We'll be in Seattle next week. We've been there before and am somewhat familiar with what we want to do. The last time we also went to Port Angeles and took the ferry over. The view was spectacular. This time we'd like to either take the ferry over and return on the next one or is there a sightseeing boat that will just give us a great view of the city? What and where do we find it?
Our itinerary includes the usual Space Needle for lunch,Pike Place, a day trip to Mt Rainier, Air Museum,etc. Any other suggestions??

The best ferry for this purpose is the one that goes to Bainbridge Island--a half hour crossing.

Leave about 11:30. Make a reservation at Cafe Nola--a short walk from the ferry. If the weather is warm, have a glass of Lavender Lemonade at the Blackbird Bakery, across the street from Nola's.

Return on the ferry that leaves about 2:00 p.m.

There is also a Harbor Tour that is very nice and informitive - and it does give you a great view of the city -
another option is the tour of Blake Island - you can take the boat over and spend as long as you want on the island - there are hiking trails and also Tillicum Village which is an Indian Village at which you can see their show and have a dinner of plank
cooked salmon- we enjoyed it .

You could also drive over to Edmunds( just a short drive from downtown Seattle). It is a very cute and scenic little town with great shops and restaurants - from there you can take the ferry over to Kingston - walk around town for a bit and ferry back.

We took the "duck" tour when we went, it was a fun way to see the sights. We also did the walking underground tour, that was neat and very informative.

You can also take the small passenger boat across to Alki and have lunch at Salty's. It's a nice thing to do. The views are lovely!

I second the Bainbridge ferry, expecially as you'll likely be downtown anyway. This ferry is used by so many commuters, you can get a feel of how tons of people come in to work everyday.

The lunch suggestion is great, I also like it at sunset as I think the skyline is spectacular. Sun is setting about 8pm now, by next week it will be 7:45-ish I think.

Another good place for lunch--recommended to me by Cafe Nola one day when I didn't have a reservation--is the deck Harbour Publick House. They serve up-scale pub food; however, it's a fairly long walk if you're trying to do lunch during a two-hour layover.

Are you going to be there on Saturday or Sunday? You can take the little water taxi across to Alki and have the most wonderful brunch at Salty's on Alki while you sit on an outside deck with the gorgeous view of the Seattle skyline. Salty's has even won awards as "the best brunch buffet in the US". I might have to agree with that.

Thanks for all your responses. The Bainbridge Ferry sounds good. Where is Alki Beach? Patrick mentioned a water taxi. Is it also accessible via ferry? We're getting into SeaTac Sat Sept 3 afternoon. We'll be staying near the airport but we'll have a car and would like to go to Salty's for drinks and dinner.

peejay,

We also enjoyed Salty's for a special birthday dinner for my DH in July. The view was just great at sunset.

We were also coming from the Sea-Tac area, and the drive was very easy, however, I'll let one of the Seattle experts give you the directions. I also think reservations may be a good idea, especially for a Saturday night.
Ask for a window table.

http://www.saltys.com/seattle/

You can drive to it. It is in West Seattle, which isn't really an island. The water taxi which goes from Pier 55 in downtown Seattle makes a stop right by Alki's.
The website has directions and other information.

Both Salty's and Alki Beach are in "West Seattle" (that's the name of a neighborhood, not just a direction).