27 Best Things to Do in Seattle

Seattle is a city of rain and skyscrapers that cut through the eternally gloomy sky. Despite all the ups and downs of the weather, there are always a lot of tourists in the metropolis.

Things to do in Seattle

Museums invite you to have an interesting time. Industrial talks about the origins of Seattle and its importance in the US economy. The Aviation Museum has one of the largest collections of aircraft — from airplanes to space shuttles. The Chihuly Glass Garden presents a delicate collection of glassware. Unusual exhibits will impress people with a delicate taste.

The architecture of Seattle has been shaped in recent history. Monumental structures made of glass and concrete will hardly leave anyone indifferent. The facade of the Columbia Center plays with the imagination, the Public Library is an ode to functionality framed by avant-garde forms.

Numerous parks will appeal to lovers of a quiet holiday. Chamber Kerry offers great views, and Kubota Garden is a real little Japan in the middle of a bustling city.

Seattle attractions include ferry cruises, walks through the historic district, breathtaking views from the Space Needle and the special atmosphere of the US West Coast.

Architecture

Space Needle

The Space Needle or Space Needle is the hallmark of the city. It was built in 1962 specifically for the World Exhibition. The height of the structure is 184 m, width — 42 m. The structure is able to withstand without damage gusts of wind up to 90 m/s and an earthquake up to 8 points. The latter is important because of the unstable seismic situation in the region. The Space Needle has already successfully survived a magnitude 6.8 tremor. And 25 lightning rods have saved the building from lightning strikes more than once.

At an altitude of 160 m, an observation deck is equipped with breathtaking views of the city, Elliott Bay, the islands, the Cascade and Olympic mountains.

SkyCity is a gourmet restaurant in every way. In addition to delicious dishes, they offer to enjoy panoramic beauties from a height of 150 m. In 1982, the SkyLine level appeared in the tower for banquets and celebrations 30 m above ground level.

Smith Tower

The Smith Tower is Seattle’s first official skyscraper and the city’s tallest building before the Space Needle. The giant was built in 1914 with the money of Lyman Cornelius Smith, who made a fortune selling typewriters.

The height of the building is 141 m. An observation deck is equipped on the 35th floor (there are 38 in total). It is especially popular in the evening, when the lights are lit in the city. The building has retained the charm of a bygone era in its decorative details. This is a dial with arrows that indicate the floor where the elevator stands, and forged gratings.

Public library

The city library consists of 28 branches. The central branch deserves the closest attention. The avant-garde building of glass and concrete seems to be composed of several geometric shapes that form a functional space of 11 floors. The “skeleton” of the structure is a spiral ramp rising to a height of 56 m. Books, periodicals of different years and audio media in enormous quantities are exhibited on it.

In total, the fund has over 2.5 million items. All materials are equipped with electronic chips and are freely available. To find the right book or document, you should go up to the 10th tier and look at its location on the computer.

The library space is like a museum, decorated with art objects, paintings and installations. At the very top there is a reading room with panoramic windows. Downstairs there is a cafe and children’s playrooms. In the evening, the glass facade is illuminated by multi-colored lights.

Benaroya Hall

The concert hall appeared in Seattle at the beginning of the 20th century. It bears the name of the philanthropist D. Benaroy, who sponsored its construction. The building has been repeatedly modified and rebuilt, but has retained the memory of a generous donor.

The modern concert hall consists of two halls. The first can accommodate 2,500 spectators, the second — 500 people. Both are renowned for their excellent acoustics. The famous Seattle Symphony Orchestra regularly performs here.

Columbia Center

The skyscraper with a height of almost 300 m was erected in 1985 according to the project of C. Lindsey. The architect managed to get away from the banal forms characteristic of all high-rise buildings. He skillfully combined right angles and smooth lines, making the building look organic and not discordant with the surrounding landscape.

Another highlight is the façade. It seems that the skyscraper consists of three separate towers, although in fact, it is a single structure. On the 73rd floor there is an observation deck where tourists take spectacular photos, and on the 75th there is a restaurant and a bar.

Museums

Art Museum

The museum was established in 1917. He changed his name and moved several times until he finally settled in downtown Seattle in a beautiful and modern building.

The exposition has great weight at the international level. More than 30 thousand artifacts from different eras and countries are exhibited on four floors in 20 galleries. Here you can enjoy the art of the native inhabitants of the Americas, the masterpieces of the Renaissance and the creations of contemporary avant-garde authors. In addition, the museum has an extensive collection of furniture and antiques.

Asian Museum

The museum was founded by a man named Wing Luke. A native of China and a fighter against racial discrimination, he made every effort to create a permanent exhibition telling about the resettlement of Asians in America. It covers a long time period — from the arrival of the first immigrants to their becoming full-fledged US citizens.

