Must-see attractions in Seattle

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June 17, 2011: a crowd of people at Seattle's Pike Place market.

    Pike Place Market

    Downtown, Pike Place & Waterfront

    A cavalcade of noise, smells, personalities, banter and urban theater sprinkled liberally around a spatially challenged waterside strip, Pike Place Market…

  • The Space Needle and the Experience Music Project, Seattle, Washington.

    Museum of Pop Culture

    Belltown & Seattle Center

    The Museum of Pop Culture (formerly EMP, the "Experience Music Project") is an inspired marriage between super-modern architecture and legendary rock-and…

  • Museum of Flight

    Seattle

    Even people with absolutely no interest in aviation have been known to blink in astonishment at Seattle's Museum of Flight, which takes visitors on a…

  • West Point Lighthouse, Discovery Park, Seattle, Washington. (Photo by: Greg Vaughn /VW PICS/UIG via Getty Images)

    Discovery Park

    Ballard & Discovery Park

    Hard to beat on a sunny spring day, this former military installation has been transformed into a wild coastal park, laced with walking trails and…

  • Olympic Sculpture Park.

    Olympic Sculpture Park

    Belltown & Seattle Center

    This ingenious feat of urban planning is an offshoot of the Seattle Art Museum and it bears the same strong eye for design and curation. There are dozens…

  • UNITED STATES - 2012/01/01: USA, Washington State, Seattle Center, Chihuly Garden And Glass Exhibit. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    Chihuly Garden & Glass

    Belltown & Seattle Center

    Opened in 2012 and reinforcing Seattle’s position as a leading city of the arts, this exquisite exposition of the life and work of dynamic local sculptor…

  • Space Needle

    Space Needle

    Belltown & Seattle Center

    This streamlined, modern-before-its-time tower built for the 1962 World’s Fair has been the city’s defining symbol for more than 50 years. The needle…

  • Hiram M. Chittenden Locks on Lake Washington

    Hiram M Chittenden Locks

    Ballard & Discovery Park

    Seattle shimmers like an impressionist painting on sunny days at the Hiram M Chittenden Locks. Here, the fresh waters of Lake Washington and Lake Union…

  • Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, located in Pioneer Square in Seattle.

    Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

    Pioneer Square, International District & SoDo

    Eloquently run by the US National Park Service, this wonderful museum has exhibits, photos and news clippings from the 1897 Klondike gold rush, when a…

  • USA, Washington, Seattle, Green Lake City Park

    Green Lake Park

    Seattle

    A favorite hunting ground for runners, personal trainers and artistically tattooed sunbathers, scenic Green Lake Park surrounds a small natural lake…

  • SEATTLE, WASHINGTON/USA - OCT 20, 2015: MOHAI Museum and Center for Wooden Boats glow under an orange sunset on South Lake Union During the Legacy of Seattle HipHop Exhibit; Shutterstock ID 329774729; Your name (First / Last): Alexander Howard; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Western USA neighborhood POI highlights

    Museum of History & Industry

    Queen Anne & Lake Union

    Almost everything you need to know about erstwhile Seattle is crammed into the refurbished Museum of History & Industry, the centerpiece of Lake Union…

  • Lions at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo; Shutterstock ID 112476; Your name (First / Last): Alexander Howard; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Western USA neighborhood POI highlights

    Woodland Park Zoo

    Seattle

    In Woodland Park, up the hill from Green Lake Park, the Woodland Park Zoo is one of Seattle’s most popular tourist attractions. Consistently rated as one…

  • Seattle Art Museum building

    Seattle Art Museum

    Downtown, Pike Place & Waterfront

    While not comparable with the big guns in New York and Chicago, Seattle Art Museum is no slouch. Always re-curating its art collection with new…

  • Seattle, Washington, United States, North America

    Fremont Public Sculptures

    Seattle

    You don't need to pay museum entrance fees to see some of the best and most iconic art in the city. Fremont is an art gallery in and of itself, with…

  • Nordic Museum

    Ballard & Discovery Park

    Reason alone to come to Ballard – if the culinary scene and waterside parks weren’t enough – is this delightful surprise of a museum dedicated to Nordic…

  • Lake Union

    Queen Anne & Lake Union

    Unifying Seattle’s various bodies of water, freshwater Lake Union was carved by glacial erosion 12,000 years ago. Native American Duwamish tribes once…

  • Pioneer's Totem - Seattle; Shutterstock ID 264027; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; Project no. or GL code: 56530; Network activity no. or Cost Centre: Online-Design; Product or Project: 65050/7529/Josh Vogel/LP.com Destination Galleries

    Pioneer Square Historical District

    Pioneer Square, International District & SoDo

    Many important architectural heirlooms are concentrated in Pioneer Square, the district that sprang up in the wake of the 1889 Great Fire. Instantly…

  • Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center

    The CD, Madrona & Madison Park

    This Byzantium Revival building began life in 1915 as a synagogue for a congregation of Orthodox Jews. By 1969 the demographics of the neighborhood had…

  • Cherry blossoms in bloom, University of Washington campus, Seattle, WA.; Shutterstock ID 104680496; Your name (First / Last): Alexander Howard; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Western USA neighborhood POI highlights

    University of Washington

    Seattle

    Founded in 1861, Seattle's university is almost as old as the city itself and is highly ranked worldwide (the prestigious Times Higher Education magazine…

