visiting Seattle

Anyone from Seattle?

Visiting end of April this year. What are some spots worth checking out or doing? Besides the Space Needle and museums.


First time there.

Seattle is a magical and beautiful place. I wish I could post my photos but every corner of it is beautiful and they have these magical city buses that will take you anywhere for $2.75-$3.50 depending on time of day. There is a fine line between touristy and non-touristy because it's a small city (at least compared to the big Texas cities) and they have a lot of damn amazon employees who moved in and are slowly ruining the city but I digress.

You will need about a week or more to see all these places by the way.

First, check out the classic touristy areas:
Start with Pike Place market and look at them toss the fishes, go to the original Starbucks, and check out the gum wall on Post Alley. While in the area, walk down to Pier 57 and ride the Great Wheel or just walk around. The area is kind of messy now with the construction but still worth it. Stop by Ivars for some fish and chips and watch out for seagulls.

2nd classic touristy area is Kerry Park. You HAVE TO visit Kerry Park. It has the best skyline view of anywhere. You'll see the space needle and Mt. Rainier in the background on a clear day and nothing but fog on other days. Go there at sunset and set up your tripod and do a long exposure.

Now a little more local flavor but still touristy:
While down at pier 57, take the water taxi to West Seattle and Alkai beach or take the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Beautiful beautiful beautiful. You can see the entire skyline from there too and at night have nice reflections on the water. Google Hamilton Viewpoint for yet another amazing view.

Next, check out Gas Works Park for yet another great view but this time looking down north to South on Union Lake. When the weather is nice, you'll see lots of sea planes coming and going and hell, if you got a little cash, take a tour on a freaking sea plane! There is a cafe called the Essential Baking Company near there that I highly recommend.

After you leave Gas Works Park, stop by Fremont and take a selfie with the Fremont Troll. It's a giant troll under a bridge.

If it's spring and you're in that area, visit the campus of the University of Washington and go look at the blossoming cherry trees. Get it? Washington / Cherry trees...

Now let's get a little more local...Seattle people are active. Mostly because they have a lot of hills and cars don't run over bikes the way they do in other places.

My favorite park on earth is Discovery Park. Gorgeous views, and it has a lighthouse. Go to the lighthouse. If you're a Generation Xer, this lighthouse will look familiar because in 1991 Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Soundgarden's Chris Cornell had a band called Temple of the Dog and they shot this video there:


In fact, if you were a generation Xer, you'll remember that Seattle was the birthplace of grunge so visit Volunteer Park and the Black sun Sculpture known to be the inspiration for the song Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden and while there, visit the grave of Bruce Lee and Branden Lee. No shit. Also, there is a bench near the house where Kurt Cobain did himself in that's a memorial for him, but that's a little further away.

Not too far from there is another famous part of Seattle called Capital Hill. They have hipster cafe's and such and it might be worth seeing it.

Well...now what? You want more views? Go to the Columbia tower observatory and take pictures of the space needle looking down.

Want a road trip? Go to Snoqualmie and look at their waterfall.

Like mountains? Go to Mt. Rainier National Park or the Cascades. There is a mailbox on top of one of them that the locals take selfies of. I didn't make it to either place but if you have a car, do it.

Kind of lazy? Take one of the many tours they offer. Argosy has lots of them.

A word of caution:
Seattle has a huge homeless/pan handler problem so be smart. Don't be in downtown after 1 am either as there are robberies there. Belltown is a fun area for bars but the area has gone downhill from what I remember. Be smart and don't look like a tourist.

Amazing tips!!!!!

What about food culture? Want to experience that food flare Seattle has to offer and is known for.

Best coffee shop? Best bar? Any local breweries?

Best coffee shops? It's Seattle. In town there is literally a coffee shop every other block. Around downtown there is a Starbucks or another coffee shop at every block! Only difference is the downtown shops require you to get a key or password to use the bathroom due to the panhandler issue I mentioned. Me, I mostly went to Starbucks because I got points and am a gold card member (which ironically will be downgraded to a "Green Card" once their new reward system takes over, but I digresss.

Best bar?
To be honest, I was severely disappointed by their bars. Belltown used to have some nice bars, but they have been torn down and there is a ton of sushi and wine bars and the old bars there are just full of kids and no AC. I tried going to a couple of places on Lower Queen Anne and they were also horrible and full of douche baggy amazon employees living in $3000 a month apartments. No comparison between them and Dallas/San Antonio/Houston/Austin bars. Just terrible.

There IS a place called Uncle Ike's, but I didn't try it because even though it's legal there, I didn't want to draw any attention to myself.

Breweries: http://seattle.eater.com/maps/best-seattle-breweries

According to me, the Seattle is one of the most beautiful and attractive city of Washington. I hear much about it from my friends. It is a truly great city for fun and see the beauty of nature. I also planning to go there in the next month. If I will go then i will share with you.

What about food? Like iconic food Seattle has to offer. Is like going to NYC and not eat pizza or bagels, or Chicago and not eating a chicago style hot dog, or going to Texas and not trying the BBQ. What food/dishes is Seattle known for?

arcane, You have shared really great views about Seattle. After reading your post, I can see that you have a big lover of food. In the next week, I am planning to NYC and will try to eat Pizza in this city. I hope I will eat there many delicious foods.

Seattle is really one of the great time for me if i will try anything like this and so sure that i will have amazing time there and would love to go there again and again.

I found this video interesting. It starts out a little bit NSFW but it's kind of good to watch. Ivars does have great fish and chips.

This is great, That's really a very beautiful place which offers amazing kind of places to expericne. I am sure that you must had nice time there with whoever is with you or you are alone.