Seattle was my 1st home in the United States, and I love this place. Many people feel that the weather is depressing because you never know when it will rain. In Seattle, rain is an all-year-round season. So if you are a 1st-time visitor, bring a poncho or umbrella and a zip lock bag with you; you never know when it starts raining. Seattle is a costly city because it’s an IT hub.
Seattle is one of the most famous tourist attractions on the west coast of the USA. It is considered an “IT” hub in the USA and home to “Boeing” and “Microsoft.” Also popular among nature lovers, mountains, valleys, and lakes surround the city. You can find water sports like kayaking, sailing and many hiking places.
How to reach Seattle?
Sea-Tac airport is an international airport connected to all major destinations, so it will be easy to get flights to Seattle.
You can take Bus / Shuttle/ Taxi/Link Light Rail to the hotel. A taxi would be costly if you are alone or just two people. If you don’t have the bulk of luggage, I suggest taking a bus or light-link rail.
Tips for exploring Seattle like a local
- If you are a first-time visitor and don’t like to get wet, check the weather before you go out or Keep a raincoat or umbrella with you because it can rain anytime, no matter which season.
- Stay outside downtown; it will be cheaper take the bus instead of the car to avoid the hassle of parking.
- Take public transit, keep the difference of $2.25 and $2.50 for transit fare or you can buy an Orca card and recharge it if you stay longer.
Tips for planning your trip in a Budget
- Hotel Deals: – Booking your hotel is a crucial task. The hotel’s price varies from $150 – $600 depending on how much you want to spend. There are other options; you can go for “Airbnb” in Seattle, which will be less costly than a hotel. You can also stay in Bellevue, Redmond, or the Kirkland area and get a bus to Seattle downtown.
- Transportation Deals: – If you plan to stay outside Seattle, check the nearest bus stand and bus numbers to catch up for Seattle downtown. You can also download the “trip planning king county” app to track the bus route. Buy an Orca card Online, by mail, or in-person, and you can recharge it from a vending machine or online. You can use this card on buses, rail, or ferries. You can check the orca card details.
- Attraction Deals: – Check out the “City-pass” deal, which can save a few bucks instead of buying individual tickets for the same attractions. But before purchasing a “City-pass,” check which attractions it will include. You can check city pass details here.
- Food Deals: – There are different deals on Groupon, including “restaurant deals.” You can check the deals in advance and buy them online.
Places to visit in Seattle
Everyone knows about the “Seattle Space Needle” and the 1st “Starbucks” coffee shop in Seattle, but this city is more than that.
Seattle Center
The Seattle Space Needle is located at Seattle Center. You can go to Seattle Center by Bus, taxi or Monorail. We took a monorail because I never ride on the Monorail. Most visitors come to this attraction, so you will find a long queue depending on the time of year you visit. We went there in winter, so there was not much crowd as the tourist season was over. Enjoy the Observation deck’s 360-degree view of downtown, surrounding greenery, and mountains. You can also plan your dinner date at “Skycity restaurant” with a spectacular view of Seattle.
The Pacific Science center is situated near the space needle. The Pacific Science Center is committed to advancing the public’s understanding of science and contributing to developing a scientifically literate society through programming for people of all ages. It offers a broad spectrum of events. They have IMAX Theater, Laser Dome, Planetarium, and Live science stage.
You can also explore the EMP Museum and Chihuly garden and glass if you have enough time.
Downtown
The Pike Place Market is one of the oldest local public markets in the USA and a significant attraction among tourists. Farmer’s market offers fresh seasoned fruits and vegetables and a lot of handmade items. Freshly baked foods with different cuisines and flavors. You can explore specialty food too. It is a place for craft & food lovers. For seafood lovers, this is the best place.
Of course, one of the most fantastic attractions is Starbucks 1st outlet, but I also like La Panier French bakery croissants and Piroshky – Piroshky Russian bakery. Turkish Delight offers delicious baklava. Pike Place has plenty of restaurants and eateries to try.
1912 Starbucks coffee shop is the place where Starbucks originated. It is located in the Pike Place public market and is always crowded.
Seattle is a great place to explore art and creativity. You can explore the Seattle art museum and an Olympic sculpture park year-round. The Seattle Arts Commission installed one of the exciting art pieces, Hammering Man. On September 12, 1992, it was established at the downtown Seattle Art Museum entrance at First Avenue and University Streets. The size of the hammering man is 48′ x 30″ x 7″. It is hollow-fabricated with steel with a moving arm where an electric motor had installed and painted with black automotive.
Waterfront
The Seattle Great Wheel is another primary source from which you can have a fantastic view of nature. It’s an exciting giant Great wheel which gives you a ride for about 10 mins, and you can see one side is the city and the other side nature. This Great wheel is located at the edge of the water Front Park. Get your ticket online or in person.
In Water Front Park, you can sit and enjoy the cold breeze and sun rays together. You can view beautiful sun rays dropping into the water and reflecting. There is a lovely sunset view where you can feel the sun just falling into the water.
I really can’t wait to get myself over to the US and start exploring everything!!
Seattle is by far my favourite place in the states. We were surprisingly lucky when we were there and had a week of sunshine!! I love your tips on things to see and do there, it is truly a wonderful place!
Love this post. Seattle is on my wish list since my teenage years mostly because of Cobain 🙂
I really enjoy Seattle. But I need to explore more as I have only visited because of work. So far, I have only strolled around downtown, Starbucks in hand of course.
I have never been to The States before so every time I read articles about different cities there it raises my curiosity. I would like to see the first Starbucks coffee shop, even if I’m not a fan of their coffee (let’s face it, there is much, much better quality out there). The waterfront looks lovely too, I would like to stroll on that pier.
we are hoping to visit the West coast when we get back to Canada. I have always wanted to visit Seattle and surrounding area
Eveoyrne would benefit from reading this post
That’s really thnnkiig out of the box. Thanks!
Kneodwlge wants to be free, just like these articles!
I really wanted to jot down a small message so as to appreciate you for the marvelous steps you are giving at this website. My time intensive internet investigation has finally been honored with pleasant information to go over with my friends and classmates. I ‘d tell you that we website visitors actually are very endowed to live in a fabulous place with so many lovely people with good tips. I feel rather fortunate to have discovered your site and look forward to really more entertaining minutes reading here. Thanks a lot once more for everything.
Really awesome guide here! I love the space needle its such a unique shape, would love to see the views from the top someday. Loving your pictures 🙂
Pretty! This has been a really wonderful article. Thank you for supplying this info.
Such a nice guide, thank you for sharing