Seattle Sights

  1. Alki Point Lighthouse

    The US Coast Guard maintains this lighthouse. It has limited public hours and you can't just walk up to it, but tours are available by appointment. Call for a current schedule and more information.

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  2. Arctic Building

    The Arctic Building, completed in 1917, is unique for its intricate terra-cotta ornamentation and 25 walrus heads peeking off its exterior. Though the walruses' tusks were originally authentic ivory, an earthquake in the 1940s shook a few of them loose to the ground. To protect passersby from the unusual urban hazard of being skewered by falling tusks, the ivory was replaced with epoxy.

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  3. Ballard Building

    Built in the 1920s by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, this imposing structure is the only major terracotta building in Ballard. It once held a community hospital and now houses the Ballard News-Tribune offices.

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  4. Ballard Fish Ladder

    The Ballard fish ladder was built in 1976 to allow salmon to fight their way to spawning grounds in the Cascade headwaters of the Sammamish River, which feeds Lake Washington. Visitors can watch the fish from underwater glass-sided tanks or from above (nets are installed to keep salmon from over-leaping and stranding themselves on the pavement). You can also watch sea lions munch on the salmon while the fish attempt to negotiate the ladder.

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  5. Bank of America Tower

    Formerly the Columbia Seafirst Center, this striking structure is also known as the 'Darth Vader' building. Catch a breathtaking view from the observation deck on the 73rd of its 76 floors.

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  7. Benaroya Concert Hall

    With a hefty bill of almost 120 million US dollars in construction costs, it's no wonder the Benaroya Concert Hall, Seattle Symphony's primary venue, oozes luxury. From the minute you step into the glass-enclosed lobby of the performance hall you're overwhelmed with views of Elliott Bay; on sunny days you might be lucky enough to see the snowy peaks of the Olympic Range far in the distance.

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  8. Burke Museum

    This museum of natural history and anthropology is on the University of Washington's campus. There's a good collection of dinosaur skeletons, but the real treasures here are the North Coast Indian artifacts, especially the collection of cedar canoes and totem poles. If you pay a dollar extra for your ticket, you can get into the nearby Henry Art Gallery the same day for free, a special deal that also works the other way around.

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  9. Center for Wooden Boats

    This museum offers sailboat lessons and rentals on Lake Union. One person in your party has to know how to sail and must do a checkout for a small fee before you'll be permitted to rent. It's pretty straightforward; you need to demonstrate tacking, jibing and docking. The center also offers sailing lessons, including an excellent beginner course. Seasoned sailors who are a little rusty can take a one-on-one lesson to get back into it.

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  10. Center on Contemporary Art

    This gallery space has been a strong force in Seattle's contemporary art scene for two decades. After floundering for a few years and moving around a lot, it has recently opened a new branch in Belltown (at 2721 1st Ave) as well as this primary space in the Shilshole Bay Beach Club.

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  11. Children's Museum

    The Children's Museum is a learning center that offers a number of imaginative activities and displays, many focusing on cross-cultural awareness and hands-on art sessions. The play area includes a child-size neighborhood, a play center and an area dedicated to blowing soap bubbles. Also nearby is the Seattle Children's Theater, a separate entity with summer performances in the Charlotte Martin and Eve Alvord Theaters.

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  13. Corner & Sanitary Market Buildings

    The 1912 Corner Market Building and the Sanitary Market Building (so named because it was the first market building in which live animals were prohibited) is now a maze of ethnic groceries and great little eateries, including the Three Girls Bakery, which has a sit-down area and a take-out window with some of the best breads and sandwiches around. This is also the home of Left Bank Books, an excellent source for all your radical reading needs.

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  14. Cors & Wegener Building

    Once a wine bar and the offices of the early local broadsheet, the Ballard News, this grand building was one of the first in the area to be revitalized. It's now mostly shops, apartments and office space.

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  15. Danny Woo International District Community Gardens

    The Danny Woo International District Community Gardens are a 1.5-acre plot reserved for about 120 older and low-income International District residents, who grow a profusion of vegetables and fruit trees. Visitors can wander along the gravel paths and admire both the tidy gardens and the Seattle skyline, as well as good views of Elliott Bay. Unfortunately, while you take in the view you'll have about 17 lanes of I-5 traffic right at your back.

