Seattle?
 

Hi, all - we're thinking of taking a trip to Seattle. If you've been, how long would you stay? Any favorite attractions, tours, or things to do? Any favorite places to stay? We'd love to stay somewhere on the water with pretty views if possible. Maybe go whale watching? Would love any recommendations you have. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

When?
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Underground Tour
Music Experience EMP Museum
Chihuly Gardens Exhibit
The Needle
Pike Market [do a tour] - www.seattlefreewalkingtours.org

The Alexis Hotel, water views but in the downtown area
The Edgewater , on the water but removed from downtown area
The Del Hotel on Coronado Island

Segway tour of Coronado Island

I have lived near Seattle for over 20 years and just saw the Troll for the first time back in May (playing tourist in the Fremont District). What time of year are you thinking of visiting us? I would say that most of the good sites are actually outside the city.

DebitNM has pretty well covered the sites in Seattle, but I will add the Theo Chocolate Factory (all you can eat chocolate during & after the tour - what's not to love?):
https://www.theochocolate.com/factory-tours

The Pacific Northwest is all about the great outdoors and outside of the city there are great things to see & do:

Whale Watching - different whales come in different months here
http://www.watchwhales.com/index.html

Mt. Rainier National Park (Paradise)
https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/paradise.htm

Northwest Trek (on the way to Paradise)
https://www.nwtrek.org/

The Museum of Flight
http://www.museumofflight.org/

The Future of Flight
http://www.futureofflight.org/

Mount Saint Helens would be a long day trip from Seattle, but is worth seeing.
http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffo...a/?recid=34143

Fremont Troll (Fremont is a funky little neighborhood in Seattle)
http://fremont.com/about/fremonttroll-html/

When, coming from where, for how long, and budget? The list is endless but we need more to go on from you.

<i>The Del Hotel on Coronado Island
Segway tour of Coronado Island</i>

You have us confused with the other end of I-5.

Probably in September - is that a good time to visit? I was thinking the weather might be nice then. Deb, Coronado and Hotel Del are San Diego aren't they?

No budget - we're pretty open. I was thinking four or five days maybe. Wow, I'm loving all of your suggestions. I'm going to explore some of these. I've always thought the area looked beautiful. My husband has gone there on business but didn't get much chance to explore. He wants to go to a baseball game while we're there. If you have any favorite restaurants, I'd love suggestions on those too. We love seafood, good burgers, brewpubs, anything really, doesn't have to be fancy. Especially love dining outdoors or with a view, but not a requirement.

This has been a year without a real summer. The weather is up and down - 65 degrees one day, 80 the next. September can go either way.

I would say that most restos "with a view" are going to be tourist traps. Here are some restaurant recs.

Piroshky, Piroshky is just outside the Pike Place Market (you'll see the line out the door). It's a "grab & go" kind of place, but crazy good.

Also near Pike Place Market is Cafe Campagne.
http://cafecampagne.com/

The Walrus and the Carpenter
http://www.thewalrusbar.com/

Toulouse Petit (reservation strongly recommended)
http://toulousepetit.com/

For Asian food you can't go wrong with Wild Ginger. As a couple you can get 1/2 orders of the dishes so you can try more things. It's "Asian Fusion." The satays are all good, Black Pepper Scallops & Wok BBQ Shrimp are wonderful. Great cocktails, too. Dine in the bar or have a reservation for dinner.
http://www.wildginger.net/

Deb has apparently transported some of San Diego to Seattle. "The Del Hotel on Coronado Island Segway tour of Coronado Island" lol

I can recommend the Inn at the Market. September is a fine time to visit Seattle.

opppps! mea culpa!

I was trying for the best of both!!
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We really like brunch at Salty's on Alki Beach [that is right isn't it??] Take the ferry over.

www.saltys.com/seattle

Six Seven Restaurant has wonderful views and great food
http://www.edgewaterhotel.com/seattl...estaurant.aspx

There is a water taxi to West Seattle; no ferries.

It's always hard to recommend restaurants, as people like different things. I love oysters, so always enjoy Shuckers (lower level of the Fairmont) right downtown.

