Seattle with Kids
 

We will be visiting Seattle in July with 2 boys (ages 4 & 5). We would like to stay in the center of the city, close to the market in the hopes of walking to alot of attractions. Does anyone have any suggestions for hotels? And other attractions. The boys are excited to maybe take a whale watching tour. Also, we will be staying for some of the time on Orcas Island and get to do some light hiking there.
All suggestions welcome.
Thanks in advance for the help.

I haven't been to Seattle for quite a while, and it was before kids anyway. But there's always the space needle and Pike St Market (the boys ought to enjoy the fish chucking). Boat ride is a great idea, especially if you can see some Orcas...
Here's one person's take:
http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/waseattle/a/kids.htm
she thinks the space needle is a mistake, but my wife enjoyed it as a young girl.

The science center sounds good as does ride the ducks.

I love Seattle.
Dan
www.familtroadtrippers.blogspot.com

The Pacific Science Center at Seattle Center (think Space Needle) has lots of hand-on activities that are fun for kids.

Whale-watching is best done from Orcas Island, not Seattle.

If you've got the budget for it, I think the Fairmont Olympic is one of the best places to stay with kids--they really go out of their way to be welcoming to children.

Seattle is great for kids.

My kids love Pike Place Market. Always something new to discover. Our current favorite is getting mac & cheese at Beecher's. Yummy. You can walk downstairs to the aquarium on the waterfront - my 4-year old can't go there enough.

The Seattle Center is great. You can take the monorail there from downtown which is fun. If you are lucky the kids can get a seat at the front window. Pacific Science Center is a lot of fun. We love the International Fountain. The kids bring their swimsuits and can spend a good hour or two dodging the spray. They also love all the fair-type rides in the Fun Forest.

A Mariner's game is fun.

Seafair starts on July 7th and there might be some fun events while you are town. http://www.seafair.com/

Take a DUCK tour. When we went to Seattle our boys were not with us and we took this tour. It was fun! We have said when we go back with our kids (ages 5,5 and 3) we will take them on the DUCK tour. It is great, they will love riding in a vehicle with open windows and spashing down in the water. There was kids on our tour and they seemed to be having fun.

We went to Seattle when our boys were just a touch older than yours. The science center was great. They also liked the music experience project. The monorail was fun.

There was a snack-stand kind of restaurant down by the water, where lots of people held up their french fries (or left them on the railing) and the sea gulls flew right up and snatched them. My memory is hazy, but it was something like Victor's (?) and they might have served fish and chips. The boys loved it and it was a fun casual place to grab a bite. That is one of the things they still remember about Seattle.

I was shocked that our hotel, located right in the city (I'm sorry, I don't remember the name), had windows that opened from the bottom but no window guards of any kind.

The fish & chips place on the waterfront is Ivar's.

Thank you! I was remembering the "V".

My friend has a "transportation tour" he does with kids visiting here... he includes a taxi, Metro bus, ferry boat ride, Monorail, trolley car at the waterfront, etc.

Suze,

Could you please give me more info on the transportation tour that your friend does? My 10 yr. old and I are visiting at the end of June/

Also for Suzanne, we are staying at the Inn at Harbor Steps. They had room with two beds, breakfast is included and they have an indoor pool. Plus it looked like a good location and the reviews on tripadvisor.com were very favorable.
Single tickets are on sale now for Mariner games and I was able to get great seats for when they face the red sox.

That is indeed a nice location.

You can walk to Safeco Field from there for the game, or jump on any bus heading south on First in the free zone (just ask the driver and make sure it is NOT on that goes to West Seattle instead of continuing south on First!) Or if the waterfront trolly is running, you can take that to Pioneer Square, and then walk the rest of the way to Safeco.

for itsy~~ Sorry, it's not really a "tour" he just takes kids on all those different ways to get around the city on his own.

We're also thinking of going to the Seattle area with our kids. My in-laws have a membership to an RV club and would like us to come stay with them near Snoqualmie Falls. Our kids are 11, 9 and 6.

I have been reading up and was wondering....
Do you think they'd enjoy Tillicum Village? I'd love for them to learn about Native American culture.

I notice there is both a children's museum and a science museum. It appears the children's museum might be a little young for my older two?

Is the Woodland Park Zoo a good one?

Thanks!

Our Zoo is EXcellent!

5alive - I think you are right that your kids might be too old for the Children's Museum. My toddler loves it but my 4 year old prefers the Pac. Science Center. There are a lot of 1 and 2 year olds running around in the Children's Museum!

We really enjoy the zoo but I've never been to another one so I have nothing to compare it too.

I have visited the island Tillicum Village is on but haven't actually been to the dinner/show. It was pretty, though and seemed like it would be a fun thing to do. It seems like something kids would enjoy.

thanks suze and idgyeaw.

I think I will pass on the children's museum.

One other question, does Snoqualmie Falls area have a lot of hiking or biking trails?

Thank you all!