  • Autumn Colors with Park Bench and Walking Path in Arboretum Garden; Shutterstock ID 227970997; Your name (First / Last): Alexander Howard; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Western USA neighborhood POI highlights

    Washington Park Arboretum

    The CD, Madrona & Madison Park

    This wild and lovely park stretching from Madison Valley up to Union Bay offers a wide variety of gardens, a wetlands nature trail and 200 acres of mature…

  • Northwest African American Museum

    The CD, Madrona & Madison Park

    Small, concise and culturally valuable, NAAM opened in 2008 after more than 30 years of planning. It occupies the space of an old school, which, until the…

  • Waiting for the Interurban

    Seattle

    Seattle’s most popular piece of public art, Waiting for the Interurban, is cast in recycled aluminum and depicts six people waiting for a train that never…

  • Fremont Troll

    Seattle

    The Fremont Troll is an outlandish sculpture that lurks beneath the north end of the Aurora Bridge at N 36th St. The troll's creators – artists Steve…

  • Gum Wall

    Downtown, Pike Place & Waterfront

    Seattle's famous gum wall is one of those cultural monuments you can smell before you even see it. The sweet aroma of chewed gum wafts from this strip of…

  • Seattle Public Library.

    Seattle Central Library

    Downtown, Pike Place & Waterfront

    Rivaling the Space Needle and the Museum of Pop Culture for architectural ingenuity, Seattle Central Library looks like a giant diamond that's dropped in…

  • Bench and view of the downtown Seattle skyline, in Seattle, Washington.; Shutterstock ID 278270483; Your name (First / Last): Alexander Howard; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Western USA neighborhood POI highlights

    Kerry Park

    Queen Anne & Lake Union

    Amid the glittering Beverly Hills–like homes of Highland Dr, mere commoners can enjoy eagle’s-eye views of downtown Seattle and Elliott Bay (and Mt…

  • SEATTLE - APRIL 5: Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle on April 5, 2012. The city is exploring new funding sources to offset the annual operating budget of $450K. ; Shutterstock ID 103534460; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; Project no. or GL code: 56530; Network activity no. or Cost Centre: Online-Design; Product or Project: 65050/7529/Josh Vogel/LP.com Destination Galleries

    Volunteer Park

    Seattle

    Seattle's most manicured park sits atop Capitol Hill and is named for US volunteers in the 1898 Spanish-American War. While wandering among its leafy…

  • Native American carving outside the Burke Memorial Washington State Museum.

    Burke Museum

    Seattle

    An interesting hybrid museum covering both natural history and indigenous cultures of the Pacific Rim. Inside you'll find, arguably, Washington's best…

  • "Looking upwards at a lifeguard chair at Madison Park in Seattle, WA with Lake Washington in the background."

    Madison Park Beach

    The CD, Madrona & Madison Park

    A riotously popular place in the summer with a grassy slope for lounging and sunbathing, two tennis courts, a swimming raft floating in the lake, and…

  • Fishermen’s Terminal

    Ballard & Discovery Park

    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…

  • SEATTLE, USA - MARCH 22, 2016: Center for Wooden Boats on Lake Union on March 22, 2016 in Seattle, WA, USA. Various boats are available for rent to paddle on the Lake Union.; Shutterstock ID 430690528; Your name (First / Last): Alexander Howard; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Western USA neighborhood POI highlights

    Center for Wooden Boats

    Queen Anne & Lake Union

    Honoring Seattle's historical, aquatic and Native American antecedents, this one-of-a-kind museum and enthusiasts' center features vintage and replica…

  • Seattle Aquarium

    Downtown, Pike Place & Waterfront

    Though not on a par with Seattle's nationally lauded Woodland Park Zoo, the aquarium – situated on Pier 59 in an attractive wooden building – is probably…

  • Gas Works Park

    Seattle

    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…

  • King Street Station

    Pioneer Square, International District & SoDo

    One of the pillars upon which Seattle built its early fortunes, the old Great Northern Railroad depot, was given a much-needed face-lift in the early…

  • Suzzallo Library

    Seattle

    The architecturally minded will be interested in the University of Washington’s Suzzallo Library. Designed by Carl Gould in 1926, this bibliophile’s dream…

  • Yesler Way

    Pioneer Square, International District & SoDo

    Seattle claims its Yesler Way was the basis for the term ‘skid road’, which became 'skid row' – logs would ‘skid’ down the steeply sloped road linking a…

  • Myrtle Edwards Park

    Belltown & Seattle Center

    Your best bet for an uninterrupted walk or jog if you’re staying downtown is this fringe of lawn and trees along Elliott Bay that starts next to the…

  • Seattle Asian Art Museum

    Seattle

    In stately Volunteer Park, this outpost of the Seattle Art Museum houses the extensive art collection of Dr Richard Fuller, who donated this late–art deco…

  • Corner & Sanitary Market Buildings

    Downtown, Pike Place & Waterfront

    Across Pike Place from the Main Arcade are the 1912 Corner & Sanitary Market Buildings, so named because they were the first of the market buildings in…

  • Hammering Man

    Downtown, Pike Place & Waterfront

    Although not unique to Seattle, Hammering Man, the 48ft-high metal sculpture that guards the entrance to the Seattle Art Museum on the corner of 1st Ave…

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