For French food, I recommend Pomerol (in Fremont) or NW French at Loulay (next to the Sheraton).

Toulouse Petit (lower Queen Anne) has a weekday breakfast special that is really special.

Seafood with a view that is full of locals: Chinook's at Fisherman's Terminal.

Favorite burger: actually in Redmond, at the Tipsy cow.

Oysters: walrus & carpenter

Pizza: serious pie. Favorite location is Capitol Hill- shares the fantastic Starbucks roastery building.


Brunch:
Totally agree about Toulouse petit.

Breakfast/lunch: crumpet shop. Eat my way through the market. Or International district. Collections cafe at Chihuly can be fun.

Dinner: six seven is pretty good, but rather pricy. Definitely go before dark for the view. Also like Salty's. Kells Pub, if you like Irish beer or music. Metropolitan if you like old fashioned steakhouses.

4 nights at least for Seattle. If you have extra time, there are a lot of great day trips. I love taking the Victoria clipper to Victoria BC for an overnight trip.

ok, I am going to shut up now, my bad memory is getting me in trouble. :)

Baseball game at Safeco Field (great stadium)
Trip out to Snoqualmie Falls
Cruise on Puget Sound through the Locks
Museum of Flight (great museum)
All the seafood options

Hard to believe its been 9 years since I was there...Only had 3 days there so packed everything in.

Hello,

When we visited Seattle, we had a great time on a walking tour (Seattle's Free walking Tours w/Jake). We also did a day trip to Mount Rainier which was a highlight. Mount Rainier is only a 2-hour ride away and it is one of the nicest National Parks - beautiful views, waterfalls, short hikes, wildlife (we saw mountain goats, deer, and a marmot). Check out the link in my bio - I posted a page about Seattle and Mount Rainier which might be helpful.

Have a great trip!

- Mike

In addition to the many great suggestions already, I suggest the Ballard Locks. If you do that on a Sunday, definitely hit the Ballard farmers market as well. It runs year round and is excellent! You could easily fill a day between the locks, the market and just general unique shopping and excellent restaurants all in the Ballard neighborhood alone.

If you visit the Fremont Troll, make a stop at Theo Chocolate as well. They do a tour if that interests you.

The Savour Seattle food tours are excellent! DH grew up in downtown and a couple years ago when we flew my mom in for a visit, we did one of the tours and even as locals we loved it. The Pike Place tour is what we did that day, but we have done others as well. The Booze and Bites is really fun:)

If you want an iconic view of the Space Needle and Mt Rainier (weather dependent of course), head to Kerry Park on Queen Anne.

The Mariner's games are a lot of fun. The food options within the park are quite good, so don't feel like you have to have a meal before you head to the game. We have had season tickets for 16 years and eat at the park about half the time. If you go for an evening game, they offer happy hour pricing until 6 when you buy beer;) Otherwise our usual go to spot is the nearby Casco Antiguo which has an excellent happy hour and is super close to the stadium.

The Salmon House is very good and has the added bonus of having outdoor seating right on the lake. People will pull their boats up at their dock and come dine. It is fun to watch the sea planes come and go as well. The restaurant itself if very interesting, and the salmon is excellent.

marvelousmouse--We like the Tipsy Cow too. The Feed Co near there is also really good!

It's funny that you guys mentioned Vancouver. I texted three friends who I know have been to Seattle, and all three of them said to also go over to Vancouver. Also mentioned someplace there with fancy tea that they thought I would like. You guys are making some great suggestions. Deb, I've stayed at The Del. If there was another branch in Seattle, I was going to be all over it lol. We go to Costa Rica all the time, so I love wildlife and waterfalls too.

<i>No budget - we're pretty open. I was thinking four or five days maybe...

