By road: Olympia sits on Interstate 5, an hour south of Seattle and three hours north of Portland. The downtown exits (Plum Street, Henderson, and 2nd Avenue) all empty out into the centre. Parking is straightforward and mostly free outside the immediate Capitol campus.
By bus: Greyhound and FlixBus run multiple daily services from Seattle, Portland, and other Pacific Northwest cities to the Olympia Transit Center in the centre of downtown. Local Intercity Transit runs commuter buses out to Lacey, Tumwater and Tacoma.
By rail: Amtrak's Cascades and Coast Starlight both serve Olympia — but the station, confusingly called "Olympia-Lacey", is in Lacey, about 12 km east of the centre. Local buses connect.
By air: the nearest commercial airport is Seattle-Tacoma International (SeaTac), about 75 minutes north by car or bus. Shuttle vans and the Greyhound bus connect.