One day in Seattle

Day by day

1. Day 1: Pike Place Market and Waterfront and Pier 62

   Pike Place Market, Waterfront and Pier 62, Seattle Aquarium and Seattle Art Museum, then Space Needle in the evening.

   1. Morning

      Pike Place Market

      Arrive before 10am for flowers, produce and breakfast before the cruise and tour crowds; weekday mornings are calmest. Allow 2–3 hours.

   2. Late morning

      Waterfront and Pier 62

      Walk from Pike Place down to the water, then south to Colman Dock for a ferry ride at sunset. Allow 1–2 hours.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Wild Pacific salmon

      Fish stalls and restaurants at Pike Place Market, seafood restaurants on the waterfront and in Ballard.

   4. Afternoon

      Seattle Aquarium

      Check the day's feeding and talk times at the entrance and plan around the otters. Allow 2 hours.

   5. Late afternoon

      Seattle Art Museum

      It is two blocks from Pike Place, so it makes a good wet-afternoon follow-on to a market morning. Allow 2 hours.

   6. Evening

      Space Needle

      Save it for a clear day; if Rainier is hidden by cloud, the view loses much of its point.

Before you go

• Space Needle: Timed tickets are sold online; sunset slots sell out on clear summer evenings.

If it rains

• Swap in Chihuly Garden and Glass (Seattle Center): Visit late in the day when the glasshouse and garden pieces are lit, or buy a combined ticket with the Space Needle.
• Swap in Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) (Seattle Center): Head to the Sound Lab early, before school groups arrive.
• Swap in Pioneer Square and the Underground Tour (Pioneer Square): Do the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park museum first; it is free and gives useful context.

Where to stay for this itinerary

Pace and daylight

The sights in this plan add up to roughly 8–11 hours of visiting over one day, before meals and getting between them. Daylight runs from about 8.4 hours in December to 16 hours in June, so in winter start early and keep museums for the afternoon.

Getting between stops: Metro. Sound Transit's Link light rail 1 Line runs from the airport through downtown, Capitol Hill and the University District to the northern suburbs, every few minutes for most of the day.

More or fewer days

• 2 days in Seattle
• 3 days in Seattle
• 5 days in Seattle

Questions travellers ask