Seattle Travel Forum

I am planning to visit Seattle and Vancouver in August. I have come up with the following itinerary for Seattle and would like your opinions.

Day 1- Flight from either Vancouver or New York. Visit Museum of Flight.

Day 2- (a) 3 hour city tour with Seattle Tours
(b) Argosy Boat Cruise

Day 3- (a)Pike Place Market Tour with Savor Foods (2+ hours)
(b)Woodland Park Zoo
(c) Henry Chittenden Locks, including salmon ladder

Day 4- Seattle Mariners day game

Day 5- Mount Rainier tour with Seattle Tours

I am planning to stay at the Silver Cloud Inn at Lake Union.

I have heard mixed reviews about visiting the Space Needle and Seattle Art Museum. Are they worth seeing? Is anyone familiar with the Chinatown Discovery Tours offered through the Wing Luke Asian Museum? Are there any restauarnts that you can recommend that are nice without being very expensive?

Thanks in advance for your great tips.

David

I do not care for the restaurant on top of the Space Needle. The food is really not that good and it's very expensive. I guess you can go to the observation level and it might be worthwhile.

A few restaurants that are not too expensive yet unique are;
Ivar's Salmon house on 401 North lake (lake Union) 206 632 0767
Wild Ginger, Asian foods from different areas of Asia and a Satay bar, corner of 3rd and Union 206-623-4450

Ray's BoatHouse, Seafood Seaview Av. 206 789 3770 Near the Chittenden locks, (Shil Shole area. Cheaper dinning in the top bar/restaurant still good and a better view, cheaper prices.

Anthony's Home Port, Shil Shole area, near locks but not as good as Ray's but still nice.
Assaggio Ristorante, pretty good food and lots of atmosphere, 4th Ave, 206-441-1399 Reservations required on University of Washington game days..

Mike

I've visited Seattle several times, but I am not sure which tour we took there. There is a wonderful Chinese garden that we saw on our own, and I think we took some kind of tour at Pioneer Square that was o.k., but not worth doing a second time. I think the Seattle Art Museum is really great, but I enjoy art. There is more Asian art than Western, I recall. However, this summer the museum is hosting a show on Impressionism, which should be popular with most people. I also like the Frye art museum, but check its website to see whether the particular shows that will be up in the summer will interest you. (I've seen some shows there that I loved and others that didn't interest me.) I hope that you will be able to do whalewatching on your boat cruise. You can also take the public ferry to Bainbridge Island, if you like outdoorsy activities. My niece enjoyed the zoo and so did I. I also enjoyed a quick visit to the Space Needle. We didn't eat there, though. There were some really good restaurants down on the waterfront near Pike Place Market (which is really fun to visit.)
You didn't mention taking the monorail. I really liked the short trip, and it took me right to some good locations for shopping.
I also saw your question about Vancouver, which I think is one of the most beautiful cities in North America. You probably won't have time for this, but I also loved Vancouver Island. (You get there by ferry.) I didn't enjoy Victoria as much as I thought I would. It was too quaint for my taste. But the natural beauty of the island is tremendous.

Have a wonderful trip,
L2go

There's a ton of great stuff to do in Seattle. I would recommend Kerry Park in the Queen Anne district (2nd Avenue W. and W. Highland Drive) over going to the Space Needle. Kerry Park has an amazing view of the entire Seattle skyline..and it's free! There's an underground Seattle tour that's pretty neat and gives you a lot of the city's history. You go underground and see what's left of the original Seattle after the Great Seattle Fire. The original Starbucks outside Pike Place Market is a must for a lot of tourists (personally, it doesn't interest me much!); Experience the Music Project is fun but expensive. Whatever you decide to do, you're going to have a blast!

Hi,
I've never heard of Kerry Park. Would that be a good location to watch the 4th of July fireworks?? Does it fill up early with people?

Mike

YES! Seattle is a grid lock by 2pm on the 4th of July. And since you are on Lake Union for a hotel. I would recomend heading to Gasworks Park. It is absolutely beautiful and an excellent view of Seattle CIty, the Lake and the fireworks. But get there early and put down a blanket. I think there is even live music and concessions...I would pack a picnic and make a day of it!

