MUSEUMS
MoPOP (formerly EMP)
This museum has different exhibits with themes like Star Trek, Nirvana, Jimmy Hendrix, Fantasy Worlds, Indie Game Revolution, Science Fiction and more. Each exhibit has memorabilia from some of the most unforgettable pop culture moments and movies. They also have interactive exhibits like Sound Off!, where you can learn about the different aspects of music and practice playing the guitar, drums, and singing in the sound booth.
The Center for Wooden Boats
This museum has all things wooden boats. Check out all the different types of boats they have in their collection or even enroll in heritage skills workshops to learn more about the craftsmanship. The highlight, though, happens every Sunday when they take people out for free rides on different boats from 10AM-3PM.
Chihuly Garden and Glass
Dale Chihuly is one of the most recognizable names in glass art. If you’ve ever been to the Bellagio in Vegas, then you’re familiar with his work in the lobby ceiling. Chihuly is originally from Tacoma, Washington and often has limited time exhibits, but Chihuly Garden and Glass opened at the Seattle Center in 2012 and has no plans on leaving. Each piece is beautifully displayed and they even have demonstrations about the process out of an old converted Airstream.
Museum of History and Industry
The Museum of History and Industry or MOHAI is located right next door to the Center for Wooden Boats. It focuses on regional innovation and imagination. Some of their permanent exhibits include the maritime traditions, local innovations, and the Seattle journey.
Living Computers: Museum + Labs
The Living Computers: Museum + Labs has the world’s largest collection of fully restored and usable computers. They have technology from the 60s to the present. You can spend all afternoon playing the original Oregon Trail or messing around on Windows 95. They also have new technology showcasing virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and self-driving cars.
Seattle Pinball Museum
Seattle Pinball Museum was created to share the games with other local collectors. Now it fills its walls in Chinatown from end to end with pinball machines dating back as far as 1934. There are over 50 games that change regularly, and after paying your entrance fee, you can play to your heart’s content.
Pacific Science Center
This is a great museum if you have kids! There are currently three main sections and multiple IMAX theaters. There are a ton of hands-on activities to check out and they hold special events for kids, teens, and adults. You can buy tickets the way you want them. If you just want to see the exhibits, there is pricing specific for that.
Seattle Art Museum
Better known as SAM, the Seattle Art Museum encompasses SAM, Asian Art Museum, and Olympic Sculpture Park. There is a set of SAM Collections and Installations, and regularly changing guest exhibitions. They also have events held throughout the year that you can join.
Asian Art Museum
The Asian Art Museum is part of the Seattle Art Museum and has a beautiful space in Volunteer Park, which was actually SAM’s original location. As made obvious by the name, its galleries highlight Asian art and history.
LeMay-America’s Car Museum (Tacoma)
If you love cars, you have to check out America’s Car Museum. It opened in the summer of 2012 and is America’s largest car museum. You can explore four floors of wall to wall cars or visit during one of their huge car events that fill the outside field with even more spectacular cars.
Museum of Glass (Tacoma)
Dale Chihuly is originally from Tacoma, WA, so it’s only fitting that there is also a Museum of Glass. You can visit the large glass studio and watch artists create these amazing pieces, or walk around and awe at their work. You can see plenty of Chihuly’s work as well as other amazing glass artists.
PARKS
Kerry Park
Kerry Park is a small green space that offers a playground, benches, and a piece of modern sculpture on approximately one acre of land. Though Kerry Park is beautiful in and of itself, it is best known for its stunning views. The views are astounding and iconic.
Kubota Garden
Deemed a historic landmark in 1981, Kubota Garden is a 20-acre Japanese garden designed with plants indigenous to the Northwest. The city acquired the garden in 1987 from the estate of Fujitaro Kubota—the horticulturist who first led the way for this culture-combining technique back in 1927—in order to protect and support it.
Volunteer Park
Volunteer Park started as a cemetery, but bodies were displaced for the designing of a park. Originally called City Park, it was renamed in 1901 to commemorate locals who volunteered in the Spanish-American War of 1898–99. Today, the green space includes Volunteer Park Conservatory and the Seattle Asian Art Museum.