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  16. Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center

    In 1977, Native American groups laid claim to the land in this area, and 7 hectares (17 acres) of parkland were decreed Native American land on which now stands the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, a community center for local Native Americans. Discovery Park has over 11km (7mi) of hiking trails, several of which lead to the Daybreak Star Center. Except for a small art gallery, there are few facilities for outside visitors.

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  17. Economy Market Building

    Once a stable for merchants' horses, the Economy Market Building on the south side of the market entrance has a wonderful Italian grocery store, DeLaurenti's - a great place for any aficionado of Italian foods to browse and sample. There's also Tenzing Momo, one of the oldest apothecaries on the West Coast, where you can pick up herbal remedies, incense, oils and books. Tarot readings are available here on occasion.

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  19. Experience Music Project

    The Experience Music Project (EMP) is worth a look for the architecture alone. The shimmering, abstract building - designed by Frank Gehry - was inspired by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen's passion for Jimi Hendrix's music and was initially intended as a tribute to Hendrix alone. It now houses 80,000 music artifacts, including handwritten lyrics by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and a Fender Stratocaster that Hendrix demolished.

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  20. Fishermen's Terminal

    Seattle's fishing fleet resides at Fishermen's Terminal, in a wide recess in the ship canal called Salmon Bay on the south side of the Ballard Bridge. Fishermen's Terminal is a popular moorage spot because the facility is in freshwater, above the Chittenden Locks. Freshwater is much less corrosive to boats than saltwater.

    It's great fun to wander the piers, watching crews unload their catch, clean boats and repair nets.

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  21. Fremont Rocket

    Fremont has adopted this phallic and zany-looking rocket as its community totem. Constructed in the 1950s for use in the Cold War, the rocket was plagued with difficulties and never actually went anywhere, leaving the engineering team with the unfortunate problem of 'not being able to get it up.' Before the Fremont Business Association snapped it up, the rocket was affixed to an army surplus store in Belltown.

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  22. Fremont Sunday Market

    A great place to hang out on Sundays, the Fremont Sunday Market features fresh fruits and vegetables, and an incredible variety of artists and people getting rid of junk. The outdoor summer market is held in the parking lot at the corner of Stone Way and N 34th St; in winter, it moves inside. Fremont's market has joined forces with its sister market in Ballard, which also runs every Sunday but is more of a traditional farmers market.

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  23. Gable House

    This 14-gabled house was built in 1905 by Harry Whitney Treat, a friend of William F 'Buffalo Bill' Cody. Treat also built the lovely Golden Gardens Park.

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  25. Gas Works Park

    Urban reclamation has no greater monument in Seattle than Gas Works Park. The former power station here produced gas for heating and lighting from 1906 to 1956. The gas works was thereafter understandably considered an eyesore and an environmental menace. But the park's beautiful location - with stellar views of downtown over Lake Union - induced the city government to convert the former industrial site into a public park in 1975.

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  26. Golden Gardens Park

    Golden Gardens Park, established in 1904 by Harry W Treat, is a lovely 38 hectare (95-acre) beach park with sandy beaches. There are picnic facilities, restrooms, basketball hoops, volleyball nets, gangs of Canadian geese, lots of parking and plenty of space to get away from all the activity. Rising above Golden Gardens is Sunset Hill Park (NW 77th St and 34th Ave), a prime perch for dramatic sunsets and long views.

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  27. Grand Central Arcade

    This lovely meeting point was originally Squire's Opera House, erected in 1879 by Watson Squire, who became one of Washington's first senators after it achieved statehood. When the Opera House burned down, it was rebuilt as the Squire-Latimer Building and later became the Grand Central Hotel. The hotel died during the Depression, but it underwent a major restoration in the 1970s and now contains two floors of shops, including the excellent Grand Central Baking Co.

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  28. Henry Art Gallery

    The university's sleek fine-art gallery mounts some of the most intelligent exhibits and installations in Seattle. There are dedicated spaces for video and digital art, and a small permanent collection, as well as rotating show. Part of the permanent collection is Skyspace , by James Turrell, an artist whose medium is light. Turrell's installation over the sculpture garden will alter the way you look at the ever-changing Seattle sky.

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  29. Hing Hay Park

    If you need a tranquil spot to rest while wandering the ID, Hing Hay Park lends a little green to the otherwise austere district. The traditional Chinese pavilion was a gift from the people of Taipei.

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