I dont know if you like the outdoors..but Seattle is absolutely beautiful for exploring! they have so many parks and beaches. Check some of them out via the internet...West Seattle has my favorite beach ALKI BEACH. there are beautiful views of all mountain ranges and view of the city that you cant get anywhere else. Kerry Park as mentioned above is a MUST -it is very small...i wouldnt recommend for the 4th.

Food: I recommend Pete's Calazone King, for excelelnt pizz/calazone. Blue Water Grill on Lake Union...great outside patio. Head to Queen Anne and grab some of the most amazing mexican food and head to Kerry Park for a picnic: Malena's Tacos (really cheap and so good). Just a grab a seat on any cafe.restuarant on Queen Anne Avenue -great area! Also Jai Thai in Fremont is excellent Thai food!

August is the perfect month to visit the amazing City. I lived there for four years and miss it dearly...

Your outline of your plan sounds good, if a little heavy on the tours from my perspective. A few comments:
--Day 1: I assume you're renting a car, as you'll be hauling luggage to the Museum of Flight and hotel.
--Day 2: For the Argosy Boat Cruise, check to see which itinerary, as some of the cruises go through the Locks, which you then would be repeating on Day 3.
--Day 3: Pike Place Market you can really do on your own, unless this tour company is offering something ultra-special.
--Day 4: Baseball game. This day also might leave you with some good leisure time to explore downtown and the waterfront on foot.
--Day 5: Excellent choice to go to Mount Rainier. So many of our Seattle tourists miss the magnificent mountains and the countryside.

Concerning museums, there are two major Seattle art museums: SAM downtown, and SAAM on Capitol Hill. The downtown one is in a newly refurbished building that is quite interesting, with an expanded and very eclectic collection, especially strong in native Alaskan art, as well as an excellent modern collection. SAAM (Seattle Asian Art Museum) has a fabulous collection of Asian art. If you like art as I do, they are both very worthwhile. I would probably choose SAAM over Wing Luke, but the latter is good, too. Have a great time!

Several years ago, I had out-of-town visitors who wanted to go on the Underground Tour of Seattle. I'd never done the Underground Tour. I thought it was a "tourist trap" that no resident of Seattle would enjoy. Nevertheless, I relented and went. I've got to admit the Underground Tour was an eye-opener and an interesting lesson in the founding and development of Seattle. If you're short on time, can't venture to far out of Seattle and a history buff, this is on my short list of "must do" things in Seattle.

The Underground Tours are popular so you have to book early especially in August.

Thanks to everyone for the excellent tips. I look forward to my Seattle visit from August 20th-25th. I recently found out that a friend of mine visited Seattle several years ago and loved it. I am sure that I will, too.

David

Welcome, and we hope you have a great visit!

I second the recommendation to do the Underground Tour in Pioneer Square. Here is a link to the web site:

http://www.undergroundtour.com/

Thom in Seattle

I see no one's yet addressed your inquiry about Kerry Park.  KP is one of Seattle's 'postage stamp' parks -- relatively small, and perched on the south end of Queen Anne Hill.  KP is surrounded on 3 sides by city blocks full of very elegant old homes, but the 4th side offers *the* view of Seattle -- one made famous in countless calendar photographs taken from the park.  Standing at the railing on a clear day, you can see Elliot Bay, Mount Rainier, the entire Seattle city skyline, as well as the distant beaches of West Seattle.  It's a great spot to watch sunsets or moonrises from, as well.One does need a car to get there most easily -- one with a strong engine and brakes, as Queen Anne Avenue is a *steep* hill!  One drives up QA Ave (also called the 'counterbalance') to Highland Drive, where one makes a left turn.  About 2-3 blocks further on Highland is Kerry Park, on the left, hard to miss.

