What to do in Seattle

I’m writing this post for my sister, since I’ve convinced her to visit me in this lovely best coast city.

I’ve been living in Seattle for the last two years and visiting it frequently for the four years before that but I’m far from being a local or expert (I’ll save that title for my Honolulu recommendations post).

That being said, here is a rather long post with 23 recommendations for things to do in Seattle!

1. Vintage Shopping.

Seattle’s not as hipster as Portland, but we hold our own. As such, of course, we have a great (but highly overpriced) secondhand and vintage clothing scene. In my opinion, some of the best neighborhoods for vintage and secondhand shopping are: Ballard, University District, and Capitol Hill. Of all of these, the University District probably has the cheapest options, since it’s where the college students shop. Capitol Hill probably has the quirkiest options.

In addition to secondhand shops, the Fremont Flea Market is held every Sunday in Fremont and has a great collection of vintage clothes and decorative items, as well as some handcrafted goods and a few food trucks.

2. Drink beer (or other alcohol).

The Pacific Northwest is known for breweries and Seattle and Portland both have their fair share!

You can find breweries throughout the city but some of the major areas are Ballard and Georgetown – though Fremont Brewing in Fremont is also fantastic.

If beer isn’t your speed, there are some distilleries, cideries, and kombucha breweries (as well as Rachel’s Ginger Beer, which can have alcohol added to it) scattered throughout the city as well.

As a more cocktail bar option, Splintered Wand (a Harry Potter bar) recently opened in Ballard (as of this 2022 update) and looks amazing. You’ll have to make a reservation a few weeks (or ideally a month) in advance.

3. Visit one of the major Seattle landmarks.

Some of the major Seattle landmarks include:

• Pike Place Market (and original Starbucks)
• Seattle Space Needle
• Gasworks Park (an oil plant turned park)

With some second tier landmarks including:

• Fremont Troll / Lenin statue
• Burke Gilman Trail
• Chihuly Garden and Glass
• Seattle Monorail
• Ballard Locks (where you can see fish climb the salmon ladder in the right season)

If you’re looking for something more off the beaten trail, Atlas Obscura always has some interesting suggestions.

4. Attempt to re-enact scenes from 10 Things I Hate About You.

Seattle (or at least the general area) was the filming location for the ’90s classic and therefore you can check out a lot of the filming locations! Don’t expect to paintball at Gasworks Park however, though you could take a hot tub boat float on Lake Union.

5. Try an alternative workout.

Seattle is hipster king of the trendy millennial workouts. Potential tries include aerial silks, cat yoga at Meowtropolitan, bouldering at the Seattle Bouldering Project, parkour lessons, and dance church (trying to track down the time and location on Instagram is probably your best bet – it’s a bit underground and hard to track down online).

6. Drink more alcohol, ideally on a rooftop.

Only to be tried during nice summer weather! MBar in South Lake Union has a reasonable happy hour and some great views during the warmer months.

7. Explore a trendy neighborhood.

I’m particularly preferential to Ballard since I live there but there are quite a few cute neighborhoods for exploring in Seattle!

My favorites are:

• Capitol Hill (Elliot Bay Bookstore & Lost Lake Cafe are some of my favorites here)
• Pioneer Square
• International District
• Ballard
• Fremont

With honorable mentions of:

• Queen Anne
• Greenwood
• Green Lake
• University District

8. Take a ferry.

Seattle Ferries are reasonably affordable, even just as a way to get on the water for an hour. One of the shortest ferries is Seattle – Bainbridge Island, which costs $8.50 for a round-trip walk-on adult passenger.

9. Bike or skate around.

If you want to cover more ground than you can walking but don’t want to shell out for Uber or Lyft (or deal with random people yelling at you on the bus, like I often do), you can choose to rent a Jump bike (Uber) or Lime bike. They often end up costing the same as a shared Uber or Lyft, so I wouldn’t say they were the most economical option (and with motorized components, not really the best exercise) but it’s a different way to travel and you can take the Burke Gilman Trail that cuts the city west-east.

