Must See Seattle Attractions

Welcome to Seattle! As your hosts, we're thrilled to have you experience our vibrant city. While we've ensured your stay in our condo is comfortable and luxurious, we also want to make sure you dive into the best Seattle has to offer. This guide will help you navigate Seattle's top attractions, from iconic landmarks to hidden gems, ensuring your visit is as unforgettable as your stay with us. Get ready to explore the Emerald City like a local!

---

PRO TIP: Maximize Your Savings with CityPASS

If your itinerary includes three or more major attractions—especially the Space Needle and Seattle Aquarium—purchasing a Seattle CityPASS (or the shorter-stay Seattle C3® option) is almost guaranteed to save you money. The pass combines admission to 5 (or 3) top destinations, often resulting in savings of up to 50% compared to buying individual tickets. Be sure to check which attractions require advance, timed-entry reservations (like the Space Needle or Chihuly Garden and Glass) and book those immediately after purchasing your pass.

---

Seattle's skyline is instantly recognizable, anchored by architectural marvels and framed by stunning natural landscapes, offering visitors countless vantage points to take in the beauty of the Emerald City. From the unparalleled height of the Space Needle to the charming, postcard-perfect view from Kerry Park, this section covers the essential photo opportunities and destinations that define the city's unique profile against the backdrop of Puget Sound and the snow-capped Cascade and Olympic Mountains.

• Space Needle: Seattle's most famous landmark, built for the 1962 World's Fair. Offers breathtaking 360-degree views of the city, Puget Sound, and mountains from its observation deck and rotating glass floor.
• Kerry Park: While small, this park on Queen Anne Hill provides the classic, postcard-perfect view of the Seattle skyline, including the Space Needle and Mount Rainier on a clear day.
• The Seattle Great Wheel: A large Ferris wheel on Pier 57 offering unique views of the downtown waterfront and Elliott Bay.
• Sky View Observatory (at Columbia Center): Offers the highest public viewpoint in the city (73rd floor), providing expansive panoramic views, often less crowded than the Space Needle.
• Smith Tower: A historic skyscraper with an observation deck and a speakeasy-style bar on the 35th floor, offering a classic vantage point from the city's first skyscraper.

The heart of Seattle's visitor experience lies in its vibrant Downtown core and the adjacent waterfront along Elliott Bay. This central area is a dynamic hub of commerce, culture, and cuisine, easily navigable on foot. Here, you'll find everything from the historic bustle and fresh catches of Pike Place Market to the classic maritime views offered by the Seattle Great Wheel and the historic cobblestone streets of Pioneer Square. These hubs provide essential opportunities to immerse yourself in the city's unique history and daily life.

• Pike Place Market: The oldest continuously operating farmers market in the U.S.
  • Highlights: Watching the famous fish throwing, exploring the flower stands and artisan crafts, visiting the "original" Starbucks store (though its true original location was nearby), and seeing the bizarre Gum Wall in Post Alley.
• Seattle Aquarium: Located on the waterfront, featuring a diverse collection of marine life from the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
• Pioneer Square: Seattle's historic first neighborhood.
  • Highlights: The Underground Tour (Beneath the Streets) reveals the history of how the city was rebuilt on top of itself after the Great Fire of 1889. Also home to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Museum.
• Washington State Ferries: Take a scenic ride across Puget Sound (e.g., to Bainbridge Island) for stunning, inexpensive views of the city skyline and surrounding mountains.

---

Seattle is a haven for the curious, offering a world-class selection of museums and cultural institutions that showcase everything from stunning artistry to cutting-edge technology. Many of these top attractions are conveniently located in the Seattle Center area, the legacy of the 1962 World's Fair. Visitors can easily immerse themselves in the fantastical glass creations at Chihuly Garden and Glass, explore the interactive exhibits covering music and pop culture at MoPOP, or dive into history and science at the Pacific Science Center, providing rich indoor activities perfect for any weather.

• Chihuly Garden and Glass: A mesmerizing exhibition showcasing the incredible glass art of Tacoma native Dale Chihuly, featuring a stunning glasshouse and outdoor garden.
• Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP): An architecturally distinctive museum with dynamic exhibits on music, science fiction, horror films, video games, and pop culture.
• Pacific Science Center: A family-friendly museum with interactive exhibits, a planetarium, and an Imax theater.
• Seattle Art Museum (SAM): The main museum downtown with diverse global collections. Don't miss the free, outdoor Olympic Sculpture Park extension on the waterfront.

Can't get enough of quirky and unique museums?  While you're in town you can also visit The Pinball Museum, The Museum of Illusions or even The Rubber Chicken Museum!

---

Beyond its gleaming downtown and famous waterways, Seattle is known as the "Emerald City" for a reason—it is an incredibly green city with deep roots in its neighborhood culture. This section explores the vast, beautiful, and often quirky areas outside the core, from sprawling coastal reserves like Discovery Park to the historic remnants of industry at Gas Works Park. Here, you'll discover the city's unique charm, meet the legendary Fremont Troll, and witness the marvel of maritime engineering at the Ballard Locks.

• Gas Works Park: A unique park on the shores of Lake Union built on the site of an old gasification plant, offering fantastic views of the city skyline and houseboats.
• Fremont Troll: A famous public sculpture of a troll clutching a Volkswagen Beetle, located under the Aurora Bridge in the eccentric Fremont neighborhood.
• Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (Ballard Locks): Watch boats navigate between the Puget Sound and the freshwater lakes, and check out the fish ladder (best in summer/fall) to see salmon swimming upstream.
• Discovery Park: The largest public park in Seattle, offering 534 acres of coastal beach, forests, and views of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound.
• The Spheres (Amazon Headquarters): A visually stunning, greenhouse-like workspace with a diverse collection of plant life. Visitors can book free tours.

---

You might be tempted to extend your stay now that you've seen all that Seattle has to offer!  Here are some other highlights from around the area.  

• The Museum of Flight: One of the world's largest air and space museums, located just south of Seattle, showcasing an impressive collection of aircraft, including a former Air Force One.
• Boeing Future of Flight & Factory Tour: Located north of Seattle, this is a must-see for aviation enthusiasts, offering tours of the largest building in the world by volume, where Boeing airplanes are assembled.
• Snoqualmie Falls: A powerful, 268-foot waterfall located about 30 minutes east of the city—an easy and beautiful nature escape.

• Bruce and Brandon Lee Graves (Lake View Cemetery): Located adjacent to Volunteer Park in Capitol Hill, the graves of the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee and his son Brandon Lee are a global pilgrimage site, marked by simple headstones and a bench for reflection.
• Jimi Hendrix Statue (Capitol Hill): A vibrant bronze statue of the iconic musician in a classic rock-out pose, found at the corner of Broadway and Pine in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
• Jimi Hendrix Memorial (Renton): Located outside of Seattle in Greenwood Memorial Park, the final resting place of the rock legend is marked by a large, granite memorial, often adorned with flowers and guitar picks left by fans.