If Seattle had a star sign, she would be a Pisces—defined by water, imaginative and sensitive, intuitive and idealistic, fluid and enigmatic. Built on a ribbon of hills between saltwater Puget Sound to the west and freshwater Lake Washington on the east, with smaller Lake Union in the center, Seattle is ringed by water. Two floating bridges connect Seattle with the east side of the Lake Washington, while ferries link the city with outlying islands and beyond. No wonder there are more boats per capita here than in any other U.S. city. Even the city's popular baseball team is called the Mariners! Not forgetting the misty rain that keeps foliage lush and moss growing year-round, Seattle is a city defined by water through and through.
With in her watery surroundings, Seattle's downtown urban waterfront alive with retail, commercial and tourist ventures is where everything happens.
Clean, green and wired, Seattle has a culture all its own. Sip a latte, watch fishmongers toss salmon in the air, wander in Asian markets and cruise Puget Sound aboard a graceful ferry. Go sleepless.
With many attractions and a host of hotels and restaurants concentrated in downtown Seattle, you won't need a rental car for your visit. The city is highly walk able even with its hilly landscape. You can also travel aboard frequent buses within a large "free-ride zone" covering the central downtown area, from Pioneer Square and the Chinatown/International District northward beyond Pike Place Market to Battery Street, and from the waterfront area eastward to Sixth Avenue. Taxis are also available, or try Blazing Saddles bike rentals, a service designed to give visitors the opportunity to explore the city by bicycle. The newly upgraded monorail is also well worth a ride to and from the Seattle Center and the Experience Music Project just north of the main downtown area. Look into buying a money-saving CityPass booklet; you'll pay a flat fee (equivalent to half-off the price of individually purchased admission) giving you access to five of Seattle's most popular attractions including the Pacific Science Center, the Museum of Flight and the Seattle Aquarium.
You will find Seattle offers an excellent choice of hotels, from large, well-known names to smaller boutique lodgings, all conveniently located for easy sightseeing and dining. We suggest the Hotel Monaco, in the Kimpton Group of properties. Relax with wine served before the lobby fireplace in early evening. Unwind in guest rooms offering a cozy, residential feel yet providing business traveler amenities including data ports, two-line phones and personal fax machines. You're only a few blocks from the recently expanded and remodeled Seattle Art Museum, the famous Pike Place Market, the waterfront, and Pioneer Square.
For those seeking a "hip hotel" that also acknowledges Seattle as the birthplace of "grunge," the Hotel Max is an excellent choice. The 163-room hotel, which opened in 2006, showcases local photographers' art on room doors and walls, with images of street musicians but also grunge acts like Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Another option is the chic and simple Hotel Andra, a boutique hotel with interiors reflecting Scandinavian design influences. Celebrity chef Tom Douglas's Mediterranean-themed Lola serves as the hotel's restaurant, offering breakfast, lunch and dinner with a full bar. The hotel also offers various travel packages including spa treatments and meals at Tom Douglas's other downtown restaurants.
The newest entrant to Seattle's hotel scene is the Arctic Club Hotel, which combines the history and grandeur of an early 20th century men's club with contemporary design. Housed in a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the hotel's décor mixes Art Nouveau, modern and period furniture in an elegant yet playful approach. It goes without saying that , this luxury hotel offers first-class amenities for discerning business and leisure travelers.
DAY
1
Hop aboard the Seattle Center Monorail at Westlake Center for a short ride to Seattle Center, a lasting legacy of the 1962 World’s Fair. The exposition gave the city its landmark Space Needle, a 605-foot tower that may not look as futuristic now as it did when new, but
it's a structure that
still turns heads. Take a glass-sided elevator 520 feet up to the observation deck for stunning 360-degree views stretching across Puget Sound west to the Olympic Mountains on the Olympic Peninsula, and east to the Cascade Range. On a clear day looking south, you’ll see ghostly, snowcapped Mount Rainier. Remember when revolving restaurants were all the rage? Well, there’s still one just below the Space Needle’s observation deck. You’ll make several complete circles while dining for brunch, lunch or dinner at SkyCity.
Next stop is the Experience Music Project, adjacent to the Space Needle, which celebrates music of all genres, from rock to hip-hop, country, punk and gospel. Aptly named, it’s an interactive museum where you can try your own skills singing or playing the guitar. Jimi Hendrix fans will revel in the gallery of memorabilia devoted to this artist, a Seattle native. With the same admission ticket, you can visit the co-located Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame nearby.
Seattle Center is also home to two nationally renowned theaters, the Pacific Science Center and McCaw Hall, home of the Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Return on the monorail (or grab a taxi) and head for Pike Place Market, often called the soul of Seattle. This working, seven-acre marketplace brims with color and action, stretching from First Avenue and Pike Street along Pike Place to encompass all the additional shops and vendors between Union and Virginia Streets to Western Avenue.
Noted by many as the oldest working farmers market in the U.S., Pike Place Market celebrated its 100th birthday in 2007. Today, Pike Place Market hosts 250 merchants, 100 farmers, 200 craftspeople and 100 street performers daily. All will thoroughly delight you. From a bounty of fresh produce and flowers in artistic displays, to tastes of crunchy cheese curds at Beecher's Handmade Cheese, to overheard conversations in multiple languages, to the antics of the hawkers—including fish tossed in the air by a band of lively fishmongers—this is the true hub of Seattle. While you're there, be sure to check out Pure Fish Food Market at 1511 Pike Place. Celebrating 100 years of operation, it's where you can purchase the freshest fish on the spot, have your catch of the day delivered free to your downtown hotel, or send it via FedEx back to your hometown. Then, stroll up and down the streets and alleys, letting the Market's sights, sounds and smells entertain you. Note that many foods, not just fish, sold at the market can be packed for shipping or air travel, meaning you can easily take home a taste of the city.
For lunch, stop at Café Campagne for classic French bistro fare. It’s the casual sibling tucked below Campagne, which serves dinner only. Or pick up a sandwich and a pastry to go from Three Girls Bakery and plant yourself on a bench at Victor Steinbrueck Park to watch ferry boats criss-crossing Elliott Bay. For an afternoon energy boost, stop at 1912 Pike Place, site of the original Starbucks Coffee. A friendly barrista will brew a cappuccino, frappuccino or whatever libation-to-go suits your fancy (no seating). If you’re in the mood to sample Washington wine, step into The Tasting Room to sip a few flights or enjoy a full glass of wine from one of seven
participating
wineries. If you like what you taste, you can buy a bottle to ship home.
From the Market, find the stairs on Pine Street leading down to Alaskan Way, the avenue bordering the waterfront bustling with ferries, yachts, fireboats, cruise ships to Alaska (during summer) plus a variety of attractions, shops and restaurants at the piers. Walk along the waterfront or hop aboard the green and yellow bus standing in for the retired streetcar. At Waterfront Park's Pier 59, the newly renovated Seattle Aquarium offers a close-up look from its underwater dome room at some of the creatures living in Puget Sound River otters and an authentic salmon stream are among other popular exhibits.
Dine this evening at Wild Ginger, where Southeast Asian cuisines show off their intricate flavorings.
If you're a music lover, cap the evening at either The Triple Door, the live music venue around the corner from Wild Ginger, or perhaps at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, a popular club.
Continue
to Day 2