Seattle doesn’t really have the Uber scooters because we’re too hilly for them to work well.

If you want to rollerblade along a trail (as my sister apparently does), here are two options I’ve found online:

• https://www.kayakalki.com/rentals/
• https://www.playitagainsports.com/locations/seattle-wa/Rental-Gear

10. Hike.

This is obviously one of the top things to do in the Seattle area and my favorite activity. You can find anything from easy to hard hikes to backpacking trails in the area.

The main hiking zones include:

• Cascades
• Mount Rainer
• Olympic Penninsula

For hiking options, search on the Washington Trails Association or AllTrails, which both have helpful filtering options and incredibly useful user comments that crowdsource up-to-date trail conditions.

11. See live music.

While Seattle isn’t still the music powerhouse it was in the ’90s (in my opinion), it still has a lot of bands come through as one of the biggest cities on the West Coast.

For funsies, here are some of the bands that got their start in Seattle: Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Jimi Hendrix, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden (a name taken from the actual sound garden in Seattle), Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Judy Collins, Kenny G, Modest Mouse, Sir Mix-a-lot, The Presidents of the United States of America, Fleet Foxes, Blue Scholars, Band of Horses, and Sol. You can find a more complete list here. If you’re interested in the first five bands particularly, you should check out MoPop, a museum in Seattle jam-packed with local music history and an impressive sci-fi collection.

As far as seeing music in Seattle, there are often major musical groups coming through, but you can also check out local and visiting bands at smaller venues. Personally, my favorite smaller venues are Sunset Tavern and Tractor Tavern in Ballard but the Downtown / Cap Hill areas also have some great smaller venue options in The Crocodile, Neumos, The Showbox, and Chop Suey.

12. Enjoy some Asian food and culture.

Seattle has a decently large Asian population (14.5%) and therefore has a great Asian scene! They claim to be the origin place of teriyaki, but I’m pretty sure this is really Hawaii (reference: Wikipedia).

The International District downtown includes Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese areas with some interesting historical landmarks. One such landmark is the Panama Hotel, a Japanese hotel containing the only remaining (though non operational) sento, Japanese bath house, in the US.

The International District also a great place to grab some treats, especially if you’re Hawaii homesick, like me. My top recommendations for treats are Young Tea for bubble tea (you can control sweetness and ice), Fuji Bakery, a Japanese-style patisserie, and BAMBU, which sells Taiwanese snow ice and Vietnamese chè, a delicious iced concoction that makes bubble tea pale in comparison (MeeTea in Capitol Hill is also a favorite of mine for bubble tea).

Uwajimaya in the International District is also definitely worth a visit as both a large asian grocery store and adorable bookstore that sells stationary and other cutesy goodies.

If you’re going all the way out to Bellevue (across Lake Washington, so a bit a trek), I’d recommend hitting up Snowy Village (bingsoo, i.e. Korean shave ice) and Tres Sandwich House (Japanese “conbini” i.e. convenience store style sandwiches).

As a few last restaurant recommendations, my favorites that I’ve tried so far are both Thai – Kin Len Thai Night Bites (in Fremont) and Pestle Rock (in Ballard).

13. Eat one of the (few) local delicacies.

Personally, I’m of the opinion that Seattle food is just OK (and that Hawaii has the best food in the world). As far as “local” options in Seattle, we don’t have a lot that’s specific to Seattle but some of the local favorites are:

• Dick’s Drive In: A classic Seattle burger chain founded in 1954 with cheap burgers and a 2AM close time, perfect for a late night snack.
• Molly Moon: A Seattle ice cream chain that easily holds its own with Salt and Straw (which Seattle also now has). My favorite flavors are Lavender Honey and Earl Grey, with the exciting seasonal flavor of Cornbread & Honey.
• Seattle dogs: I would say this is one of Seattle’s classic dishes? You can pick this up from most hotdog vendors in Seattle but Monster Dogs is my favorite. Basically a normal hotdog (usually with onions) with an additive of cream cheese – which really works.
• Seafood: Of course this is something Seattle is known for. You can get great seafood from lots of places but one of the classics is Ivar’s, which has both fast food shops and a fancy sit down restaurant. Seattle also might be trying to make chowder fries a thing.

