Welcome to Seattle
Blink and its changed: Seattle can be that ephemeral. Welcome to a city that pushes the envelope, embraces new trends and plots a path toward the future. But it's not all technological wizardry. Set on a jagged coastline amid emerald islands and snow-capped volcanoes, Seattle is handsome as well as precocious; a cultured slice of Pacific Northwestern splendor.
Seattle waterfront | Cdrin/SHUTTERSTOCK
SeattleTop Sights
Pike Place Market
Way more than just a market, 110-year-old Pike Place is a living community, a cabaret show, a way of life and an intrinsic piece of Seattles soul.
F11photo/SHUTTERSTOCK
Seattle Top Sights
Space Needle
The city icon that is as synonymous with Seattle as the letters S-E-A-T-T-L-E was built for the 1962 Worlds Fair, and its novel revolving restaurant and bold futuristic design have proved durable.
Matt Munro/LONELY PLANET
Seattle Top Sights
Museum of Pop Culture
Paying homage to the left-handed, guitar-burning musical genius that was Jimi Hendrix, Paul Allens architecturally bizarre MoPOP is an apt memorial in a region that has long been a powerful musical innovator.
Checubus/SHUTTERSTOCK
Seattle Top Sights
Museum of History & Industry
Seattle's history might not go back so far, but it's expertly curated in this cleverly redesigned naval armory building that sits attractively on the south shore of Lake Union.
Richard Cummins/Getty Images
Seattle Top Sights
Museum of Flight
The huge, super-modern Museum of Flight tells the remarkable tale of how humankind got from the Wright Brothers to the first moon landing in less than 66 years.
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Seattle Top Sights
Discovery Park
Seattle justifies its Emerald City moniker in the rugged confines of 534-acre Discovery Park, a one-time military installation reborn as a textbook example of urban sustainability.
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Seattle Top Sights
Chihuly Garden & Glass
The US' capital of glass art offers up this imaginatively laid out set of galleries and gardens displaying the whimsical creations of local glass sculptor Dale Chihuly.
Courtesy of Chihuly Garden and Glass
Seattle Top Sights
Seattle Art Museum
Seattle's art credentials are growing ever stronger thanks, in part, to this envelope-pushing downtown museum with dual specialties in modern and Native American art.
Photo.ua/SHUTTERSTOCK
Seattle Top Sights
Pioneer Square Architecture
The homogeneous red-bricked neighborhood that served as Seattle's original downtown still reeks of history, intrigue and stories from the city's pioneering days.
Glenn R. McGloughlin/SHUTTERSTOCK
SeattleLocal Life
Insider tips to help you find the real Seattle
After checking off Seattle's big-hitter sights, heres how you can experience what makes the city tick the quiet local parks, hidden coffee corners, bohemian bars and envelope-pushing music venues that make up the Seattleite's Seattle.
Belltown, Old & New
Bars
Nightlife
For many people, Belltown is the pinnacle of Seattle's nightlife. Others dream nostalgically of the days when stage-diving was still an acceptable form of social interaction. Whichever view you hold, Belltown remains stuffed with strategically located places to eat, drink and listen to music.
Ferry to Bainbridge Island | Cdrin/SHUTTERSTOCK
Queen Anne Coffee Crawl
Architecture
Coffee
Coffee is practically a synonym for Seattle, and Queen Anne is the elegant quarter where many of the pioneering roasters and baristas confected their first lattes. Stroll past well-heeled mansions and drink in vast views as you taste the best brews the city has to offer.
A Musical Education in Capitol Hill