SEATTLE · WASHINGTON
Pike Place, the underground, the islands beyond.
The Space Needle and the Sound. The market where the fish still fly. Mt Rainier on the south horizon, Olympic across the water, and a cup of coffee for every block in between.
First day in Seattle
Start with the one everyone books first.
If you've only got one day in Seattle, this is the one. The single most-booked tour in the city — the entry point most travellers pick.
The classics
Seattle's Most Popular Day Tours
Pike Place, the Space Needle, the underground, the harbor and Mt Rainier. The day trips most travellers come to Seattle for.
Beyond the city
The three day trips Seattle is built around.
Seattle's other half is the wilderness around it. Thirty minutes east to a 268-ft waterfall. Two hours south to a 14,411-ft volcano. A ferry west to a national park with three ecosystems in one valley.
30 min east
Snoqualmie Falls268 ft of glacier-cut water beside Salish Lodge. The Twin Peaks falls, the half-day in and back, the easiest mountain afternoon from downtown.
2 hours south
Mt RainierThe 14,411-ft active volcano locals just call "the mountain". Sub-alpine meadows in summer, glaciers all year. The shape on every clear southern horizon.
Ferry & drive west
Olympic National ParkThree ecosystems in one park: Hoh Rainforest, Hurricane Ridge, and the Pacific coast. Starts with a Washington State Ferry out of Elliott Bay.
Only in Seattle
Three things you can’t do anywhere else.
Skyline tours and food walks are everywhere. These three aren’t. Each one was built here, opened here, or only exists at this scale here. Worth planning the trip around.
A storey below
Seattle Underground
After the 1889 fire burned downtown to the ground, Seattle rebuilt one storey up — the sidewalks and storefronts you walk today sit on top of the original 1880s city. The tours descend through brick archways into the lost ground floor: shop signs, store windows, gas-lamp glass, the original wooden sidewalks. No other American city is built on top of itself this way.
- 1 Beneath The Streets Underground History Tour
- 2 Seattle: Guided Underground Walking Tour
- 3 Seattle Half Day Tour with Space Needle, Boat Ride & Underground
America’s oldest
Pike Place Market
Opened in 1907 and never closed since, Pike Place is the oldest continuously operating farmers’ market in the United States. The fish-throwing started here at Pike Place Fish — imitated a hundred times, invented once. The Public Market sign and the bronze pig (Rachel) have been the city’s photograph for over a century.
- 1 Chef Guided Food Tour of Pike Place Market
- 2 Pike Place Market Tasting Tour
- 3 Early-Bird Tasting Tour of Pike Place Market
Largest building on earth
Boeing Everett Factory
The Boeing Everett factory just north of Seattle is the largest building on earth by volume — 472 million cubic feet under one roof. 747s, 777s, 787s and the new 777X are assembled on the floor in front of you on the public tour. No other city in the world walks visitors into a wide-body jet line.
- 1 Boeing Factory Tour with Guided Transport from Seattle
- 2 From Seattle: Boeing Factory and Future of Flight Tour
- 3 Boeing Factory Tour with Private Group Transport from Seattle
By place
Pick a corner of the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle for the Sound, the skyline and the markets. Pike Place for the morning. Mt Rainier for the mountain on every horizon. Olympic for three ecosystems in one park. Snoqualmie for the falls and the forest. Leavenworth for the alpine Bavarian afternoon.
By activity
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
City tour if you want the whole skyline. Harbor cruise if you want Seattle from the Sound. Food walk through Pike Place. Coffee crawl through the city that built modern American coffee culture. Sailing, hiking, or a Boeing factory floor — pick your pace.
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