I texted three friends who I know have been to Seattle, and all three of them said to also go over to Vancouver. Also mentioned someplace there with fancy tea that they thought I would like. You guys are making some great suggestions. Deb, I've stayed at The Del. If there was another branch in Seattle, I was going to be all over it lol. We go to Costa Rica all the time, so I love wildlife and waterfalls too.</i>

Because our area has so many wonderful things packed into a pretty compact geographic area, short trips can easily become overcrowded with "must dos" leaving one's head spinning. I'm tempted to add to the long list of places to see or things to do, but at some point that becomes counterproductive and not very neighborly.

So what I'll suggest instead is that you think about a combination city/country experience. If memory serves, you're coming from the eastern US,

With four or five days I'd suggest spending a couple of them away from the city. Seattle is pretty cool, but it's located smack in the middle of some of America's best scenery and outdoor offerings - islands, mountains, picturesque little towns and awesome natural features...

With five days I'd spend three in town and two somewhere else.

With four or five days I'd suggest spending a couple of them away from the city. Seattle is pretty cool, but it's located smack in the middle of some of America's best scenery and outdoor offerings - islands, mountains, picturesque little towns and awesome natural features...

With five days I'd spend three in town and two somewhere else. It's the "somewhere else" part that gets complicated, because there are so many.

- Fancy Tea: They're probably referring to Victoria BC with its picturesque Inner Harbour and "Olde England" shtick. The Empress Hotel, which overlooks the water, has a well-known afternoon tea that's a big hit with the tourists, particularly those eager to part with fifty bucks for a cuppa and a selection of finger sandwiches and pastries. And there's no shortage of tourists - OMG. You can get to Victoria on a high-speed ferry from Seattle (high speed still meaning 3 hours bumping through the water each way) or a 45-min. and incredibly scenic floatplane ride from downtown Seattle.

- Vancouver: Four hours from Seattle by train or car, a marvelous world city, but not something you can "do" in a day. If you want to visit Vancouver, plan a special trip. Like Seattle, Vancouver is a glorious if complicated city, located in one of the most, if not THE most, beautiful settings in North America, maybe even the world.

- Local/out-of-town/mountains: From Seattle you can make eye contact with three separate national parks - Olympic, North Cascades and Mount Rainier. Mount Rainier can be visited in a day trip; the other two require at least one overnight. Olympic National Park is amazing - rain forests, alpine meadows, rocky beaches... but really needs three full days counting travel time to and from Seattle. North Cascades NP has next to no visitor facilities apart from some campgrounds and trails, so that's not very convenient for non-campers. So Mount Rainier - around 2 1/2 hours from Seattle - is the "easy" national park. In September you'll have smaller crowds and (probably) decent weather, but the famous wildflowers will be gone.

- Local/out-of-town/islands: Two "major" islands in Puget Sound are reachable by ferry from Seattle, Bainbridge and Vashon. Bainbridge Island is mainly a commuter island, served by big and frequent car ferries leaving from downtown Seattle. From Bainbridge you can travel by land to the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas, both of which have endless places to explore. Vashon Island, on the other hand, is a big and very rural island with a counter-cultural vibe; it feels like you're a zillion miles from Seattle even though there's a ferry from Seattle (doesn't leave from downtown but from West Seattle) at the north end and a ferry to Tacoma at the south end. In between you've got a lighthouse, lots of cool beaches, a couple of funky little towns, and fab views of Mount Rainier and passing boats. http://gardyloo.us/vashon%20light%201.jpg and http://gardyloo.us/Rainier%20from%20Vashon%201.JPG

- Sort-of local/out-of-town/islands: Half an hour north of downtown Seattle is the picturesque little town of Mukilteo - http://gardyloo.us/20140531_3Ha.jpg - from which you can take a ferry to Whidbey Island, another marvelous and quite large island with a couple of VERY picturesque waterfront villages (Langley and Coupeville) as well as a couple of fab state parks including Deception Pass - http://gardyloo.us/083b.JPG - where the changing tide roars through the gap between Whidbey and Fidalgo islands at a scary and awesome pace. Past Whidbey are the San Juan islands, justly famous for their beauty and hang-loose vibe. But like Olympic NP or the North Cascades, the logistics and time needed to get to the San Juans pretty much rules them out for a one- or two-day visit.

