Seattle, Washington is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest. Located between Puget Sound and Lake Washington in King County, of which it is the county seat, and overlooking Elliott Bay, Seattle is nicknamed The Emerald City. The city is a damp green gem, with an abundance of evergreen trees throughout, and spectacular views of the Cascade mountains to the east and the Olympic mountains to the west.

PLACES TO SEE

Seattle Tours is a three hour, 50 mile tour of Seattle. Door to door service from SeaTac, Tukwila, Bellevue and downtown Seattle. Seattle Tours also runs a daily tour to the Boeing Assembly Plant (see below) which also includes a stop at the Columbia Winery for a tour and tasting. 

Ride the Ducks Tour Seattle is an hour or so ride on an amphibious World War II vehicle. Definitely unique. 

Show Me Seattle Tour [24] A fun, small tour on a mini-bus! 

Beeline Tours offers a three-hour tour similar to Gray Line, but in a smaller vehicle (that is, with fewer people).

Argosy Cruises offers a harbor cruise, two lake cruises, a locks cruise, and dinner cruises.

Tillicum Village on Blake Island - scenic cruise from downtown Seattle, authentic native salmon feast and dance performances. Blake Island State Park was an ancestral campground of the Suquamish and Duwamish Indian Tribes believed to be the birthplace of Chief Seattle. 

Seattle Underground Tour will take you underground in Pioneer Square. In early Seattle days there was no proper sewage system, so the city built up the roads and buried the first floor, now the basement level, of much of the original Pioneer Sq. area. One can also get married underground. 

The Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour, a 45 minute drive north of Seattle, is a fascinating look at where Boeing makes the 747, 767, 777, and 787 airliners-the world's largest building, as measured in cubic volume. See the Everett article.

MUSEUMS

Seattle Art Museum, Downtown Was closed for remodeling from January 5, 2006 to May 5, 2007. The expanded building offers 70 percent more gallery space, an expanded museum store, and a new restaurant. In anticipation of the expansion, over a thousand new pieces, with a total value over a billion dollars, were donated to the collection. SAM also runs the Olympic Sculpture Park on the Seattle waterfront, which opened on January 20, 2007.

Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 East Prospect Street, Closed on Mondays, Tu-Su: 10 AM -5 PM, Th: 10 AM - 9 PM. (Capitol Hill)

The Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, 15th Ave NE & NE 41st St. Closed on Mondays; Tu, We, Fr, Sa, Su: 11 AM - 5 PM; Th 11 AM - 8 PM. One of the biggest contemporary art galleries in Washington, The Henry shows well-known contemporary and modern artists of all visual media, as well as an annual exhibition of the UW's Master of Fine Arts students. Free with student or UW staff/faculty ID, or free to everyone on Thursdays. 

Museum of Flight, 9404 East Marginal Way South (near Boeing Field). The name tells you right away whether you personally will find this interesting; at minimum, it will get you inside on a rainy day. The collection includes 131 aircraft and spacecraft ranging from wood and fabric crates to the SR-71 and, parked right in the front (car) parking lot, sleek Concorde.

Pacific Science Center, 200 Second Ave. N. Open daily 10 AM-6 PM. An interactive science museum featuring permanent and temporary exhibits, a butterfly atrium, IMAX theater, planetarium, and laser shows.

Experience Music Project (EMP), 325 5th Av North,Open daily 10 AM - 8 PM,. A rock 'n' roll museum, designed by Frank Gehry, and which has the Jimi Hendrix special exhibit. Do not expect to get your turn with the many interactive exhibits!

Science Fiction Museum (SFM), 325 5th Ave. North, through 9/3/07, 10 AM - 8 PM daily; from 9/4/07 through 5/23/08, 10 AM - 5 PM daily, closed Tuesdays, except holdays. Denny Regrade & Seattle Center is home of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame as well as numerous exhibits.

Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Av. A small private collection on First Hill, always has parking and worth a visit.

INDOORS

Pike Place Market (Downtown) Pike Place Market is not entirely indoors, but nearly. It is comprised of dozens of little shops tucked into a few square blocks downtown, on multiple levels. If you hate shopping you still might like this place, with its quirky atmosphere (including the famous seafood shop where the staff throw your fish from one end to the other). However, much of what is sold here feels more tourist souvenier than genuine quality. It is within walking distance of the NCL Cruiseline dock...good if you want to walk from the boat, but making the market rather crowded when their boats are in harbor. Hours are shortest on Sunday...only 11-5. 

The Seattle Public Library's Central Library (Downtown) An impressive and uniquely designed building. 

Smith Tower (Downtown)

Space Needle - The most expensive elevator ride in America. However, the view is spectacular on a clear day when the sun sets. Downtown Seattle contrasts beautifully with the ocean to the west and the snow-capped mountains in every other direction. You can get a comparably good view for free from Bhy Kracke Park (pronounced "By Crackie") atop Queen Anne Hill. If you are going to eat at the revolving restaurant near the top, called Sky City, the elevator ride is free. Sky City is surprisingly good given its touristy setting,

Monorail -Not as expensive ($2.00 one-way $4.00 round trip) as the trip to the top of the Space Needle. If you need to get between downtown and Seattle Center, the 1962 vintage Alweg monorail is perfectly good transportation and kind of cool, but it doesn't go anywhere else.

Columbia Center (Formerly the Bank of America Tower) Second tallest building on the West Coast and the tallest in Seattle. Great views from the top. Arguably a better view than offered by the Space Needle. Plus the price is much better. To reach the observation deck of the Columbia tower.

