Seattle has a lot to offer, so everyone will find something fun to do around the city. Below are just a couple of the fun things you can do in your spare time, in no particular order. The list is meant to get you started - obviously, search the web for more details about any of these places. If you want a more specific suggestion, feel free to email us.

• Touristy Things

  • Pike's Place Market - home to the original Starbucks, dudes that throw fish around, large pig statues, and much more
  • Space Needle / Monorail - pretend like you are at the 1962 World's Fair
  • Olympic Sculpture Park - this park combines great views of the Olympics and the Sound with modern art from the Seattle Art Museum
  • Underground Tours - learn about old Seattle by taking a tour through the city below the streets, very cool, located in Pioneer Square
  • Seattle Art Museum & Frye Art Museum - the SAM is larger and amazing, the Frye is much smaller but admission is free
  • Central Library, Seattle Public Libraries - the architecture of the building itself is worth a quick stop here
  • Museum of Science - great science museum with an iMax and laser shows
  • Experience Music Project (EMP) & SciFi Museum - located in the same, uniquely-designed building, these two museums cater to smaller niches, if you love music or sci fi, don't miss these
  • Seattle Harbor Tour, Argosy Cruises - narrated tour that shows you all the sights by boat
  • Duck Tour - if you don't know what a duck tour is, Seattle is a good place to find out
  • Woodland Park Zoo - lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!
  • Safeco Field & Qwest Field - doubt the Mariner's will be playing in October, but I bet the Seahawks and the Sounders will
  • Fremont Troll & Lenin statue - famous landmarks in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle
  • Seattle Symphony / Benaroya Hall - catch a concert or just check out the building
  • Klondike Gold Rush "Park" (aka Museum) - learn about Seattle's history
  • Bruce Lee's Grave, Lake View Cemetery - final resting place of a kung fu legend

• Outdoorsy Things

  • Washington Park Arboretum - large park easily accessible by car, lots of nice & easy walks, walks by the water, and a cool Japanese garden
  • Discovery Park - large cliffs with views of the Sound, pretty foliage
  • Kerry Park - best view of Seattle skyline in the city
  • Gas Works Park - great place for a picnic or kite-flying, was the place in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You where they played paintball (no, there is not paintball there in real life)
  • Golden Gardens - Seattle's go-to beach, plus some forested hiking trails
  • Ballard Locks - see the big boats come in, neat salmon ladder
  • Seward Park - easy paved walk down on Lake Washington, great for biking too
  • Paddling on Lake Union - rent a kayak or canoe from the south end of the lake or the north end (up by UW), great views of the city as seaplanes fly overhead
  • Biking the Burke Gilman - rent bikes for a few hours and go for a nice ride on this popular bike trail
  • Museum of Flight - popular flight museum featuring an old Air Force One, a Concord, and lots more
  • Alki Beach, West Seattle - the other beach in Seattle, you can even arrive there by water taxi from downtown
  • Ferries to Bainbridge - lots of ferries in Seattle, but the one to Bainbridge is right in downtown and is a short trip, Bainbridge is standard island fair (ice cream, shops, parks, etc.)

• Shopping

  • Nordstrom's Flagship, downtown
  • REI Flagship, between downtown and Capitol Hill
  • Elliot Bay Book, Capitol Hill

• Food

  Really there's too much to mention, Seattle has GREAT food. Major neighboorhoods are:
  • Downtown - some great (but more expensive) restaurants near Pike's Place Market, probably best to grab lunch here
  • Capitol Hill - hipper (and cheaper) with great bars, great sandwiches (Honeyhole, Other Coast), pizza (Via Tribulani, Hot Mamas), French food (Cafe Presse, Oddfellows), gastropub's (Smith, Quinn's), hotdogs (Po Dogs), cupcakes (Cupcake Royale), ice cream (Molly Moon's, Old School Frozen Custard), and more
  • Wallingford - home to a cool Korean-American fusion restaurant (Joule) and an amazing brunch place (Tilth)
  • Ballard - further away from downtown, but excellent food and good bars
  • Belltown - the rich, trendy place, good sushi (Umi), Italian (Travolata), and small plates (Black Bottle), also home to a wonderful place called Whiskey Bar
  • West Seattle - across Elliot Bay, beachy restaurants on Alki, really great food up on California Ave

• Breweries

  • Elysian
  • Redhook
  • Pyramid
  • McMenamins (their pub in Seattle is called Six Arms)
  • Georgetown Brewing Co.
  • Jolly Roger
  • Pike's Place Brewery
  • Hale's Ales
  • Fremont Brewing

• Surrounding Area

  • Boeing factory tour, Everett - see a 787 getting built
  • Snoqualmie Falls, Snoqualmie
  • Mount Rainier
  • Deception Pass, Whidbey Island
  • Jimmy Hendrix Grave, Greenwood Memorial Park, Renton