We (my family with in-laws in tow) are going on a cruise to Alaska from Seattle in June, 2008. I have never visited Seattle and really want to see the magnificent city on my visit there. The cruise returns to Seattle on Friday morning - my thought is to stay in the city till Sunday. Is this sufficient time to see the city? I cannot make day trips out to Mt. Rainier or other beautiful places nearby - so I'd like to stay within the city. I would love to get suggestions on places to see within the city and whether I should extend the stay till Monday or will it be too many days in the city. I have a 15 month old (will be 21 months in June), so need to keep that in mind while planning the itinerary.

You could get a good look at downtown Seattle just spending the weekend... Pike Place Market, the Waterfront, Pioneer Square historic district, and the Space Needle/Seattle Center.

Nice to have so many adults available on the chance that the youngster needs to be tended back at your hotel.

I live in Seattle, but it is hard to say either way whether nearly all day Friday, all day Saturday, and perhaps a few hours of Sunday are enough.

You will easily get a flavor of Seattle in that amount of time, and if you've just returned from a cruise, chances are you might not be gung-ho about aggressively touring the city anyway.

You could easily check-off the main tourist destinations in the downtown area during the time period mentioned.

If the cruise puts you downtown upon return then you'll land right in the middle of the action, and can check-off:

*** The Space Needle
*** Pacific Science Center (??)
*** Experience Music Project
*** Pike Place Market
*** Pioneer Square
*** A ferry boat ride (round-trip)
*** (even the new-ish downtown Seattle Public Library is worth a look)

Perhaps you'll dine on the Seattle waterfront, Pioneer Square, Pike Place Market, and/or at the Space Needle itself (expensive).

Of course the surrounding areas could fill-up any amount of time you could devote to it, but I generally believe that you can get a good run for your money in the time you've mentioned.

My 11 yr. old and I were in Seattle last June. We stayed at the Inn at Harbor Steps and I highly recommend the place if you have kids. The rooms were large, they had a small kitchenette, pool, breakfast included as well as afternoon snacks. Plus there is a small grocery store in the complex. We found it very easy for getting around town. In addition to the suggested places to visit, we took a See Seattle tour and really thought it was a great way of seeing a lot of Seattle in a short time. I would stay until Monday.

Thanks for mentioning "See Seattle". I always see their vans around town and was wondering how the tours are.

I would put the question marks after EMP, not the science center.

I'd put them after EMP, science center, AND the library!

The EMP is good if you're way into music. The Pacific Science Center might be fun with a 21-month-old, who won't appreciate the other stops as much. I've just seen the outside of the library, which is impressive. I'd agree with Suze that those 3 are the lowest priority on the list. I think the time you have is enough to hit the high points.

LOL - obviously those are the lowest priorities on the list.

Add the three of them together

(EMP, Pac. Science Center, and the {new} downtown library) and I've been to them the sum total of ONCE combined, ever.

That doesn't mean that SOME tourists don't clamor about all of them.

*** I was walking through a shopping mall in Quebec a few years ago, and a shopkeeper struck up a conversation and the first thing he spoke of after I mentioned "Seattle" was the E.M.P.

In fact you COULD even add the Space Needle to the low priorities... but since it is what people DO know of Seattle before they get here, it means more to them than to us.

I've never been on the Underground Tour either, but does that mean that no tourist should ever take the time? I reason that I can always do it tomorrow, but they can't.

In closing, I think that Voyager61 really should go INSIDE the new library. Libraries sort of went out of style once the internet landed, but this one is remarkable in terms of how it is constructed and laid out. Resign yourself to getting quickly to the top floor and then walking your way down (and NOT on the stairways!).

We went to the Pacific Science Center last summer and it was very fun with kids. Mine are older, but I can envision my boys when they were 21 months just loving the place.

The traveling exhibits when we were there were geared more toward older children.

And, it's big. Not only are there other floors but also other buildings. The dinosaurs and all the machines were great, and had hands-on opportunities. The courtyard activities where you squirt the water to make the flowers spin would probably appeal to your son too!

I agree! Space Needle, Underground Tour, Ride the Duck, all kinds of fun things. It's just when you try to start prioritizing it gets a bit tricky. I'll add view from the top of Smith Tower at the Chinese Room observation deck to the list.

We ended up going to the cruise by ourselves (minus the in-laws). Thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and I loved Seattle! We stayed by the pier and visited Pike Place market, Pacific Science center and Children's Museum. I absolutely loved strolling the market place - left my son with DH dozing in the hotel and went exploring by myself - it was such a blast. And then focused the next 1.5 days on my son - he really enjoyed Children's museum and had a good time in the Science center. Thanks for all your suggestions. I have to visit Seattle again - we were lucky to not have any rains throughout the cruise and our stay in Seattle!

oh, and we visited the Aquarium! My son thoroughly enjoyed that too...

Thanks for checking back with us. Always fun to hear how things turn out.

I was in downtown Seattle the other day, and overheard a woman say:


"I'm not familiar with the rain, is it going to rain all day now??"


(made me laugh)


Anyway Vids, I'm glad that you had a nice time.