I love Seattle and just made the trip to SEA and Vancouver last fourth of July. If you like guided tours, you have a good itinerary. If you are afraid to explore on your own or don't think you can cover that much ground, don't be scared! You don't need a tour of Pike's Place, as another reader said, and I would say that you might want to ease up on the planned events (down to one or maybe two per day) so you can enjoy the splendor that is Seattle. The space needle is fine if you like that, I did it on my first trip to just have the experience, but it is no Eiffel Tower or anything.

Things to consider:
*The Frontier Room, a fantastic BBQ restaurant near Pike's Place area.
*Salumi, a delicatessen run by Mario Batali's family (the food network chef), in Pioneer Square area.
*The Ride The Ducks boat/land tour if you decide to not do the boat cruise (which is much more sophistocated and historically interesting, but longer).

In Vancouver/Victoria--
MILESTONE'S RESTAURANT!! Amazing amazing amazing, and reasonable!! There are locations in Victoria on the harbor or in a couple spots in Vancouver, depending on where you will be.

Have fun, I love this trip!!

When a midwestern cousin visited the west years ago, we spent a few days in Seattle (I live in Oregon). By far the biggest impression on her was a ferry ride -- we just picked one from the waterfront, hopped on, went across the water and turned around and came back (it was about a 90-minute round trip).

She loved it.

Hello, I've lived about an hour from Seattle for the last 7 years, and have lived in Washington my whole life, and I still love going to see Seattle. It's a very beautiful city, minus all those hills :-p

The only thing I really noticed was on Day 3 you plan on doing the Pike Place Market Tour with Savor Foods (2+ hours), the Woodland Park Zoo, and Henry Chittenden Locks, including salmon ladder.

I LOVE the Pike Place Market, and have gone there on my birthday literally every year for the last 10 years at least. Even though you are doing a tour, you may want to give yourself time to look around on your own, it's a great place. Go to the magic shop (below the main level) and ask the guy to perform some tricks for you, he’s always been very nice, and is the first memory I have of Pike Place, from when I was about 8.

However, in my opinion you should reconsider planning the Woodland Park Zoo on a day with two other activities, this zoo is HUGE, I've been there many times but the most recent I took two friends of mine there in September (they were from Ukraine and Russia) and it took us hours (the Elephant area was so big, we ended up in there multiple times) and after all that walking we only wanted to sit a while! So I'm thinking that after wondering through Pike Place, and trying to fit the zoo in plus the third event is going to really put you on a time crunch and wear you out VERY quickly. Even if you manage to see everything at the zoo, you will be exhausted.

The only other thing I will add is if you like comedy, there is an improv comedy club right next to the Pike Place Market that is fantastic (and if you go, take a picture of the Gum Wall (and add a piece) that’s right below Pike Place and right next to the improv entrance, it's great, everyone is always amazed with those photos who haven't seen it, it’s a lotta gum), its called Unexpected Productions, I've been there with my entire family who all enjoy different kinds of comedy and everyone loved it, I also took my two friends from Russia and Ukraine to a production and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Here is the URL to their website http://www.unexpectedproductions.org/ you may have to check back later to get info on shows playing in August though, but keep that in mind! It would be a great thing to do one of your evenings in Seattle if you can throw it in.

The Space Needle restaurant is expensive and only so-so, although the crab cakes are amazing (and now I’m hungry for some!). You can always just go to the Observation Deck to see the view, and say you’ve been there.

Anyways, my post ended up being a lot longer than I intended but I hope you have a great time in Seattle! Oh, and if you like garlic (a lot), try the garlic fries at the Mariner game. MMMMMMMM sooo good. You can smell those a mile away, delicious!

I just remembered something else, the last time I was at Pike Place I ate at one of the restaurants there, called Etta's or Etta's Seafood, something with Etta in the name, and it was EXTREMELY expensive and I was the only person out of all six of us that got a decent sized meal, my brother ordered the halibut which was one of the most expensive things on the menu and then got a piece that was less than two bites . . . so as fancy and nice as it was, I really would not recommend it unless you are on a strict diet and don’t mind spending a ton of money. There are so many little bakeries and shops with good food all along there that I'd say try those places first :o)