Seattle travel guide
Where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Things to do in Seattle, planned over three days
Best time to visit Seattle
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring shoulder: rain easing, prices below summer, UW cherry blossoms late March to early April, high Rainier trails still snowbound.
Summer peak: highs in the mid 70s F, sunset near 10pm in late June, salmon at the Ballard fish ladder, peak prices and cruise crowds.
Autumn: early September is summer with fewer people, then rain and dark evenings return and Rainier high country closes as snow arrives.
Winter: dark, wet and cheap, sunset about 4:20pm in December; plan museums, long lunches, coffee and skiing at Snoqualmie and Crystal.
Best months overall: late June to early September for the full city, early September with fewer crowds, and May for film, Folklife and value.
What's on
- Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) about ten days in mid May
One of North America's biggest film festivals, with screenings across the city's independent cinemas.
- Northwest Folklife Festival Memorial Day weekend
Free folk, world music and dance festival across Seattle Center, with jam sessions everywhere.
- Pride late June
PrideFest at Seattle Center and on Capitol Hill, then a big Sunday parade downtown on the last weekend of June.
- Bite of Seattle late July
Three days of local food stalls, bites and music at Seattle Center.
- Seafair June-August, culminating early August
Weeks of events ending with the Blue Angels air show and hydroplane weekend, the loudest and busiest weekend of the year.
- Bumbershoot Arts & Music Festival Labor Day weekend
Music, comedy, art and wrestling at Seattle Center.
- PAX West Labor Day weekend
Gaming convention downtown the same weekend as Bumbershoot; hotel prices spike.
- Argosy Christmas Ship Festival December evenings
A lit, choir carrying boat parade to waterfront communities around the Sound, watchable free from shore.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Seattle
Pike Place Market
A working market since 1907, best before 9am for fish, flowers, produce and the lower level shops.
Chihuly Garden and Glass
Glass galleries, a glasshouse and a garden where the pieces glow at dusk, done well in 90 minutes.
Space Needle
The 1962 tower with glass floors and Rainier views, worth the price only on a clear day.
Seattle Ferry Terminal
Walk on for the 35 minute Bainbridge crossing, with the postcard skyline shot on the return.
The Museum of Flight
Seattle's best big museum: airliners, a Concorde, war galleries and Boeing's original Red Barn.
Ballard Locks
Free locks lifting boats between the Sound and the lakes, with salmon in the fish ladder in summer.
Discovery Park
A 534 acre park of forest, bluff and beach ending at West Point Lighthouse, a real hike in the city.
Seattle Art Museum
A broad downtown collection strong on contemporary and Indigenous Northwest Coast work.
Where to stay in Seattle
Downtown / Pike Place / Waterfront
first trip, all-round base
Walk to the Market, SAM, the aquarium, the ferry and light rail; base on 1st, 2nd or 4th Avenue, not 3rd.
Capitol Hill
nightlife, restaurants and LGBTQ+ Seattle
The densest bars, live music, coffee and late food, one light rail stop from downtown.
Lower Queen Anne / Seattle Center
families and a calmer central base
Next to the Needle, Chihuly and MoPOP, residential a few blocks north, with monorail and bus downtown.
Ballard
second trip, foodies and a local feel
Ballard Avenue evenings, the Locks and Golden Gardens, but no light rail and 25 to 40 minutes downtown.
South Lake Union
clean, quiet, business-clean base
Modern hotels, the streetcar and Lake Union at hand, among the calmest central streets at night.
Belltown
bars and restaurants between downtown and Seattle Center
Strong bars and restaurants on 1st and 2nd Avenues, very walkable, but a few blocks get rough late.
Think twice about
- 3rd Avenue corridor downtown
Concentrated open air drug use and people in severe distress, especially around 3rd and Pike/Pine at night. Route around it on 1st, 2nd or 4th.
- Pioneer Square as a sleeping base
Rough sleeping and encampments are most visible here and quiet non event evenings can feel empty and edgy. Visit in the day, sleep up the hill.
- Aurora Avenue North motel strip
Cheap motels on a fast arterial known locally for sex work, drug activity and property crime, with nothing walkable.
- SeaTac / airport strip and far suburbs sold as Seattle
A highway interchange with no neighbourhood and chain food, trading the trip for a commute. Bellevue is the clean exception but a different city.
Best restaurants in Seattle
Canlis
Since 1950 over Lake Union, polished service and a Northwest tasting menu for the one big dinner.
Spinasse
Small candlelit room for hand cut Piedmontese pasta like tajarin in butter and sage.
Sushi Kashiba
Shiro Kashiba's Edomae counter pairing Japanese technique with Pacific Northwest fish.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Renee Erickson's oyster bar with a daily Northwest list; no reservations, so arrive early.
