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Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Seattle, Seattle

Things to do guide

The best things to do in Seattle

Updated 7 October 2026 · 17 things to do

Pictured: Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Seattle

Seattle is a city wedged between water and mountains, and it never lets you forget either. Ferries slide across Puget Sound, seaplanes drop onto Lake Union and, on a clear day, the white bulk of Mount Rainier hangs over the skyline like a painted backdrop. Locals have a phrase for those days: the mountain is out.

This is the place that gave the world grunge, good coffee on every corner and a tower that looks like a flying saucer on a stick. It is compact enough to see the headline sights in a weekend, with a famous market, clever museums and neighbourhoods that each have a distinct personality. Pack a waterproof, ignore the drizzle and eat as much seafood as you can.

Don't miss

  1. 1Pike Place Market
  2. 2Space Needle
  3. 3Chihuly Garden and Glass
  4. 4The Bainbridge Island ferry
  5. 5Mount Rainier National Park

The big sights

The market, the Needle and the waterfront between them.

  1. Pike Place Market

    Market

    Pike Place Market in Seattle
    Photo: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0

    Seattle's soul lives in this rambling market above the waterfront, trading since 1907. Under the big red neon sign, fishmongers hurl salmon over the counter to cheers from the crowd, and stalls are piled with Rainier cherries, tulips, honey and smoked fish. Below the main arcade, a warren of lower levels hides comic shops, magic shops and tiny cafés.

    It is busy, yes, and wonderful. Graze as you go: chowder, a warm pastry, a bag of doughnuts, a coffee from the old Starbucks shopfront that the chain treats as its original.

    Tip: Come early in the morning to watch the stalls set up, before the crowds arrive.

  2. Space Needle

    Landmark

    The Space Needle seen from Fourth Avenue in Seattle
    Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0

    Built for the 1962 World's Fair and still the symbol of the city, the Space Needle is a slice of space-age optimism. Lifts whisk you to the top, where floor-to-ceiling glass and a revolving glass floor give views of Downtown, Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains and, with luck, Mount Rainier. Vertigo sufferers may prefer to admire it from the ground.

    Tip: Pick a clear day and aim for late afternoon, when the light on the mountains and the water is at its best.

  3. Chihuly Garden and Glass

    Museum

    Glass sculpture inside Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle
    Photo: Burley Packwood, CC BY-SA 4.0

    At the foot of the Needle, this gallery is devoted to Dale Chihuly, the Washington-born artist who turned blown glass into something wild. Rooms glow with towers, chandeliers and a ceiling of coloured forms, and a soaring glasshouse holds a huge suspended sculpture in reds and yellows. Outside, glass spikes and orbs sprout among real plants. Even sceptics come out smiling.

  4. Museum of Pop Culture

    Museum

    The Frank Gehry-designed Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle
    Photo: Buiobuione, CC BY-SA 4.0

    You can't miss the building: a crumpled, shimmering Frank Gehry creation in purple, silver and gold, with the monorail running straight through it. Inside, MoPOP celebrates music, science fiction, fantasy and film, with strong exhibits on Seattle's own Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix, a tower of guitars and a studio where you can have a go on the instruments yourself.

  5. The Seattle waterfront

    Landmark

    The Seattle Great Wheel on the waterfront
    Photo: Burley Packwood, CC BY-SA 4.0

    The piers along Elliott Bay have been transformed in recent years, with the old elevated motorway gone and a broad promenade in its place. Ride the Seattle Great Wheel out over the water, visit the aquarium, eat fish and chips at a pier-side counter and watch the ferries come and go. A new stepped walkway links the waterfront straight up to Pike Place Market.

Neighbourhoods and viewpoints

  1. Pioneer Square

    Neighbourhood

    The oldest part of Seattle is a handsome district of red-brick buildings, iron pergolas and plane trees, rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1889. When the streets were raised afterwards, the old ground floors were left below, and guided underground tours now lead you through those buried pavements and shopfronts. Above ground there are galleries, bookshops and bars, with the stadiums a short walk south.

  2. Capitol Hill

    Neighbourhood

    Up the hill from Downtown, this is where Seattle goes out. Capitol Hill is the centre of the city's LGBTQ+ life and its indie music scene, packed with coffee roasters, record shops, bookshops, cocktail bars and late-night food. By day, leafy Volunteer Park offers a glasshouse conservatory and a view back to the Space Needle. By night, the streets around Pike and Pine hum.

  3. Fremont and Ballard

    Neighbourhood

    The Fremont Troll sculpture under the bridge in Seattle
    Photo: Sambusak74, CC BY-SA 4.0

    Two neighbourhoods north of the ship canal with plenty of character. Fremont is the eccentric one, home to a giant concrete troll crouching under a bridge with a real car in its fist. Ballard, founded by Scandinavian fishermen, has breweries, boutiques and the Ballard Locks, where boats are lifted between the lakes and the sea and salmon climb a fish ladder beside them.

  4. Kerry Park

    Landmark

    The Space Needle and Seattle skyline at sunset from Kerry Park
    Photo: Guywelch2000, CC BY 4.0

    A tiny park on the slope of Queen Anne Hill with an enormous view. This is the postcard shot of Seattle: the Space Needle in front, the Downtown towers behind, Elliott Bay to the right and, when the weather behaves, Mount Rainier floating above it all. Come at dusk and watch the city lights come on.