At the expositions, you can get acquainted with photographs, important documents, personal items and art objects created by immigrants from Asia. Temporary exhibitions are regularly held here to coincide with some significant event, for example, the Chinese New Year or the birthday of the Japanese emperor.

Museum of Seattle History and Industry

The purpose of the creation of the museum is to show the formation and industrial potential of Seattle, focusing on important milestones in the history of the city. There are several permanent exhibitions here:

• The Klis Gallery is dedicated to the devastating fire of 1889.
• The «True Northwest» exhibition recreates the time of the Indians and brave settlers who were not afraid of obstacles.
• There are stands telling about the «Gold Rush».

A significant part of the exposition contains inventions and innovations from the 19th century to the present day. Some of the exhibits are interactive and can be touched.

Glass Garden Chihuly

Dale Chihuly is an artist, genius and glassmaker whose work is featured in some of the finest galleries in the world. The master creates the environment in a complex technique. His works are striking in their complexity, detail and originality. The museum dedicated to the work of Chihuly opened not so long ago — in 2012, and immediately became one of the most visited.

The exhibition space is divided into light and dark galleries, where bizarre exhibits are displayed. At the end of a kind of walk, tourists enter a large atrium, and then into a quiet landscaped garden with unusual glass and real trees.

The museum has a glass-blowing workshop and a small souvenir shop.

Seattle Aviation Museum

One of the largest private museums of aviation and astronautics was opened in 1965. The exposition is located at the airport of King County, in the former building of the Boeing company. All sorts of aircraft are exhibited in a huge room — from primitive wooden airplanes to a decommissioned airliner of the President. Separately flaunt fighters, bombers and helicopters.

With special trepidation, tourists inspect the «space» section: shuttles, satellites, astronaut equipment and everything related to flights to distant galaxies.

Museum of Pop Culture

An unusual museum in an even more unusual building was created in 2000 by Paul Allen, co-owner of Microsoft and a big fan of rock music. The building with an area of ​​more than 42 thousand square meters. m occupy 2 expositions.

One is dedicated to cult films. Among them are «Terminator», «The Fifth Element», «Alien», «Star Wars» and others. The exposition exhibits scenery for films, paraphernalia, costumes of the main characters and more. Video games and simulations are also presented here, promising complete immersion in the world of fantasy.

The second part is a paradise for music lovers. Here on the stands you can find concert outfits, personal belongings of pop and rock stars, awards of musicians, rare photographs and more. In total, the funds contain about 80 thousand entertaining things.

Art objects

Fremont Troll

The sinister character seems to emerge from the ground under the George Washington Bridge. The sight is not for the faint of heart. The gray concrete and steel reinforcement sculpture was installed in 1990. An artel of artists worked on it by order of the municipality of the city.

The thing is that a spontaneous dump has formed under the bridge. The scavengers’ efforts were in vain. As soon as they removed blockages from household waste, mountains of garbage reappeared. To prevent confusion and ward off unscrupulous citizens from this place, they installed a creepy Fremont troll. The sculpture soon became a local landmark.

chewing gum wall

Looking at a wall pasted over from top to bottom with multi-colored chewing gum, conflicting feelings visit, most of which are related to hygiene. The controversial attraction appeared around 1993.

There are three versions of the emergence of such a large-scale disgrace. The first legend says that the theater, located just nearby, is to blame. Spectators were forbidden to come to performances with chewing gum, so they left it on the wall. The second story is connected with the queue in this very theater — they say people had nothing to do, so they whiled away the time as best they could. The third is the most original. According to her, the wall is an art object created by a group of avant-garde artists.

Local authorities struggled with chewing vandalism with all their might: they tore it off and rubbed it off, but all efforts were in vain. In 1999, the wall with bright lumps was simply declared an official landmark of Seattle.

Gardens and parks

kerry park

The small Kerry Park is located on the southern slope of Mount Queen Ann. The most beautiful views of Seattle open from here: the Space Needle, Puget Sound, skyscrapers, the Ferris wheel and snow-capped mountain peaks. The observation deck is always full of tourists and romantic couples. The park was created with private donations from the couple Albert and Catherine Kerry in 1927.

Kubota Garden

The amazingly beautiful garden was created by the Japanese immigrant Fujitaro Kubota around the same time. A neat space with a clear geometry takes you to the Land of the Rising Sun. There is a rock garden, curved bridges, bizarre trees that look so much like bonsai, ponds with water lilies and, of course, sakura. People come here to listen to the silence and the inner voice in order to find Zen.

The territory of the landscape park is quite large, so it makes sense to take a map at the entrance.

Botanical Garden

Walking through the Volantir park, you should definitely look into the Botanical Garden. The greenhouse, built in 1912, still functions there. The cyclopean-sized building is made of 3,000 forged glass blocks.

