Seattle is anything but ordinary. If you choose to make a vacation out of your trip to Seattle, there are many things to see and do. We've selected the top 20 things to experience while you are in town.

---

Alki Beach
Alki Beach is located in West Seattle, and faces west to the Olympic Mountains. There are several restaurants here from coffeehouses to cheap eats to more expensive seafood. In the summer, people roller blade, bike, walk their dogs and try to soak up as much Seattle sun as possible. Logs and fire pits complete a Pacific Northwest version of a beach. At the north end, turning around the point yields a fantastic view of downtown Seattle and sparkles at night.
Website | Map

Ballard Locks
The Ballard Locks provide a link for boats between the saltwater of the Puget Sound and the fresh water of the Ship Canal connecting to Lake Union and Lake Washington. Enjoy watching the parade of sailboats, motorboats, tugs, barges and yachts pass through. Stop by the fish ladder, built to allow salmon to pass between fresh and salt water.
Website | Map

Chinatown-International District
The Chinatown-International District is Seattle's oldest neighborhood is rich with history and serves as the cultural hub for Asian-Americans in the area. Come for the unique retail gifts, rare specialty wares, Asian art, and the best and most affordable cuisine in town. Make sure you stop by Uwajimaya, the Asian specialty supermarket.
Website | Map

Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum
The Experience Music Project (EMP) offers fun and informational exhibits to inspire musical creativity in even the most tone-deaf music lover. The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (SFM) is the world's first museum devoted to the thought-provoking ideas and experiences of science fiction.
Website | Map

Fremont
Fremont is an artsy and eclectic neighborhood, overlooking Salmon Bay. Almost everything about this neighborhood is alternative. Vegetarian cafes, eclectic shops, coffee houses, bookstores and street artists abound. Be sure to check out the Fremont Troll, a piece of whimsical public art under the Aurora Bridge.
Website | Map

Golden Gardens Park
You won't find gold here, nor gardens, but with all the sand, sun and surf on this lovely beach, you won't even notice. Golden Gardens offers strolls along a rugged coastline, hikes through forest trails, sunbathing on sandy beaches, fishing from a pier and a boat launch. The park is also home to an off-leash area for dogs in the north end of the park.
Website | Map

Green Lake
Green Lake is one of Seattle’s most beloved parks. Its expanse of water and green space in the center of a dense urban neighborhood draws thousands of people daily from all over the city. The park serves as a natural preserve for hundreds of species of trees and plants, as well as numerous birds and waterfowl. Paddleboats are available for rental.
Website | Map

Museum of Flight
The Museum of Flight is one of the largest air and space museums in the world. The Museum's collection includes more than 150 historically significant air- and spacecraft, as well as the Red Barn—the original manufacturing facility of The Boeing Co. The Museum's aviation and space library and archives are the largest on the West Coast.
Website | Map

Original Starbucks
See where it all started: America's most popular coffeehouse is Seattle's biggest claim to fame. The Original Starbucks coffee shop is located in Pike Place Market.
Website | Map

Pacific Place
Pacific Place is downtown Seattle's premier shopping, dining and entertainment center. Featuring Tiffany & Co., MaxMara and Coach along with J. Crew, Chico's, Ann Taylor, Helly Hansen, L'Occitane, Restoration Hardware, Barnes & Noble and Williams-Sonoma. The mall also features an 11-screen AMC Theatres complex.
Website | Map

Pacific Science Center
The Pacific Science Center is an educational non-profit foundation featuring a Volcano Watch exhibit, Starlab Planetarium, a playground and an IMAX theater. Serving one million people a year in every county of Washington state, the foundation inspires a lifelong interest in science, math and technology.
Website | Map

Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market, an open-air shopping haven and Seattle institution, is a must-see for first time and return visitors alike. To avoid the crowds, go in the morning when the market first opens. Here you will find gorgeous freshly-cut flower bouquets, fresh fish, fine foods and much, much more. Be sure to watch the flying fish!
Website | Map

Ride the Ducks of Seattle
Travelers and local Seattle-ites of all ages love to Ride the Ducks! The hilarious, Coast Guard-certified maritime captains will take you on a musical tour of the Emerald City. Amphibious World War II vehicles will show you Seattle from both land and water, touring downtown Seattle, Pike Place Market and historic Pioneer Square.
Website | Map

Olympic Sculpture Park
The Olympic Sculpture Park has transformed a nine-acre industrial site into open and vibrant green space for art. This new waterfront park gives Seattle residents and visitors the opportunity to experience a variety of sculpture in an outdoor setting, while enjoying the incredible views and beauty of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound.
Website | Map

Seattle Aquarium
The Seattle Aquarium is a nationally recognized aquatic educational center on Pier 59, at the edge of Puget Sound's Elliott Bay. Open daily, the Aquarium serves three-quarters of a million visitors annually. The Aquarium provides fun and exciting ways to see, touch and explore the underwater world of the northwest and beyond.
Website | Map

Seattle Bug Safari
Seattle Bug Safari is a bug zoo and gift shop where Seattle tourists and kids-of-all-ages can experience the exotic, behind-the-scenes world of insects. Whether at the facility or through a traveling tour, the Safari Guides lead a fun, educational journey through the natural habitat of bugs from all over the world!
Website | Map

Seattle Underground Tour
Descend into the subterranean city that was once Seattle. The Seattle Underground is a network of underground passageways and basements in downtown Seattle, that was ground level at the city's origin in the mid-1800s. After the streets were elevated, these spaces eventually fell into disuse. This hour and a half tour is fun and informative.
Website | Map

Space Needle
Climb 520 feet to the observation deck of Seattle's signature building, the Space Needle, for spectacular views of the city and its surrounding area. For food and fantastic sights check out SkyCity, the tower's rotating restaurant that makes one complete orbit per hour.
Website | Map

Westlake Center
Located in the heart of downtown Seattle, Westlake Center is a four-story, glass enclosed retail pavilion (with a Food Court on the Upper Level) offering a mix of national reputation retailers and a unique selection of the finest quality regional merchandise. The Center offers a high-energy, one-of-a-kind urban shopping environment.
Website | Map

Woodland Park Zoo
Nationally award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is a 92-acre zoological garden featuring more than 1,000 animals representing nearly 300 species from around the world. New exhibits include Zoomazium, an indoor, nature-themed play space for kids, and in 2009, a new Humboldt penguin exhibit, replicating the desert coasts of their native Peru.
Website | Map