14. Go to a farmer’s market.

Seattle has several lovely farmer’s markets – my favorites are two of the largest: Ballard Farmer’s Market and the West Seattle Farmer’s Market, both of which run mid-morning through mid-afternoon on Sundays, all year long. Both have very similar shops and are great for grabbing fresh produce, locally produced crafts, baked goods, or lunch.

15. Go to a beach.

Coming from Hawaii, I’m very picky about what a qualify as a “nice beach,” but Seattle has some pretty decent ones. My top pick is Golden Gardens because it’s actually sandy and quite lovely. Top activities here are: swimming, lounging, picnicking, volleyball, frisbee, and anything else you usually do on a beach.

16. Go to a park.

My top park recommendations are:

• Discovery Park: huge park with nature trails, beaches, and a historic lighthouse.
• Volunteer Park: greenhouse conservatory with cheap or free entry.
• Kerry Park: probably the best view of Seattle.
• Gasworks Park: unique park on the site of a converted gasification plant.

Second tier suggestions are:

• Carkeek Park
• University of Washington Arboretum
• Magnuson Park

17. Canoe, kayak, or stand up paddleboard.

If the weather is nice, these are all a fun way to get out onto the water – either into the Puget Sound, Lake Union, Lake Washington, or Green Lake. I’ve rented through the University of Washington (very economical and open to the public) as well as scouted for deals on Groupon.

18. Do some gaming.

Seattle is a haven for geeks with a booming video game industry, including Valve Corporation (makers of games like Half-Life and Portal and responsible for the gaming store Steam) in Bellevue.

With this, there are a lot of gaming experiences and conventions that take place in Seattle.

• Escape Rooms: Seattle has a lot of escape rooms and I’ve been to two (Ninja Escape and Mission Escapes) which were both good but don’t have strong opinions on which are best in city. Quest Escape Rooms looks good (with Harry Potter and Game of Thrones themes) but I haven’t tried them yet!
• Board game bars: This is honestly one of my favorites! Beyond just generally having boards games in bars (very common in Seattle), there are a few board game shops with bars where you can borrow from their extensive game collection (for free!) and grab a drink or some food. My favorite for this is Mox Boarding House, of which there are two – one in Bellevue and one in Ballard.
• Pinball and arcade games:There are several places where you can grab a drink and play some arcade games, my top suggestions here are The Unicorn (a quasi gay bar with a carnival theme in Capitol Hill), Full Tilt (pinballs, booze, and vegan and non-vegan ice cream in Ballard), and Gameworks (located downtown – essentially Dave and Buster’s with a section in it for PC gaming and couches where you can play Super Mario Smash with friends). Some other honorable (and less boozy) mentions are Living Computer Museum (a highly interactive, nostalgia bomb of a museum dedicated to the history of computers where you can play ’80s arcade games for free and ’90s PC games to your heart’s content) and Seattle Pinball Museum (unlimited play after entry cost).
• Bar games: If you want to drink while also playing games, there are a lot of places where you can achieve that goal but some top recommendations are Flatstick (mini golf and other games with several locations in Seattle), Garage (massive spot for bowling and playing pool in Capitol Hill), and Rhein Haus (previously Von Trapp’s before a dispute with the Von Trapp family, this is a Bavarian-style beer hall with lots of tasty German food, German beer, and bocce ball courts for rental).
• Conventions: While not something you can do all year long, Seattle is home to several annual conventions including: PAX West, Emerald City Comic Con, Sakura-Con, and (recently) PodCon (a podcast convention).

19. Explore Amazonia.

South Lake Union, just a bit north of Pike Place and west of Capitol Hill, is colloquially referred to as “Amazonia” because it is the location of the Amazon campus, which means it is totally overrun with Amazon employees.

