue Way between NE 4th and NE 8th Streets, in front of The Bellevue Collection. Bellevue Downtown Station is the closest stop, though the City's downtown wayfinding map gives no walking time between them.
For Bellevue residents, this is where the train helps most. Visitors from the other side of the lake can now arrive without driving, and you can do the same from South Bellevue, East Main, Wilburton, the Spring District or BelRed. Sound Transit says 2 Line trains run until about midnight, so the ride home after the parade isn't a problem. If you want dinner first, the shuttle can cover the earlier part of a weekday evening, as long as you're riding before 6 p.m.
Garden d'Lights is where the train runs out
Garden d'Lights runs November 28 through January 3 at Bellevue Botanical Garden, 12001 Main St., and is closed Christmas Day. Entry starts at 4:30 p.m., last entry is 9 p.m. and the lights go off at 9:30. You need a timed ticket bought online for a specific date. General admission is $10 for ages 11 and up and free for children 10 and under. On the special nights of November 30 to December 3 and December 7 to 10, admission drops to $5 and last entry moves up to 8 p.m.
On the City's downtown map, Wilburton is the closest 2 Line station to the Garden, but the Garden doesn't publish a walking distance from the station. The Garden's directions page points riders to Sound Transit's trip planner. It also lists bus options from Bellevue Transit Center: a half-mile walk after Route 220, or a three-quarter-mile walk after RapidRide B. It notes that BellHop can connect the Garden with downtown hotels and attractions.
Garden d'Lights is the clearest case of the gap. It's the one major light display where the train doesn't end close to the entrance. Its busiest hours fall after the shuttle stops, and on the cheaper $5 nights you also have an earlier last entry to make.
Kelsey Creek's barn lighting is an hour and a half on a Saturday
The Holiday Barn Lighting at Kelsey Creek Farm is Saturday, December 5, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Admission and many activities are free, and some activities sell tickets on site. It falls on a weekend, after dark, at a farm that isn't next to a station. Neither the 2 Line nor the shuttle is a natural fit for this one, so plan it the way you always have.
Heading into Seattle without the 550
The 2 Line also took over another holiday trip, the one west into Seattle. Sound Transit discontinued ST Express 550 between Bellevue and Seattle on August 29 and lists the 2 Line and Route 556 as the alternatives. Riders were already switching before the cut. Seattle Transit Blog reported that weekday 550 ridership in April 2026 had fallen 48 percent, to 2,306. Sound Transit says boardings at stations served only by the 2 Line more than doubled after the crosslake connection opened.
On one scheduled trip from the 2 Line timetable, a train reached Bellevue Downtown at 5:25 a.m. and then arrived at:
- International District/Chinatown at 5:47
- Westlake at 5:52
- Capitol Hill at 5:55
- University of Washington at 5:59
The 2 Line doesn't stop at Stadium station. To get there, change to the 1 Line at International District/Chinatown, as KIRO 7 explained when the line launched. For Seahawks games, Sound Transit's game-day alerts warn of crowded stations and trains and say parking facilities fill early. South Bellevue Station has 1,524 parking spaces.
Before you go
The crosslake segment does close sometimes. On October 17 and 18, shuttle buses replaced trains between South Bellevue and International District/Chinatown all day, running every 10 minutes, while 2 Line trains kept running between Downtown Redmond and South Bellevue. For each holiday outing:
- Check Sound Transit's service alerts the day of, especially on weekends.
- Book Garden d'Lights tickets for a specific entry time, and note the 8 p.m. last entry on $5 nights.
- Buy rink tickets in advance, since walk-up admission is limited.
- Plan the shuttle only for weekday trips that start and end between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
If the 2 Line has you rethinking how far from a station your household wants to be, or what a walk to Bellevue Downtown or Wilburton really looks like on a December evening, Tarek Moghrabi can walk you through it block by block. Let's find a time to chat.