The Pink Door
Italian American food in a cabaret room and on a terrace over Elliott Bay.
Pike Place Chowder
Clam and smoked salmon chowder from a Market counter; go before 11am or after 2pm.
Communion Restaurant & Bar
Kristi Brown's Seattle Soul menu rooted in the Central District's Black, Asian and multicultural history.
Musang
Joyful Filipino cooking from community pop up roots, best shared across a group table.
Best coffee in Seattle
Elm Coffee Roasters
Pioneer Square roaster representing Seattle's real independent coffee culture.
Storyville Coffee Company
Coffee inside the Market, a better stop than the long line at the original Starbucks.
Outdoor things to do in Seattle
Mount Rainier National Park
Pick one corridor, Paradise or Sunrise, for meadows, waterfalls and Skyline Trail views in season.
Snoqualmie Falls
A 268 foot waterfall viewable free from the upper deck minutes from the car park.
Rattlesnake Ledge Trail
A 4 mile round trip climb through forest to a ledge over Rattlesnake Lake and the Cascades.
Puget Sound Express
Half day whale trips from Edmonds for orca, humpback and minke, with a go again free voucher.
Chambers Bay
Walking only links golf on Puget Sound, host of the 2015 US Open, with water views on most holes.
The Golf Club at Newcastle
36 hilltop holes with Seattle skyline, Lake Washington and Rainier views, the easier group golf day.
Jefferson Park Golf Course
The honest municipal round in the city at the Bill Wright Golf Complex.
West Seattle Golf Course
A city municipal course in West Seattle for a straightforward local round.
Best hotels in Seattle
Inn at the Market
A 70 room boutique inside the Market itself, with a rooftop deck over the Sound.
Four Seasons Hotel Seattle
Luxury full service hotel downtown with bay views, the splurge base for a first trip.
Fairmont Olympic Hotel
Old Seattle grandeur in a landmark downtown hotel.
Palihotel Seattle
A 96 room boutique directly across from Pike Place Market, the mid range downtown pick.
Green Tortoise Hostel Seattle
The long running backpacker hostel at Pike Place, the budget downtown base.
Seattle Gaslight Inn
A 1907 landmark bed and breakfast, Capitol Hill's top end stay.
11th Avenue Inn
A small Capitol Hill inn in the city's densest nightlife and dining neighbourhood.
Silver Cloud Hotel Seattle - Broadway
The conventional hotel option on Broadway in Capitol Hill.
Is Seattle expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $150 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $300 a person |
| Splurge | $600 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Chihuly Garden and Glass: a few days ahead
- Space Needle: a few days ahead
- Museum of Pop Culture: a few days ahead
- Kenmore Air: a few days ahead
- Mount Rainier National Park: a few days ahead
- Puget Sound Express: weeks ahead
- Chambers Bay: weeks ahead
- The Golf Club at Newcastle: a few days ahead
- Weeks ahead: Canlis, Spinasse, Sushi Kashiba and other small omakase counters, plus Hotel Ballard and Inn at the Market for summer weekends and Chambers Bay tee times.
- Days ahead: timed Space Needle and Chihuly bundle tickets, MoPOP special exhibitions, whale watching in summer, and current Rainier entry and parking rules.
Is Seattle safe?
- No recommended base is a no go; avoid the 3rd Avenue downtown stretch and quiet Pioneer Square and Aurora Avenue blocks late at night.
- Leave nothing visible in a parked car; smash and grabs are the city's signature property crime and rental cars with bags are the top target.
- Expect visible homelessness downtown and treat people with ordinary courtesy. Violent crime against visitors is uncommon.
Seattle travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The original Starbucks at 1912 Pike Place: a small busy Starbucks with a very long line for a photo. Do not queue.
- The Gum Wall in Post Alley: a 60 second photo on the way through the Market, not a stop to plan around.
- The Space Needle on a cloudy day at full price, and doing two observation decks. One deck, clear day, sunset slot, or Kerry Park free.
- The Crab Pot and waterfront seafood boils: fun theatre, mediocre value versus the Walrus, Matt's or a neighbourhood seafood room.
Getting around Seattle: public transport and more
- Do not rent a car for a city only trip. Link light rail runs SeaTac to Westlake in about 38 minutes; get an ORCA card for buses and the streetcar.
- Walk, light rail and bus cover most of the city's sights; the Museum of Flight, Ballard, Discovery Park and all excursions need a bus, rideshare, car or tour.
- Ferries are transit, not cruises: walk on passengers need no reservation on the Bainbridge route and board first.
Who Seattle suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Seattle your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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