In different parts of the greenhouse, the temperature and humidity are different. A comfortable microclimate is controlled by a computer so that citrus trees, palm trees, ferns, cacti and seasonal flowers do not die. The pride of the garden is a jade tree and a collection of orchids.

Woodland Park Zoo

One of the world’s best menageries covers an area of ​​over 37 hectares in the park of the same name. Hundreds of species of animals have found shelter here, including endangered ones, the conservation of which scientists pay special attention to.

The Seattle Zoo was the first in the world to remove cramped cages and enclosures, creating living conditions for representatives of the fauna that are as close to natural as possible. The whole territory is divided into thematic zones: «Savannah», «Rainforest», «Elephant trails», etc.

Century Link Field

A popular city stadium, where, in addition to sports competitions, concerts are held. The $430 million arena was built in 2002 and can accommodate more than 70,000 people at once. The complex, in addition to the stadium, includes an event center, a press center and parking.

Entertainment

Aquarium

The Aquarium, located on the waterfront, invites children and adults to get acquainted with the ichthyofauna of the Pacific Northwest.

• The Living on the Edge pavilion showcases the inhabitants of Puget Sound and the surrounding waters of Washington State. These are groupers, clams, eels and algae of all sizes.
• The exhibition «The Life of a Tramp» is dedicated to jellyfish and giant cephalopods.
• There are always a lot of children in the Marine Mammals Gallery. They are delighted with otters and fur seals.

There are dive shows three times a day. Spectators can watch the feeding of fish and get answers to questions about the life of marine life.

Seattle Center

A large outdoor entertainment area is located on the outskirts of Queen Ann. It was created in 1962 for the World Exhibition. All significant cultural, artistic and political events of the city are held here to this day.

Attractions within the Seattle Center include the KeyArena, the Space Needle, and the Science Fiction Museum. The park is replete with children’s and sports grounds. There are cafes and restaurants.

safico field

This is one of the best baseball arenas on the west coast, equipped with the latest technology. Numerous screens allow you to see what is happening on the field from any point, and a retractable roof protects spectators from rain.

The stands are able to accommodate more than 50 thousand fans at the same time. They come to watch the Seattle Mariners’ home team, American football games, and other sporting events.

big wheel

The attraction was put into operation in 2012. With a height of about 54 m, it is the largest ferris wheel on the west coast. Up to 300 people can stay in 42 cabins, protected from wind and bad weather. For an additional fee, you can ride in a VIP cabin with a glass bottom. In the dark, colorful lights are turned on on the wheel.

Ferries

Washington state has the largest ferry service. A network of numerous routes can be compared to a web. Dozens of ships cross the Puget Sound every day.

The most popular boat trips among tourists are a voyage to Washington Island, which is famous for its expensive shops and fashionable restaurants, as well as a cruise to Bainbridge Island, where you can feel the charm of the countryside.

Interesting places and shopping

Pioneer Square area

The old district is located in the heart of Seattle. Here you will find prestigious housing, trendy galleries, restaurants and bars. Pioneer Square began to be built up in 1852, and since then it has changed little. Getting here, you can see what Seattle was more than 100 years ago. Luckily, this part of the city was not damaged during the devastating fire of 1889.

Chinatown

There is a Chinatown in every major US city, but the Seattle «branch» can be safely called international. Not only people from the Celestial Empire live and work here, but also from all over Asia: Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries of the region.

In a colorful and noisy area, there is an authentic market, acupuncturists and healers conduct receptions, cafes and restaurants work. Small industries and workshops “for their own” also settled here.

Chinatown is especially busy during the holidays. Bright decorations appear on the streets. Colorful processions will hardly leave anyone indifferent. The main attractions of Chinatown are the Wing Luke Museum and the Hing Hei Garden.

Gateways Ballard

The locks were built in the first half of the 20th century according to the design of the military engineer Hiram Chittenden and named after him. However, the locals call the facility «Ballard Locks» after the area where they are located. The capacity of the facility is about 100,000 ships per year.

It is always crowded here, especially on weekends. Tourists and citizens come to see the ships, yachts and boats, stroll through the surrounding parks and take pictures of the sea lions that have chosen the area around the lock.

Pike Place Market

Pike Market is a concentrate of the unique atmosphere of Seattle. All tourists want to visit here. Vivid impressions and original pictures for social networks are guaranteed.

Pike Place was originally a farmers’ market, inaugurated in 1907. Here they sold seasonal vegetables, fruits and sea catch. Over time, the trading place evolved into a multi-level structure, which occupied almost the entire slope of the city embankment.

Numerous pavilions, where everyone still sells food, like 100 years ago, have been supplemented by souvenir shops, craft workshops, handicraft shops, cafes and restaurants. The latter offer an extensive menu, because there is no shortage of fresh meat, fish and other products here.