Seattle?

We are staying a couple of nights in Seattle after our Alaska cruisetour. I have always just got a taxi and walked around Pike Place Market area, but want to see more of Seattle this time. I have our room booked at the airport Hilton and know the light rail takes you downtown, but what to do then? Are there other means of transportation like the hop on hop off bus that I can meet up with after we get downtown and what are the places not to miss. Thanks in advance!

I posted a pre-cruise report, probably just a little bit down in this section. We spent 4 days there, so you can see the things we did. We stayed north, near Space Needle, so we used the monorail and walked.

Link light-rail to downtown. Get off at Westlake stop and at Westlake Center take monorail to Seattle Center. Several attractions there (besides Space Needle). If there is any interest in guitars or science fiction the Experience Music Project (EMP) is well worth it. The Chihuly Garden and Glass may be interesting.

An alternative downtown to the Space Needle is the Sky Observatory at the top of the Columbia Center - about half the price of Space Needle and much taller (building and hillside location). Pioneer Square has some interesting shops and restaurants as well as the Seattle Underground tour.

The waterfront (despite construction) has some interesting shops and eateries as well as the ferry terminal. The Bremerton run is scenic and has good views of Mt. Rainier (if clear out) and the Puget Sound Naval Museum near the Bremerton dock. The Bainbridge Is. route is a little shorter and there are lot of interesting shops within walking distance of the dock there.

The Chinatown - International District is interesting to explore and has a Link stop.

A little outside the downtown and reachable by city bus would be the Hiram Chittenden Ballard Locks where boats transit between Lake Union/Lake Washington and Puget Sound. Aside from fascinating boat watching (especially weekends) there are often seals below the dam snagging salmon from the fish ladder. There is underground viewing of fish climbing the ladder (depending on what's running). Also some very nice gardens in the park.

Yes, there is a hop on/hop off Emerald City Trolley that circles around some of the popular attractions. There is a Big Wheel on the waterfront with enclosed gondolas. We enjoyed the nearly 360* views from the Sky Observatory on the 73rd floor of the Columbia Center, second tallest building (904ft) west of Chicago. $14.75 admission, $9.00/over 55.

Thank you all, you have helped me so much.:)

Thank you so much! You have helped me a lot.:)

Sorry for double post.