On the water and outdoors

  1. The Bainbridge Island ferry

    Activity

    The ferry Wenatchee, which sails between Seattle and Bainbridge Island
    Photo: Rickmouser45, CC BY-SA 4.0

    The best-value sightseeing in the city is a commuter boat. The big green and white Washington State ferries leave from the Downtown waterfront and cross Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island, with the skyline shrinking behind you and the Olympic Mountains ahead. On the island, the small town of Winslow has cafés, wine-tasting rooms and a waterfront path, all within a walk of the dock.

    Tip: Stand on the outside deck at the back on the way over for the skyline view, and wrap up: it is breezy even in summer.

  2. Lake Union

    Activity

    The Seattle skyline at sunset across Lake Union from Gas Works Park
    Photo: WikiPedant, CC BY-SA 4.0

    A freshwater lake in the middle of the city, ringed by houseboats, boatyards and seaplane docks. Hire a kayak or a paddleboard, take a seaplane flight, or simply watch the traffic from Gas Works Park, where the rusting towers of an old gasworks stand on a grassy hill facing the skyline. The Museum of History and Industry on the south shore tells Seattle's story well.

  3. Discovery Park

    Nature

    The city's largest park covers a headland in the Magnolia neighbourhood with meadows, forest and sea cliffs. A loop trail gives views across Puget Sound to the Olympic Mountains, and a path drops to a driftwood-strewn beach with a pretty lighthouse at the point. It feels a long way from the city, though it is only a short drive from Downtown.

Eat and drink

  1. Seattle coffee

    Food

    This is the city that taught America to drink espresso. Starbucks began here in the early 1970s, but the real pleasure is in the independent roasters and neighbourhood cafés, where baristas take their craft seriously and nobody minds if you sit for an hour with a book while the rain comes down. Capitol Hill has a particularly good crop.

  2. Pacific Northwest seafood

    Food

    With cold, clean water on the doorstep, Seattle eats very well from the sea. Look for wild salmon, grilled simply or smoked; oysters from the bays of Puget Sound, served raw on ice; sweet Dungeness crab; and creamy clam chowder to warm you up on a grey day. The market and the waterfront are obvious places to start, and oyster bars are scattered across the city.

Day trips

  1. The Museum of Flight

    Museum

    Aircraft in the main gallery of the Museum of Flight
    Photo: Fawcett5 at English Wikipedia, Public domain

    Seattle is Boeing's home town, and this vast museum beside an airfield south of the city does aviation justice. Its halls hold aircraft from the earliest wood-and-fabric machines to supersonic jets, along with the original red barn where Boeing started out. You can walk through a Concorde and a former presidential jet, and there is a full gallery on spaceflight.

  2. Mount Rainier National Park

    Day trip

    Mount Rainier behind the flowering meadows of Paradise
    Photo: Bob Collowan, CC BY-SA 3.0

    The great snow-capped volcano that looms over Seattle is the centrepiece of a national park of ancient forest, waterfalls and glaciers. In summer, the high meadows around Paradise burst into wildflowers, with marked trails for every level of walker. It is a long day out by car or on a tour, and worth every mile when the summit is clear.

    Tip: Mountain weather changes fast and snow lingers on the high trails well into summer. Check conditions before you set off.

  3. Snoqualmie Falls

    Day trip

    Snoqualmie Falls in Washington State
    Photo: Kpsudeep, CC BY-SA 4.0

    East of the city in the foothills of the Cascades, the Snoqualmie River pours over a cliff in a single thundering curtain, taller than Niagara. Viewing platforms sit close to the top, and a trail leads down through the forest to the river below. Fans of the television series Twin Peaks will recognise it from the opening credits.

Where to stay in Seattle

Not sure which area suits you? Read our guide: Where to stay in Seattle →

Getting around

Central Seattle is walkable, if hilly. The light rail links the airport with Downtown, Capitol Hill and the University District, and the monorail runs between Downtown and the Space Needle. Buses and taxis cover Fremont and Ballard. You only need a car for Mount Rainier, Snoqualmie Falls and other trips out of town.

When to go

Summer, from July to September, is the dry, sunny season, with long evenings and the best chance of mountain views. The rest of the year is mild but often grey and drizzly, which suits the museums, the market and the coffee shops perfectly well.

Questions about visiting Seattle

What is Seattle best known for?
The Space Needle, Pike Place Market, coffee, grunge music, its setting on Puget Sound with views of Mount Rainier, and as the home of companies such as Boeing, Starbucks, Microsoft and Amazon.
Is Seattle worth visiting?
Yes. It pairs big-city museums, food and nightlife with ferries, lakes and mountains on the doorstep, and the main sights are close enough together to see in a long weekend.
What is there to do in Seattle with kids?
The Space Needle, the Museum of Pop Culture, the Seattle Great Wheel and aquarium on the waterfront, the Museum of Flight, the troll in Fremont and a ferry ride across Puget Sound.
How many days do you need in Seattle?
Three days covers the market, the waterfront, Seattle Center and a couple of neighbourhoods. Add a fourth for a trip to Mount Rainier or Bainbridge Island.
Do you need a car in Seattle?
No. The central sights are walkable and well served by light rail, buses and the monorail. Hire a car, or join a tour, only for day trips to the mountains.

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