Carkeek Park
This 220-acre watershed comprises a forest, meadows, wetlands, creeks, a beach, approximately 10 kilometre of walking trails, a salmon-themed play area, and Piper’s Orchard—originally planted around the turn of the century. It happens to have an incredible view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.
Discovery Park
Since its official opening in 1973, it has come to offer tidal beaches, meadows, sea cliffs, a forest, streams, active sand dunes, the West Point Lighthouse, 19 kilometres of walking trails, and outstanding views of both the Cascade and Olympic ranges. Discovery Park is a green oasis in an urban setting, a wildlife sanctuary, and an educational resource.
Seward Park
The 300 acres of forested peninsula that make up Seward Park include old growth forests, an amphitheater, an art studio, hiking trails, the Seward Park Audubon Center, and a beach with boat launch options. Some trails are paved to accommodate wheels (such as those on strollers).
Washington Park Arboretum
The Washington Park Arboretum is under the management of both the City of Seattle and the University of Washington Botanic Gardens, a part of the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. The 230 acres of the arboretum include seven areas: the Pacific Connections Garden, the Joseph A. Witt Winter Garden, the Woodland Garden, Shoreline & Foster Island, Rhododendron Glen, Azalea Way, and the popular Japanese Garden on the south end of the arboretum.
Golden Gardens Park
Golden Gardens Park is over a century old, providing Seattleites with timeless views and recreation. Its 88 acres include wetlands, trails, a beach, boat launch, and a one-acre off-leash area for dogs. The park is best known for its gorgeous beach and the opportunity to explore its low tides.
Olympic Sculpture Park
Olympic Sculpture Park is part of the Seattle Art Museum, along with the Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park (see above). It’s essentially an open-air museum on Elliott Bay with the Olympic and Cascade mountains as the backdrop—in other words, beauty surrounded by more beauty. The park is free and open to the public year-round, including free tours. Panaderia is a pop-up café at the park, providing your taste buds with culinary treats.
Green Lake Park
Green Lake Park is a true source of community, providing an important green space for city folk and natural preserve for wildlife. Including a 2.8-mile (4.5-kilometer) path around Green Lake, athletic fields, boating, and swimming opportunities, this is yet another century-old park that illustrates the value that the city of Seattle placed on nature early on.
MARKETS
Pike Place Market
It may be known for its salmon pitching fishmongers and as the site of the original Seattle Starbucks, but Pike Place Market is also where you can ‘meet the producers’ who set up their stalls to sell the freshest and tastiest fruits, vegetables, herbs, honey, nuts, and berries for every season. All farmers grow their crops on land they own or lease from all over the State of Washington. This includes foraged foods like mushrooms and truffles. There’s plenty to do, even if you aren’t shopping for groceries, you’ll have the chance to taste many local honeys, watch fresh Alaskan halibut fly across the fishmonger’s stall as customers place their order, and ogle at the fresh cut flowers and bouquets in the stalls.
University District Farmers Market
At the University District Farmers Market, prices manage to be affordable for even college students to buy locally grown fruits and vegetables. The market is open every Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm. From Mountain Lodge Farm goat’s cheese to Sno-Valley mushrooms, University District Farmers Market draws local producers from all over Washington State who sell tasty and high quality food. While enjoying the market, try some delicious street food like Tandoozy Indian food and Patty Pan quesadillas.
Fremont Sunday Flea Market
A European-style street market, the Fremont Sunday Flea Market is a weekly home to popular and fantastic Seattle food trucks, vintage clothing and records vendors and stalls of specialty products like Vermont maple syrup. Find all sorts of unique treasures, such as vintage dictionary art drawn on 100-year-old Webster dictionary pages, antique chests and dressers, and old-fashioned suitcases with clasps.
Wallingford Farmers Market
Every Wednesday from May to September, Wallingford Farmers Market opens to the public for everyone from chefs to families to buy local, quality produce for their cooking. Recognized as the Best Farmers Market in 2013 by The Washington Farmers Markets Association, Wallingford Farmers Market is located in Meridian Park.
