Seattle sites

[aubandit]

We are cruising on the Westerdam in June. We plan to spend 3 days in Seattle (2 before and 1 when we return). I would appreciate any recommendations on sites we must see, places to eat and hotels.:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Space Needle -- Pike's Market -- go here before you cruise and you can buy flowers for your cabin cheap.

[peaches from georgia]

The Elliott Bay waterfront, walkable, including the Seattle Aquarium, many great restaurants, ferry to Bainbridge Island, boat tours of the bay, shopping, Pike Place Market, Safeco Field, the original Starbucks and many other waterfront attractions.

Also the Space Needle, Pioneer Square, the International District, the Zoo, the Seattle Art Museum and if you have a car and an extra day a drive to Mt. Rainier.

Seattle is a great city for a tourist- easy to get around, compact, and lots of fun things to do and see.

[arzz]

My personal favorite in Seattle is unique to Seattle -- the Seattle underground tour -- the abandoned underground city -- tours leave from Pioneer Square

[markpark]

Museum of Flight

[aubandit]

Thank you so much for the information:)

[schoolinmy3]

http://wildginger.net/

We love to go to the Wild Ginger whenever we travel West to Seattle. Worth checking out!
Diane

[trvldog]

If you love seafood and are here on Sunday Salty's on Alki has the best Sunday Brunch seafood heaven!! (and a ton of food for non-seafood lovers also! It would be a short cab ride from Seattle to Alki but it's right on the water you can make reservations ahead of time at www.saltys.com .

You can also rent canoes over by Univercity of Washington to go out on the lake with, we try and do that every year just love it! Canals and such to wonder in and out do not have to be out with all the big boats and they also have a larger boat Argosy Cruises that does the lake Washington tours. Ballard locks is pretty cool also :)

[GASPARTY]

No one has mentioned the Boeing factory tour. Years ago they had daily tours where you get to walk around the manufacturing plant. Fabulous if your an aviation buff.

[musicismylife]

We did the Seattle Underground tour and the Museum of Flight and Space last time we were there. The Underground tour was kind of neat since Seattle has been rebuilt a storey or two higher than the original city. The Flight Museum is across from the Boeing plant and has lots of planes and hands on activities for kids.
If you are a sci-fi fan, check out the Science Fiction Museum inside the Experience Music building. It is mostly one guy's personal collection but has lots of Star Wars and Star Trek original pieces (like Kirk's chair). My DH and DS who was 7 at the time LOVED it.
We are heading back to Alaska and Seattle again this summer and plan on doing the Flight Museum again and go up the Space Needle since we didn't do it last time. Not nearly as exciting as the CN Tower but hopefully the view will be good.

Have fun in Seattle and be ready to walk the hills!

[peaches from georgia]

No one has mentioned the Boeing factory tour. Years ago they had daily tours where you get to walk around the manufacturing plant. Fabulous if your an aviation buff.
They still have the Boeing Tour up in Everett. Very interesting and I don't even like to fly. My son lives in Seattle and we visit often. Finally did this tour last fall. IIRC it is the largest enclosed building in the world.

http://wildginger.net/

We love to go to the Wild Ginger whenever we travel West to Seattle. Worth checking out!
Diane
One of our favorite Seattle restaurants.

[NorthPhoenixGuy]

two great restaurants: the dahlia lounge. great food. best coconut creme pie in the world. there's so shortage of seafood restaurants but i like etta's on the waterfront hear pike place market. both are owned by the fabulous chef tom douglas. sorry i don't have their web addresses.

you'll love seattle. i lived in ballard for 7 years and miss it very much.

thanks

[peaches from georgia]

....you'll love seattle. i lived in ballard for 7 years and miss it very much.

thanks
Small world. My son lives in Ballard. :)

[alpal1993]

We did a water cruise that we loved Saw the Houseboat that was used to film Sleepless in Seattle and several boats that were featured in Deadliest Catch.They also take you though the lock from Lake to Ocean.
You could also try Duck Tours.Heard it is alot of fun.We stayed @The Sheraton and ate at Elephant and Castle Pub using a coupon from restaurants.com

[NorthPhoenixGuy]

peaches....yes it is a small world. ballard is a wonderful neighborhood. i especially miss the summertime sunday concerts at the locks and beautiful gardens at the locks too.

thanks.

[cruzmann]

On a clear day it is a nice drive to Tacoma and the glass museum where artists make Dale Chihuly-like glassworks and originals are everywhere.

[peaches from georgia]

peaches....yes it is a small world. ballard is a wonderful neighborhood. i especially miss the summertime sunday concerts at the locks and beautiful gardens at the locks too.

thanks.
And if it's Sunday you'll find me at the Farmer's Market!

Son and family live on 14th Ave. near 70th.

[APDMOM]

We were there last year. This thread gave us a lot of great ideas:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1213925&highlight=seattle+apdmom

[APDMOM]

PS: We spent the night in the Comfort Suites Downtown/Seattle Center. It was walking distance from the space needle and a comfortable stay for our family. The shuttle from the hotel to Pier 66 (which they arrange) was $5 per person.

[Himself]

In December I walked to the tram from the Renaissance Hotel and took it over to the Space Needle. I would do it again when in Seattle.