Beyond having quite a few good happy hour bars, it can be fun to see some of the publicly accessible Amazon installations such as:

• Amazon Spheres: A completely gaudy (and also amazingly beautiful) display by Jeff Bezos – two huge glass geodesic domes (I’m sure without any Freudian connotations) filled with exotic plants. This is also a good time to remind you that Seattle has the two of the three most wealthy people in the world, and Bill Gates is only number three because he’s doing his darnedest to give away all of his money to global humanitarian efforts, bless him and Melinda. Anyway, you can sign up online to visit the sphere for free on the first and third Saturdays of the month. Sign up well in advance because this is a popular tourist spot for locals. There is a cafe inside, but the main experience is just wandering around thinking of how rich Jeff Bezos is and taking Instagram pics in front of plant walls. You have a set entrance time but can stay for as long as you like.
• Amazon Go Store: If you want to get a good peek at the future of stores, pop in to an Amazon Go store. There are only 13 Amazon Go stores globally and Seattle has 4 of them (with a 5th opening shortly). These are the fancy “no cash register” stores where you go in, take whatever you want and then only pay for what you remove from the store, which they determine via machine vision. Definitely a bit creepy to have cameras tracking what you do (and obviously just fueling the fire of information that Amazon has on you) but very futuristic experience. You only need one person in your group to download the Amazon Go app and then can let in multiple people. For full effect, as was the recommendation I got, take something off a shelf and put it directly into your pocket. You 100% feel like you are shoplifting – accounting for all the first timers looking around nervously and hesitantly pocketing items. The store is even smart enough to know that you carried around something for 5 minutes and then put it back on the shelf without charging you. The store stocks mainly food items, so it’s cool to stop in just for the experience or for a light lunch or snack.

20. Grab some late night sugar (after a night of drinking).

This does seem to be pretty specifically Seattle trend in my experience.

In case you haven’t noted based on my previous suggestions, Seattle likes its booze and has a “healthy” infrastructure to support your late night drunchies with bakeries / desert shops that only open late in afternoon and stay open until midnight or later.

My top recommendations in this category are:

• Hot Cakes: Located in both Capitol Hill and Ballard, this shop specializes in molten lava cakes, though they have a variety of other sweet treats, drinks, and boozy milkshakes.
• Pie Bar: Also located in both Capitol Hill and Ballard, this bar sells both pie and, strap in, pie flavored drinks. The Capitol Hill location is way smaller than the Ballard shop, so if you’re looking to sit down, I would recommend trying Ballard.
• Midnight Cookies: Almost exactly what it sounds like, this company (with storefronts) will deliver you cookies well past midnight. Always a bad/good decision.

21. Go a coffee shop.

Seattle, globally, is king when comes to coffee shops. Regardless of your feelings for the company, if being the birthplace of Starbucks isn’t enough to convince you, I’ve been in coffee shops in other cities, advertised as “Seattle-style” coffee houses.

My favorite coffee shop, having said that, is a tea shop – specifically Miro Tea in Ballard. It’s almost tragically adorable and Instagrammable with a huge selection of delicious teas.

Bonus points for reading a book in a coffee shop while it’s raining outside – you can’t get much more quintessentially Seattle.

22. Have a soak.

This recommendation is more female-specific, there are places in Seattle where males can get a similar experience (though I’m not sure if that’s with or without the gay hook up connotations).

My favorite spot in Seattle for doing a relaxing all-lady nude hot tub soak is Hothouse Spa and Sauna in Capitol Hill. It’s an economic $18 a visit and has such chill vibes with a steam room, a sauna room, and a hot tub (with a cold shower dunk option, if you’re feeling like a masochist).

As of 2020 and through at least September 2022, Hothouse Spa and Sauna has unfortunately only been available for private rentals but I’d recommend Olympus Spa (a Korean day spa) in Lynnwood, if you’re up for the trek north!

23. Honestly, Seattle’s a lively place – just go bar hopping or on unsuccessful Tinder dates with people who make you feel insecure with your career choices, like a local.

Or, if that fails, look for upcoming events on The Stranger.