Late morning: the waterfront
Walk down to the rebuilt waterfront along Elliott Bay. Families can spend a couple of hours at the Seattle Aquarium, whose campus now spans Pier 59, Pier 60 and the newer Ocean Pavilion, and you can ride the Seattle Great Wheel for views over the water.
Early afternoon: Olympic Sculpture Park
Stroll north along the water to the Olympic Sculpture Park in Belltown, a free nine-acre outdoor museum run by the Seattle Art Museum, with large modern sculptures and a small beach on Puget Sound.
Afternoon: Seattle Center
Continue to Seattle Center, the 1962 World's Fair grounds. Ride up the Space Needle, the observation tower built for that fair, then step next door into Chihuly Garden and Glass, where the Glasshouse holds a 100-foot-long sculpture and the garden pairs colorful plantings with the glass. If you have time, add the Museum of Pop Culture.
Sunset: Kerry Park
Finish on Queen Anne Hill at Kerry Park, where the city describes an unsurpassed view of Elliott Bay and downtown, with Mount Rainier in the background on clear days. It is a short ride or a steep walk up from Seattle Center, and the classic Space Needle skyline photo is taken here. To head back downtown later, ride the Seattle Center Monorail, the fastest link between Seattle Center and downtown since 1962.
Day 2: Pioneer Square, the C-ID and Capitol Hill
Morning: Pioneer Square and the Underground Tour
Begin in Pioneer Square, Seattle's birthplace. Join the Underground Tour, a 75-minute guided walk that starts at 614 First Avenue and takes you through storefronts and sidewalks buried when the city rebuilt on top of itself after the Great Fire of 1889.
Afterward, visit the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, a small National Park Service site that tells how Seattle boomed as the gateway to the gold fields. Then look up at Smith Tower, completed in 1914 and once the tallest building west of the Mississippi; its observation floor has reopened to ticketed visitors after a renovation.
Afternoon: Chinatown-International District
Walk east into the Chinatown-International District for lunch, then visit the Wing Luke Museum, which shares Asian Pacific American history and offers tours of its home in the historic East Kong Yick building. The museum is usually open Wednesday through Sunday, so plan this day around its schedule.
Late afternoon and evening: Capitol Hill
Ride Link light rail north to Capitol Hill Station and walk to Volunteer Park, home to the Volunteer Park Conservatory and the Seattle Asian Art Museum. Stay for dinner along Broadway or Pike and Pine; our Capitol Hill restaurants guide and Capitol Hill nightlife guide have picks for every budget.
Day 3: The Bainbridge ferry, Fremont and Ballard
Morning: ferry to Bainbridge Island
Catch a Washington State Ferries boat from Colman Dock at Pier 52 on the downtown waterfront for the 30 to 35 minute crossing to Bainbridge Island. Stand on the outer deck for the skyline as you pull away, then walk off the boat into Winslow, where the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art sits steps from the terminal and offers free admission. Our Bainbridge ferry day trip and Bainbridge Island guide have more to see and eat.
Afternoon: Fremont and Gas Works Park
Back in Seattle, head north to Fremont to meet the Fremont Troll, a huge sculpture built in 1990 under the north end of the Aurora Bridge, clutching a real Volkswagen Beetle. Then walk along the canal and Lake Union to Gas Works Park, a 19-acre park on the site of an old gasification plant with a sundial and a sweeping view of Seattle.
Late afternoon: the Ballard Locks
Continue to Ballard for the Ballard Locks, officially the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, where you can watch boats rise and fall between Salmon Bay and Puget Sound. The locks, fish ladder and botanical garden draw more than a million visitors a year, and the locks carry more boat traffic than any other in the country.
Sunset: Golden Gardens or Discovery Park
End your trip on the water. Golden Gardens Park, a short drive or bus ride north of the Locks, has beaches, dunes and views of the Olympic Mountains across Puget Sound. If you would rather keep walking, cross the Locks to the Magnolia side and head for Discovery Park, Seattle's largest park, with 560 acres of forest, meadow and bluff above the Sound.