Seattle Aquarium - Located on Pier 59 on the Seattle waterfront, the Seattle Aquarium showcases native fish and mammals of the Pacific Northwest. The newly opened Windows on Washington (WOW) exhibit is a view into the area Neah Bay, the most northwest point of the "lower 48". There are two two touch tanks featuring animals of the inland sea and outer coast, in the main area of building one along with a display of two giant pacific octopuses.
The Seattle Aquarium is actively engaged in the study of the six gill sharks, a prehistoric shark that normally lives in waters 500 to 1000 feet deep, but at night comes to within 50 or so feet of the surface to feed. The aquarium's unique location on Puget Sound provides an environment to observe and tag the six gill shark, right at the aquarium. Adult six gill sharks may reach up to 14 feet or more.
Also in building one is are warm water exhibits, with individual "jewel" tanks surrounding a display of fishes native to areas of Pacific Coral Reefs. A small cafeteria and gift shop is also located in the front part of building one.
Building two houses a display of local birds as well as a Harbor Seals, Great Northern Fur Seals, and Sea Otters. All mammals at the Seattle Aquarium were either born in captivity or rescued animals.

OUTDOORS

Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (a.k.a. Ballard Locks) in Ballard. Check out the fish ladders and if you're lucky you'll see huge Pacific Northwest salmon coming and going.

 Woodland Park Zoo (South Gate at N 50th St and Fremont Ave N, on Phinney Ridge) Open 9:30AM to 4PM in the winter (October 1st - April 30th), 6PM in the summer (May 1st - September 31st). It has mostly realistic and spacious habitats for the animals, unlike the animal jails in some zoos. The Raptor Show at 3PM on non-rainy weekends is particularly entertaining if you get the bird handler with the Bronx accent: "If dis boid's head were da same size as youses, its eyes would be da size of sawftbawls." 

Check out the troll under the Aurora Bridge, near Fremont! 

Seattle Pacific University. SPU is a Christian university of the liberal arts, located on the north slope of Queen Ann Hill.

UW Waterfront Activities Center - Rent a canoe and explore the arboretum

PARKS

Carkeek Park is a sweet little beach park in North Seattle. Good hikes, and may have salmon migrating upstream in fall.

Cowen Park has a play structure for children and a backstop for baseball/softball. Cowen is connected to Ravenna Park via a wooded ravine that makes for good jogging and walking. It is a particularly nice walk in the (rare) snow.

Discovery Park in Magnolia is great for kite-flying as well as a trail to the beach with great cliffs and boat watching.

Gasworks Park in Wallingford is built on the former site of the city gas facility, and a few hulking tanks and pipes are preserved, giving it a slightly eerie feel. The hill at the center has a sundial on top, and offers a spectacular view of downtown across Union Bay, as well as gusts of wind great for kite-flying. Don't eat the carcinogenic dirt! 

Golden Gardens Park in Ballard is one of two places in Seattle that still allows bonfires on the beach. Set on the Puget Sound, it offers spectacular views of the sun setting over the Olympic mountain range on clear days. 

Greenlake north of the University District, has side-by-side 4km (2.75 mile) asphalt and gravel trails for walking, jogging and rollerblading around the circumfrence of the algae-infested "lake" (really a big pond), plus several sports fields. On the East side there are areas of grass where you can often find pick-up soccer, volleyball as well as basketball on outdoor courts. There's also an indoor swimming pool, which is much cleaner than the lake. If the signs warn that the lake is closed, don't ignore them or risk getting "swimmer's itch" from the plentiful parasites spread through duck feces. The surrounding neighborhood is vibrant and fun in good weather, with rental rollerskates, bikes, restaurants, etc. 

Kerry Park on Highland Drive on Queen Anne Hill is the single most photographed view of Seattle, with a spectacular cityscape with the Space Needle in front and Mt. Rainier visible behind the skyline. For the best view, go on a clear summer day around 9pm... the sun will have just dropped behind the Olympic range, the city lights will just be coming on, but there will be enough sunlight left that Rainier glows purple behind the city. 

Kubota Garden, a spectacular 20-acre park space in the Rainier Beach neighborhood of South Seattle. To quote the linked website, the Garden contains "streams, waterfalls, ponds, rock outcroppings, and an exceptionally rich and mature collection of plant material." Established by Fujitaro Kubota in 1927, he wanted to "display the beauty of the Northwest in a Japanese manner." 

Magnuson Park / Sand Point, the second largest park in Seattle used to be a US Naval base. The remaining naval buildings are now used for recreational purposes and to host shows. Magnuson boasts multiple sports fields, a boat launch, an off-leash dog park, and lots of walking trails. The Sound Garden (after which the local Seattle band was named), is located on NOAA property. It is public art work that moans eerily in the wind. 

Myrtle Edwards Park on Elliott Bay has a nice view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Also a great place to take a walk, jog or bike ride. The walking and cycling paths (at times separate) start north of the ferry piers and go right along the water for 1.5 miles, and provide a delightful way to get close to the harbor. It is separated from the rest of the city by several train tracks, so you won't have to listen to any vehicle traffic. 

Ravenna Park in the Ravenna area is a good park for baseball, soccer, tennis, or have a barbecue. Connected to Cowen Park via a trail through a wooded ravine, along a creek. This will provide a basic feel for the nature that can be found outside of the city.

Olympic Sculpture Park new, on the waterfront, wonderful views and sculpture. 

The University of Washington Arboretum is 230 acres of urban greenery with collections of oaks, conifers, camellias, Japanese maples and hollies. Often filled with people going for walks on sunny summer days, especially weekends. The Japanese gardens are a special spot.

Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, home of the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM).

Waterfront provides one of the best views while walking in Seattle (if you don't mind the crowds).

Port Code: USSEA
Currency: US Dollar (USD)
Country: United States, Washington (US)