- Way out-of-town: Your mention of waterfalls leads me to suggest a thought experiment: Fly to Seattle and spend three days here, but in the late afternoon or evening of the third day hop a train south to Portland (around 4 hours and quite scenic in places.) Spend the night in Portland, then spend the next two days exploring the Columbia River Gorge and Hood River valley, just east of the city. This is a drop-dead gorgeous area, with stunning vistas, umpteen waterfalls along the side of the Gorge walls, orchards and vineyards in the Hood River Valley in harvest season, craft breweries and family wineries all over the place, wind surfers on the Columbia, and Mount Hood looming over all. Great food, way less expensive than Seattle, and Portland airport is just down the road for the flight home.

So this probably further complicates things, and of course you're free to disregard all of it. But a city-country combo for your brief visit might help you start planning a longer visit in the future, by hinting at the possibilities.

Mms- ooh haven't eaten there yet, thanks! Excited that they have huckleberry shakes on the menu!

I love all of gardyloo's suggestions, but I think Vancouver is not great for 2 day trip I'd probably only do it if you had at least 3 or 4 nights to spend there. Totally worth it though- and let me add the sea to sky highway and Whistler to that:)

gardyloo is quite right. There is simply too much to do and see in Seattle (also in Vancouver and in Victoria). If you had a three week trip to Seattle, we could fill it, either with things entirely in the city or with trips to National Parks (like Rainier and Olympic NP) or trips to various islands like the San Juans - or more off the beaten track, the Canadian San Juans.

<Also mentioned someplace there with fancy tea that they thought I would like.>

That'd be The Empress in Victoria. You can take the Victoria Clipper ferry up there for a day trip or an overnight.

A few places with outdoor dining & a view in Seattle:
Pink Door in the Market
Anthony's Pier 66 waterfront
Ray's Boathouse
Daniel's Broiler Lake Union
Marination Ma Kai West Seattle
Ivar's Acres of Clams waterfront

This place is pretty cool, on the water, kayak rentals and Mexican restaurant in one!
http://aguaverde.com/

I like Argosy's cruise through the Ballard Locks into Lake Union and Lake Washington and their whale watching cruise from Seattle to the San Juan Islands.

HTtY

marvelousmouse--That milkshake is on tap for Monday when we get back from backpacking, lol! After hard hikes, a burger and shake are our treat and well earned with no guilt, lol!

HTTY--I agree, that Argosy cruise through the locks is really good! We played tourist and did that earlier this summer and really enjoyed it.

You might also look at kayaking. There are lots of places to do it. We have used Alki Kayak as well as Ballard Kayak and really like the trips they do.

http://www.salishlodge.com

I enjoy my breakfast/brunch here. :)

Salty's brunch on the weekend is wonderful.

Ray's Boathouse?

A seaplane ride up to the San Juan Islands or a Seattle flight during late afternoon.

We decided to go for six days. I wish we had more time. I'm having fun reading all the suggestions - it all looks really great.

A fun night on the town is the Teatro Zinzanni. It is held in an antique circus tent imported from Europe and includes dinner and a show. The wait people are part of the show and it is pretty hysterical. I have gone a couple of times.

Agree with Argosy Tours. We did the one of the harbor with a visit to Tillicum Village- a Native American Village where you enjoy a show and fabulous salmon dinner. You can stay on the island as long as you want- or at least until the last boat leaves and make a day of it.

I know we definitely want to go to Pike Place Market - how long would you guys estimate we would spend there? Just enough time to wander around and see everything and shop a bit? What are your favorite places in the market? Do they have food you can grab and go? Would love your recommendations on that.

A couple hours is plenty for the Market.

Yes the are loads of places with food to-go. If you want to have some seafood, the fish vendors do things like crab or shrimp in a cup. There's Market Grill with fish sandwiches. Pike Place Chowder... well with chowder. Mishou's is a great deli. Le Panier a french bakery. Beechers (you can see the big vat of them making cheese) has delish to go things including a cup of mac & cheese...

that's just off the top of my head!

