Getting Here
If you live here, congrats, you're here! In the best place!
If you're fortunate enough to be visiting, you'll be flying into SeaTac (SEA).
Once you land, you can always take an Uber/Lyft into town.
My personal favorite however is taking the LINK Light Rail, which will take you on a speedy, scenic view of our city, heading into Downtown or wherever you're staying.
Staying Here
Reserve early! August is a very popular travel time for Seattle, because it's so beautiful this time of year!
That's why we want y'all to come experience it too!
If this is your first time in Seattle, I would recommend staying at an AirBNB somewhere in the core area, or in one of the downtown neighborhoods, to more easily do tourist things. If you're planning on the classic visit, you'll be spending time in Downtown, Pioneer Square, Uptown/Lower Queen Anne, and Capitol Hill, possibly with some jaunts to other neighborhoods.
The Inn at the Market is a classic, upscale location. Great headquarters to explore the city from, and you can easily catch an Uber/Lyft to the venue.
The Hotel Vintage is part of the Kimpton hotel family, which is one of my favorites. It is located next to the main branch of the Seattle Public Library, which is worth a visit! From here, you can easily walk downhill to the waterfront & Pike Place Market, or up through Freeway Park into First & Capitol Hill.
Getting Around
We have a great bus & rail system, but we don't have good tourist multi-use tickets, so other than getting into town on the LINK, you probably won't use this much.
Walking! The city is pretty dense, and you can easily fill a day seeing our most iconic sights just walking around Downtown, Uptown, and Pioneer Square.
Biking! Lime offers cheap bikes and scooters that you can use to get around town a little faster, and park almost anywhere.
Riding! We always have Lyft of course.
Things to Do in Seattle
There's lots of things to do in Seattle!
If you're planning on visting more than 1 of the places on the CityPass, it's very strongly recommended.
- Tourist Attractions
- Stranger’s Guide to Tourist Attractions - A good selection of stops for a first-timer.
- Seattle’s Best Museums, and all of the others too. My personal faves are MoPOP (with the Science Fiction Hall of Fame within it), the Burke Natural History Museum, and the Seattle Aquarium.
- Stranger’s Guide to Visiting Seattle - A list of their many types of guides.
- 25 Free things to do in Seattle
- Ride the Ferry
- Ride a ferry? Yup! One of the best, cheapest ways to get out on the water, get some great views, and explore a little further from the city.
- If you don't have a car, Bainbridge Island is a good choice. Great views as you go, and you can walk around the town once you're there. A good half-day trip.
- Fun Ferry rides in Seattle
- Walking & Hiking
- Seattle has quite a few large forest parks that have hiking trails within them.
- If you want to get a bit out of town, here’s a bunch of hikes about a 30 minute drive away, that include public transit access options.
- If you have a little more time, there's also great hikes in the Olympics that are still really close.
- Explore the city's many sidewalk stairs.
- Kayaking & Canoeing
- A great way to take in the city's sights! From Lake Washington, to Lake Union, to the Puget Sound, there's lot of water to explore.
- Agua Verde has solid tacos, perfect for scarfing down after paddling around for a bit! This puts you in Portage Bay, giving you easy access to either Lake Union or Lake Washington through the Montlake Cut.
- The Center for Wooden Boats has kayaks, rowboats, canoes, and even sailboats for those who can sail.
- UW Boathouse is open to the public, offering canoes and rowboats. This puts you in Union Bay, giving you access to the north end of Lake Washington.
- Eating & Drinking
- Eater’s Guide to Seattle - You won't be able to eat your way across Seattle, but this will let you try.
- Eater’s Top Breweries Map
- Guided Brewery Tour
- Whale Watching