Must-see attractions in Washington

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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, 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…

  • Paradise

    Washington Cascades

    Home to numerous trailheads and the starting point for most summit hikes, Paradise also holds the iconic Paradise Inn (built in 1916) and the massive,…

  • Ape Cave

    Washington Cascades

    Ape Cave is a 2-mile-long lava tube formed 2000 years ago by a lava flow that followed a deep watercourse. It's the longest lava tube in the western…

  • Mt Rainier National Park

    Washington Cascades

    The USA's fifth-highest peak outside Alaska, majestic Mt Rainier is also one of the country's most beguiling mountains. Part of a 368-sq-mile national…

  • Spencer Spit State Park

    San Juan Islands

    Spencer Spit State Park is one of only four state parks on the San Juan archipelago. Two sand spits have formed a marshy lagoon that is a prime spot for…

  • 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…

  • Upper Cascade Falls, Moran State Park, Orcas Island, Washington

    Moran State Park

    San Juan Islands

    In 1911 Robert Moran donated 7 sq miles of his property to create this park on the eastern saddlebag of Orcas Island. The park is dominated by 2409ft Mt…

  • 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…

  • Turtleback Mountain Preserve

    San Juan Islands

    Saved from possible development when it was bought for $18.5 million as public land in 2007, Orcas' second mountain (rising to 1519ft) was in private…

  • Windy Ridge Viewpoint

    Washington Cascades

    Windy Ridge Viewpoint is a highlight of the remote eastside entrance to Mt St Helens. Here visitors get a palpable, if eerie, sense of the destruction…

  • Lime Kiln Point State Park

    San Juan Islands

    Clinging to the island's rocky west coast, this beautiful park overlooks the deep Haro Strait and is reputedly one of the best places in the world to view…

  • 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…

  • Johnston Ridge Observatory

    Washington Cascades

    Situated at the end of Hwy 504 and looking directly into the mouth of the Mt St Helens crater, the observatory has exhibits that depict the geologic…

  • Mt St Helens Silver Lake Visitor Center

    Washington Cascades

    Situated 5 miles east of Castle Rock, this center is the best introduction to Mt St Helens National Volcanic Monument. There's a classic film and various…

  • Olympic National Park (Coastal Strip)

    Olympic National Park

    This section of Olympic National Park consists of a 73-mile stretch of wilderness along the coast, much of it inaccessible unless you hike your way in…

  • Lake Quinault

    Olympic National Park

    The enchanting Quinault River Valley is one of Olympic National Park's least crowded corners. Clustered around the deep-blue glacial waters of Lake…

  • 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…

  • Lake Crescent

    Olympic National Park

    If you're heading anticlockwise on the Olympic loop from Port Angeles toward Forks, one of the first scenic surprises to leap out at you is luminous Lake…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Beacon Rock State Park

    Washington

    Washington's Beacon Rock, the core of an ancient volcano, is a prominent state park about 7 miles west of the Bridge of the Gods. It offers hiking,…

  • 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…

  • Washington Hall

    The CD, Madrona & Madison Park

    Originally built in 1908 by the Danish Brotherhood, Washington Hall has been a meeting place, music venue (hosting Billie Holiday, Jimi Hendrix and Duke…

  • Boulder Cave

    Washington Cascades

    Boulder Cave, on the Chinook Scenic Byway, is a rarity in the relatively cave-free terrain of the Pacific Northwest and doubly unique due to its formation…

  • San Juan Island National Historical Park

    San Juan Islands

    Known more for their scenery than their history, the San Juans nonetheless hide one of the 19th century's oddest political confrontations, the so-called …

  • Alki Beach Park

    Seattle

    Alki Beach has an entirely different feel from the rest of Seattle: on a sunny day this 2-mile stretch of sand could be confused for California. There’s a…

  • Henry Art Gallery

    Seattle

    Approaching 90 years of age, the Henry is Seattle's modern-art masterpiece. Set in a sophisticated space on the University of Washington campus, it…

  • Whale Museum

    San Juan Islands

    If you have time for only one sight, visit the excellent Whale Museum, a small but cleverly arranged space dedicated to the life of the orca (killer whale…

  • Frye Art Museum

    Seattle

    This small museum on First Hill preserves the collection of Charles and Emma Frye. The Fryes collected more than 1000 paintings, mostly 19th- and early…

  • Longmire Information Center & Museum

    Washington Cascades

    The tiny, free Longmire Museum describes the history of Longmire, originally the park's headquarters. James Longmire first came here in 1883 and noticed…

  • Jimi Hendrix Statue

    Seattle

    Psychedelic guitar genius of the late 1960s and Seattle’s favorite son, Jimi Hendrix is captured sunk to his knees in eternal rock-star pose in this…