The Market has year-round permanent shops in several buildings. Plus it also has even more summer-time vendors for flowers, vegetables, lots of arts & crafts. Those are in the arcade heading north from "the pig" (statue).

Lots of grab and go food in the Market, but also some nicer restaurants. My fave is Maxmillian's, but Matts in the Market gets good reviews as well.

One could easily spend all day in the Market. But you can also go and browse for a couple of hours.

That all sounds great. I was thinking we might do one of the food tours - that sounds really fun. Thanks for all the restaurant suggestions too.

Is Mt. Rainier something you all think we should do on our own or maybe do a day tour? Are there easy hikes you can do there? I've seen some guided tours offered too - what do you guys think?

If you are going to have a car (or even just rent a car for a day) Mt. Rainier is easy to do on your own. There are many easy hikes you can do.

I agree, if you have a car there is no reason to not do Rainier on your own. There are a lot of easy hikes you can do. Here are two websites that as hikers, we use a lot.

www.wta.org
www.nwhikers.net

The first one is excellent in describing hikes and has elevation and distance for each one, as well as all the trip reports for each hike. The second website is a forum based but is a wealth of info from other fellow hikers.

marvelousmouse--I was so bummed as we had to skip the burger/shake when we got back on Monday! Friends were in town and wanted to meet at Matador instead. It was fine but not the burger/shake that we had earned with our backpacking, lol!

We got our tickets to the Mariners game booked and also booked a Savor Seattle tour - already getting excited about the trip. Snoqualmie Falls looks pretty - how far is that from Seattle?

It looks like Chihuly and the Space Needle are close to each other - is that right? About how long would you guys recommend to see those two? Is Collections Cafe a good place to grab a bite to eat?

Super helpful tips...I'm saving this post for my future Seattle travel. Thanks!

I believe it was 45 minutes or so out to Snoqualmie Falls. I'll never forget that it was sunny the entire ride there. As soon as I got to the top of the waterfall, a downpour started. I would have been drier if I jumped into the waterfall...

Also near the Space Needle is a Science Fiction Museum and a Guitar museum if interested.

I am sure you will enjoy those!

The Falls are about a half hour from Seattle. Be sure to take 90 across the water and NOT 520 with a rental car. 520 is a toll bridge, with no way to pay cash. If you do not have a Good To Go pass, the rental car companies pass along a convenience fee of around $25 each time you cross the bridge. On 90 there are no tolls, so no worries. Plus it is a bit shorter. So just keep an eye on your directions.

The Chihuly garden is right smack next to the Space Needle. It is hard to say how much time to allow since the lines at the SN vary a lot. With no waiting, I would say maybe an hour total for the SN and about 45 minutes for Chihuly. I have not eaten at the cafe there, but hear it is very good, FWIW.

The Space Needle and Chihuly sell combo tickets that save money if you're planning to see both. The cafe at the Chihuly exhibit is pretty good if rather pricey.

However you might look at the total cost of having lunch in the Space Needle then visiting Chihuly separately. Lunch has a minimum per person spend requirement of $25, but they throw in the elevator and observation deck for free ($22 otherwise) so compare lunch (say $30) plus Chihuly ($27) vs. the combo ticket ($46) plus the cost of lunch at the Chihuly cafe (say $20.) The food at the Sky City restaurant in the Space Needle is actually pretty good. http://www.spaceneedle.com/information/

Unless you manage to miss all the traffic, the drive to Snoqualmie Falls will be 45-60 minutes. I have lived here a long time, so can remember when the drive was only 30 minutes, but I have a long memory.

We had a nice lunch at Collections Cafe when we visited the Chilhuly museum and garden. I know we spent an hour or so there, but Cheryl was photographing. Other things at the Seattle Center include The Experience Music Project - what tchoiniere called "Science Fiction Museum and a Guitar museum" While there are some interesting exhibits, the building is at least as interesting.

Are you planing on going up in the space needle? If so, expect a long line. Personally, I don't find it a compelling view. Maybe go to Volunteer Park - atop Capital Hill and see the glorious view of the city and the Bay laid out before you. No lines! I also like that the view there includes the Space Needle.