The remnants of the futuristic 1962 World's Fair hosted by Seattle and subtitled Century 21 Exposition are still visible over 50 years later at the Seattle Center. Thanks to regular upgrades, the complex has retained its luster and contains Seattle's highest concentration of A-list sights. It's also a superb green space close to downtown.
Seattle Center
Belltown & Seattle Center
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
1.1 MILES
A cavalcade of noise, smells, personalities, banter and urban theater sprinkled liberally around a spatially challenged waterside strip, Pike Place Market…
0.2 MILES
The Museum of Pop Culture (formerly EMP, the "Experience Music Project") is an inspired marriage between super-modern architecture and legendary rock-and…
7.66 MILES
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…
3.45 MILES
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…
0.47 MILES
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…
0.17 MILES
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…
0.18 MILES
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…
3.69 MILES
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…
Nearby Belltown & Seattle Center attractions
0.03 MILES
A remnant of the 1962 World's Fair, the International Fountain was completely rebuilt in 1995. With 272 jets of water (recycled, of course) pumping in…
0.11 MILES
In the basement of the Seattle Center Armory near the monorail stop, the Children’s Museum is old-school entertainment and a good bet if you want to tear…
0.17 MILES
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…
0.18 MILES
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…
0.2 MILES
The Museum of Pop Culture (formerly EMP, the "Experience Music Project") is an inspired marriage between super-modern architecture and legendary rock-and…
6. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center
0.21 MILES
The work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is celebrated at this suitably high-tech visitor center, part of a larger foundation building located…
0.27 MILES
This interactive museum of science and industry once housed the science pavilion of the 1962 World’s Fair. Today the center features virtual-reality…
0.44 MILES
The streetcar that chugged up and down the steep grade along Queen Anne Ave started operating on overhead-wire electricity in 1900, but it still needed…