Seattle, washington
Attractions Guide

Seattle is a gorgeous seaside city full of contemporary high-rise buildings and landmarks, surrounded by breathtaking natural scenery.

The Seattle Center area is where you'll find the city's most iconic sight, the 600 foot (180 m) tall Space Needle. You can take the elevator to the top of the tower for incredible panoramic views overlooking the city and coastline.

Adjacent to the Space Needle in Seattle Center are several great museums, including the Chihuly Garden and Glass which features stunning contemporary art pieces made of glass set amongst beautiful gardens.

Seattle Center also hosts the Museum of Pop Culture, which is housed in a striking ultra-contemporary building designed by the famous architect Frank Gehry. This museum hosts a variety of unique exhibits ranging from famous Seattle musicians to movies, science fiction, video games, fantasy, interactive exhibits, and much more.

Just southwest of the Space Needle and Seattle Center is the unique Olympic Sculpture Park, a raised urban park with giant outdoor sculptures. The park is built in an intriguing geometric fashion spanning high above the roads below. You can also take in excellent views of the harbor and nearby islands from this park.

South of the Seattle Center in Downtown Seattle you'll find many more great attractions, such as the Pike Place Market, which features many fascinating unique shops, as well as great restaurants and the first Starbucks cafe.

Be sure to see the famous Gum Wall, an underground alleyway covered in millions of pieces of colored gum, which is located adjacent to Pike's Place. Nearby you can walk along the scenic Seattle Waterfront, a popular tourist area with many shops and restaurants along old shipping piers. This area also hosts a seafront Ferris wheel.

Downtown also hosts the giant Seattle Art Museum, which contains a diverse collection of interesting art exhibits.

In Downtown Seattle you'll also find two of the city's most iconic buildings, the Columbia Center and Smith Tower. Both of these buildings host skyscraper observatories from which you can enjoy amazing panoramic views over the skyline, from the middle of Downtown. Columbia Center's observatory is about twice as high up as Smith Tower's.

One of the most breathtaking viewpoints overlooking the Space Needle and Downtown Seattle is from Kerry Park, which is located just north of Seattle Center.

Be sure to also visit the Gas Works Park in the Fremont neighborhood to the north of Downtown. The park features a surprisingly picturesque old oil plant set amongst Lake Union, with amazing views of the city skyline set behind the lake. Nearby you might like to see the Fremont Troll, a large monster-like sculpture which sits beneath a freeway.

South of Downtown Seattle near the airport is the massive Museum of Flight, which is the largest private air and space museum in the world. This museum features countless diverse aircraft and spacecraft on display, some of which you can even explore inside of.

East of Seattle near the town of Snoqualmie you can have a unique experience with kangaroos and wallabies at the Fall City Wallaby Ranch, which gives you the opportunity to learn about these animals and pet and interact with them. This tour must be pre-booked in advance and is highly recommend.

Very close-by the Wallaby Ranch is the massive and powerful Snoqualime Falls, which is absolutely gorgeous and very easily accessible, located just off the highway.