Things To Do
Seattle Aquarium
Transportation: walking distance from downtown. This is a great place for children and adults alike! They have touch pools full of sea anemones and starfish on the first floor - and an octopus that plays hide and seek. You can also go outside and see the seals working hard for fish, and the otters swimming.
Seattle Children's Museum
Transportation: walking distance from downtown - but recommend taking the monorail (which is super fun, for kids especially) A play space designed for kids from zero to 6 years to enjoy with their families with a number of hands-on exhibits for kiddos to explore, and daily educational programs or activities!
Pacific Science Center
Transportation: walking distance from downtown - but recommend taking the monorail (which is super fun, for kids especially) This place is great for slightly older kids ( 6 and up ) – with all sorts of cool space exhibits, bug zoo, butterfly garden, and more great stuff. Some play areas for younger kids as well.
Frye Art Museum
The Frye Art Museum is an art museum located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, USA. The museum emphasizes painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century to the present. Its holdings originate in the private collection of Charles and Emma Frye
Olympic Sculpture Park
Transportation: harder by bus, walking possible from downtown (longer). Recommend Lyft/ Uber. A water-side park consisting of a 9-acre outdoor sculpture museum and beach. Great views of the sounds looking towards Bainbridge island, ferries, and the occasional seal.
Ballard Locks Fish Ladder
Transportation: busses available. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, or Ballard Locks, is a complex of locks at the west end of Salmon Bay, in Seattle, Washington's Lake Washington Ship Canal, between the neighborhoods of Ballard to the north and Magnolia to the south.
Discovery Park
Transportation : busses available. Discovery Park is a 534-acre park on the shores of Puget Sound in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It is the city's largest public park and contains 11.81 miles of walking trails with panoramic views of the sound.
Seattle Public Library-Central Library
Transportation: central downtown location - walking distance from Pike's Street Market Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas designed the new building in a joint venture with Seattle-based LMN Architects. This is a very cool building.
Burke-Gilman Trail
Transportation: various access points to trailheads in UW and Fremont neighborhoods The 27-mile multi-use recreational trail is part of the King County Regional Trail System and occupies an abandoned Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway corridor.
Ballard
Transportation: busses available from downtown. Ballard is a hip waterfront neighborhood with trendy restaurants, indie shops, bars and craft breweries centered on historic Ballard Avenue. Ships and salmon pass through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, or Ballard Locks, also a popular picnic spot. The sandy beach at Golden Gardens Park draws sunbathers and volleyball players and offers mountain views. The Nordic Heritage Museum displays the area’s Scandinavian roots.
Bainbridge Island
Transportation: easy walk to downtown from ferry terminal. Bainbridge itself has a cute little downtown that's easy to walk to. There you'll find some good spots to eat, art galleries, and book stores. The trip on the ferry alone is worth it for the views of Seattle and the sound. If you're really lucky - you may even see some seals and or whales (depending on the season).
Snoqualmie Falls
Transportation: easiest by car For an easy taste of nature, check out this famous 270-foot falls drawing crowds with its picturesque views, plus a park & gift shop up top.
Monorail Westlake Station
A monorail is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. The term is also used to describe the beam of the system, or the trains traveling on such a beam or track.
Gas Works Park
Waterfront park with amazing views of the city and house boats in an eclectic industrial setting.
Lincoln Park
Close to the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal in West Seattle - this park has gorgeous waterfront views and trails - and also an abundance of cute dogs that can be found in Seattle. Supposedly there are more dogs than children in this city!