Top 10 Things to Do in Seattle

1. Explore Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market opened in 1907 above Seattle’s Elliott Bay waterfront and is one of the oldest continuously operating public farmers markets in the United States. It was created to connect consumers directly with regional farmers after disputes over produce pricing. The district expanded over time into a multilevel complex of arcades, market stalls, and historic buildings descending toward the waterfront. Pike Place includes fishmongers, produce stands, craft vendors, and long-running small businesses, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. Preservation campaigns in the late 20th century prevented large-scale replacement and kept the market as a working retail district rather than a museum-only historic zone.

2. Explore Space Needle

The Space Needle was built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and rises 605 feet (184 meters) above the Seattle Center campus. Designed by Edward E. Carlson and John Graham Jr., the tower’s saucer-shaped top quickly became a symbol of mid-century futurist architecture in the Pacific Northwest. Observation decks provide views of downtown Seattle, Elliott Bay, Lake Union, and, in clear conditions, Mount Rainier and the Cascade Range. A major renovation completed in 2018 added floor-to-ceiling glass and a rotating glass floor system. The structure was engineered to withstand strong wind and seismic activity, reflecting regional design requirements. It remains Seattle’s best-known skyline landmark and a legacy of the Century 21 Exposition.

3. Explore Chihuly Garden and Glass

Chihuly Garden and Glass opened in 2012 at Seattle Center, adjacent to the Space Needle, as a permanent exhibition of works by glass artist Dale Chihuly. The complex includes interior galleries, a central Glasshouse with a 100-foot suspended sculpture, and an outdoor garden integrating glass installations with Pacific Northwest planting design. Chihuly, born in Tacoma in 1941, is associated with the Studio Glass movement and helped expand contemporary glass as a large-scale sculptural medium. The exhibition’s location within Seattle Center connects it to the former 1962 World’s Fair grounds and the city’s cultural district. The site presents decades of Chihuly’s forms, color palettes, and technical experimentation in one curated environment.

4. Explore Discovery Park

Discovery Park is Seattle’s largest city park, covering about 534 acres on the Magnolia peninsula at the site of the former Fort Lawton military post. The U.S. Army established Fort Lawton in 1900, and after decommissioning, much of the land was transferred to the city in the 1970s for park use. The park contains forests, meadows, sea cliffs, and shoreline areas with views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. It also includes the West Point Lighthouse, built in 1881 and still active as an aid to navigation. Discovery Park’s trail network and habitat zones make it a significant urban ecological reserve within Seattle’s municipal boundaries.

5. Explore Kerry Park

Kerry Park is a small viewpoint park on Seattle’s south slope of Queen Anne Hill, widely known for panoramic views of downtown, Elliott Bay, and Mount Rainier. The park was donated to the city in 1927 by Albert Sperry Kerry and his wife Katharine as a public overlook. Although the site covers only a fraction of an acre, its elevation and orientation create one of the most photographed skyline perspectives in the region. The nearby Changing Form sculpture by Doris Totten Chase, installed in 1971, adds a modern art element to the overlook. Kerry Park demonstrates how small topographic sites can have outsized cultural impact in a city defined by hills and water.

6. Explore Fremont

Fremont is a Seattle neighborhood north of Lake Union that developed as an independent city before annexation by Seattle in 1891. Historically a manufacturing and warehouse district near rail and water routes, Fremont shifted in the late 20th century toward offices, arts spaces, and technology firms. It is known for public artworks including the Fremont Troll (installed in 1990 under the Aurora Bridge) and for annual events such as the Fremont Solstice Parade. The neighborhood’s commercial core runs along N 36th Street and Fremont Avenue, with the Lake Washington Ship Canal on its southern edge. Fremont’s identity combines industrial legacy, countercultural branding, and contemporary mixed-use urban development.

7. Explore Seattle Waterfront

Seattle’s central waterfront runs along Elliott Bay and has evolved from 19th-century working piers into a mixed public and commercial shoreline district. Early wharves supported shipping, fishing, and rail-linked trade, while later redevelopment added the Seattle Aquarium, ferry terminals, and visitor-oriented businesses along Alaskan Way. The Alaskan Way Viaduct, opened in 1953 and removed after tunnel replacement in 2019, long shaped access and views along the corridor. Current projects include expanded promenades and public-space improvements connected to downtown streets and Pike Place Market. The waterfront remains a key transportation interface through Washington State Ferries and cruise operations while preserving traces of Seattle’s maritime industrial heritage.

8. Explore Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier is a 14,411-foot (4,392-meter) stratovolcano in the Cascade Range and the highest mountain in Washington State. It lies about 60 miles southeast of Seattle and is heavily glaciated, with more named glaciers than any other peak in the contiguous United States. Mount Rainier National Park was established in 1899 as the nation’s fifth national park, protecting alpine meadows, old-growth forests, and volcanic landscapes. The mountain is an active volcano monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey because lahars and other hazards can affect downstream valleys. In clear weather, Rainier dominates Seattle’s skyline and has long shaped regional culture, recreation patterns, and scientific research.