[aubandit]

These ideas are great! Thank you all for the information. ;)

[Willsot]

We took the evening Locks Cruise with Argosy, booked online prior to the trip. We had a beautiful evening and it was one of our Seattle highlights. We walked everywhere in Seattle, which was great exercise with all of the hills. Loved the market area and all of the street musicians.

[govgurl]

If you like art, definitely check out the Seattle Art Museum, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, or (if the weather is nice) the stunning view from the Olympic Sculpture Garden (which is a part of the art museum though on the other end of town).

More into history, I agree with others here that the Underground Tour is really fun (and I say this as a native). You will learn so much about how Seattle came to be, and get to see something you couldn't otherwise see.

If you have a car there is a tiny park on top of Queen Anne Hill (we always called it Postcard Park, because that is where they take the Seattle postcard pictures from). Beautiful view of downtown, the sound, and Mt. Rainier (if it's clear weather. You also get a good view from your cruise ship though if you don't want to drive.)

The Locks are fun, especially if the salmon are running up the fish ladder. For quirky Seattle, head to Fremont and visit the troll under the bridge statue (a giant troll that eats VW Beetles. Seriously.) or the Lenin statue (a true Russian Lenin statue. It's a long story...).

Again, if you have a car you can head out to West Seattle and stroll along Alki Beach (where Seattle was founded). If not, walk along the waterfront and visit the Aquarium.

One of my favorite places to eat just above Pike Place Market is the Pink Door. For more relaxed fare, you can try the Pike Place Brewery (Burgers and beer brewed on location) or the Pyramid Ale House across the street from Safeco Field (one of America's most beautiful ballparks). You should definitely go to Pike Place Market, but don't neglect the shops in the "Down Under" area. These are often less crowded, but they are not less fun than the busy top thoroughfare. Sometimes I like to stroll along the market, pick up bits and pieces for a picnic from the different shops (Bread in the french bakery, salami from the good deli, fruit from everywhere) and have a little picnic in the waterfront parks.

[Assateague Island Princes]

One year we rented a car and drove up to the top of Whidbey Island, then meandered our way to the bottom, stopping in the great little towns (for the best fish and chips ever!), at craft fairs, rocky beaches, a little pie shop for some fantastic Loganberry pie, etc. then drove the car onto the ferry and headed back to our hotel near the airport. It was a memorable day - probably my favorite! Whidbey Island is just gorgeous - has "Pacific Northwest" written all over it;)!

[Cruiser34057348907]

It is always fun to read about the sites and things people like to do in my town. Here are two other ideas to consider:

You can take a boat to Blake Island from Downtown Seattle. The island is only accessible by boat. While there you will experience a Native American show and salmon dinner. Blake Island is where President Clinton hosted the world leaders while he was President.

Another Idea is to walk on the Seattle / Bremerton Ferry. When in Bremerton - just walk aound the pier, have a coffee or tour the USS Turner Joy or Navel Musem. The ferry ride is a great way to enjoy the Olympic Peninsula.

http://www.visitkitsap.com/includes/popups/member_details.asp?ID=388

ENJOY!!!!!

[trouble1964]

We were there last year for our Alaska cruise. I can't remember the tour operation's name, but the logo was a little alien in a space ship looking cartoon. They picked us up at our hotel by the airport, then picked up a few others in town. This guy took us all over the place---where we could see Bill Gates's property, Kurt Cobain's house---all sorts of little back alleys and hideouts. We ate lunch at Fisherman's Terminal at a wonderful place, then took some of group to their hotel. Our guide was full of information. We went to the little park mentioned previously and got pictures with the Space Needle behind us. We went thru Pike Place Market (there's a place on the corner that they make cheese at---look for them stirring it in the windows)......we just went everywhere! They dropped us off right at the door to the ship terminal about an hour before the ship left and we spent about 15 mins getting checked in before we were on the ship (no lines). Room was ready and we went right to it.

The day we got back, we dropped our luggage at the hotel (we stayed close to the airport because we didn't know better) and caught the monorail into downtown. Went to the Market, ate lunch and wandered around, then caught a double decker bus tour. It was a very nice sunny day and we sat up top. It was downtown and we saw alot of things that we didn't see on the first tour. Both of them were fun and informative though. We didn't do any of the touristy things like the Space Needle tour. After doing an excursion (sometimes 2) in every port on our cruise, riding around sightseeing was all we could muster the energy for!

[Arwen]

June weather is iffy in Seattle. However, if clear skies are forecast I highly recommend the Argosy Cruise that goes through the Ballard Locks. Check out their website. I have lived in Seattle most of my life and just took this two hour cruise a year ago as hubby and I were bored and wanted something to do. It was wonderful and you get to see so much. Our tour guide was excellent pointing out incredibly interesting facts about Seattle and the buildings, sites of interest as we sailed by. They serve cocoa and hot coffee on board. If it is a cool day, be sure to wear a jacket a bundle up a bit.

[Arwen]

June weather is iffy in Seattle. However, if clear skies are forecast I highly recommend the Argosy Cruise that goes through the Ballard Locks. Check out their website. I have lived in Seattle most of my life and just took this two hour cruise a year ago as hubby and I were bored and wanted something to do. It was wonderful and you get to see so much. Our tour guide was excellent pointing out incredibly interesting facts about Seattle and the buildings, sites of interest as we sailed by. They serve cocoa and hot coffee on board. If it is a cool day, be sure to wear a jacket a bundle up a bit. And going through the locks is soooo cooool!