Explore Seattle—There’s So Much to Do and See!
Check out some of Seattle’s attractions beyond the convention center.
Outdoors
The largest local outdoor organization, The Mountaineers, offers hiking, biking, climbing, scrambling, sailing, and kayaking.
The Seattle Chapter of the Sierra Club offers area outings, primarily hiking.
The Cascade Bicycle Club offers organized bicycle rides, keeping a list of local bike rental possibilities.
Seattle Day Trips
Pike Place Market, located in the heart of downtown Seattle, is the oldest continuously operated public market in the United States. The market’s neon sign provides an image of Seattle seen on many of the souvenirs sold within its shops. The history of the market’s beginnings—onion prices increasing tenfold in the early 1900s and resultant pressure from citizens and consumers to cut out the middle man and buy direct from the producer—still inform its practices.
Take the occasion to meet the producers of fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers or visit the world-famous fishmongers at The Pike Place Fish Market, who literally make fish fly both over the counter and to your home.
Wander the labyrinth of funky underground shops, but be prepared to brave the crowds, as Pike Place Market attracts more than 10 million visitors every year.
The adjacent mini-park is a grand picnic spot, with views of Puget Sound, ferries, and the Olympic Mountains.
Seattle Center, site of the 1962 World’s Fair, is another crowd pleaser that claims more than 10 million visitors per year. In addition to the Space Needle, the 87-acre campus includes museums, gardens, fountains, theaters, shops, and restaurants.
For the engineers in the group, the Hiram M. Chittenden (Ballard) Locks, which transfer commercial and pleasure boats between the saltwater of Puget Sound and the fresh water of Lake Union, will likely prove appealing. Environmental statisticians may appreciate the 21-level fish ladder built in 1976 next to the locks to preserve the migrating fish runs. Adult salmon should still be heading back to their former birthplace and future spawning ground in early August; they can be seen jumping over some of the weirs and from lighted underwater viewing windows. The botanical gardens and grassy slopes provide the perfect space for a picnic while watching boats lock through.
For something off the beaten path, try visiting Seattle neighborhoods by foot. From Alki Beach (southwest of downtown Seattle), views of the city, the Olympic Mountains, and Bainbridge Island are spectacular. Sunbathers and volleyball players on the beach may have you forgetting you’re visiting the “rainy city.”
As you meander along the beachside trail, you’ll see a small replica of the Statue of Liberty, reminiscent of the area’s original name—New York-Alki—and an obelisk marking the spot where city founders first disembarked from their vessel back in 1851.
In Lake Union, you can see the home of Insightful, Corp., makers of S-PLUS software. You’ll also get a look at the old Lake Union Steam Plant. The building, while retaining some semblance of its former life with facsimile smokestacks, was converted into an office building.
Finally, you’ll have a street-side view of the many floating homes along Lake Union. If you’d like a better view of the houseboats along Lake Union, kayaking is the way to go. By kayak, you can weave in and out of the docks and more closely note the variety of homes—from beach shacks on logs to floating palaces with underwater basements—otherwise restricted to residents.
Ballooning
If you can’t decide what to do because it all sounds so appealing, take a hot air balloon and get a bird’s-eye view of everything. There are several outfits in the area that offer a range of options, from sunrise or sunset tours for groups to a romantic couple’s sunset flight:
Museums
There also is a variety of museums, ranging from arts to science, industrial history to aerospace, and gold to glass:
Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
Wineries
Many of the islands have wineries that offer tours and tastings on the weekend in addition to estate-grown wines, such as Madeleine Angevine and Siegerrebe.
Other wineries in Washington include those in Woodinville, just 20 miles northeast of Seattle, and eastern Washington. Check out Washington Wine Tours for more information.
Washington Day Trips
National parks, forests, and monuments surround Seattle and provide many opportunities to get away from the city and become lost in nature.
To the west of downtown and across the island-peppered Puget Sound, is Olympic National Park, home of Mount Olympus (7,965 feet).
To the northeast is North Cascades National Park, Snoqualmie National Forest, runs north/south from the North Cascades to Mount Rainier National Park, home of the 14,410-foot mountain that shares its name.
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, created two years after the 1980 eruption with the goal of allowing the surrounding area to respond naturally to the disturbance, is almost directly south of Seattle—as the crow flies.
A good source of information for hikes, mountain biking, or climbing in the Washington mountains is the Washington Trails Association, which hosts a search engine that allows you to specify region and additional criteria—such as round-trip distance, elevation gain, must-see attractions (e.g., waterfalls, lakes), and user types (e.g., hikers, climbers, or kids).
If you’re inspired by the mountains, but would prefer a shorter day trip with less hiking, Snoqualmie Falls, is a good option that’s only 30 miles east of Seattle. The nearly 300-foot falls is a popular tourist spot that attracts around 1.5 million visitors per year. The viewing platform is only 200 feet from the parking lot and is accessible by wheelchair.
Another option is to drive north from Seattle to the beautiful Deception Pass State Park, where marine, forest, and mountain views abound. The Deception Pass Bridge takes you to the northeastern tip of Whidbey Island. From the town of Clinton in the south of Whidbey, you can catch a Washington State Ferry boat back to the mainland.
Whidbey Island is just one of many islands in the sound that can be visited with ease from Seattle. Ten miles southwest of the city is Vashon Island, which has a funky, artsy feel.
Bainbridge Island, 10 miles west of the city, is somewhat more refined, with a renovated historic town offering fine dining options.
Farther from the city, the San Juan Islands offer the most rural feel. The San Juans, as they’re affectionately called by locals, are accessible by the ferries or, if you’re not afraid of flying in puddle jumpers and want to avoid the ferry lines, by float plane.
For more about the arts, festivals, shopping, and dining, go to Visit Seattle.
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Let’s not forget The Museum of Flight in Seattle, sometimes called “Smithsonian West” for its huge, world-class aviation and space collection and expansive campus on historic Boeing Field.