Seattle inside out? A local and a newbie unpack The Emerald City

The Seattle outsider’s view: Lotte

I normally associate trips to the US with the glamour of Los Angeles and New York. There it’s all power-dressing, firm handshakes, guest lists and complicated cocktails. These cities are exhaustingly “on,” and I’ll often leave feeling depleted.

So last time I was in LA, I decided to make a four-night detour in Seattle, where an outdoorsy lifestyle and quirky counter-culture vibe would hopefully send me home energised for a change.

The city certainly delivered: as stimulating as the Americanos sold at every street corner café. I stayed at the Ace Hotel – a friendly, no-frills establishment in downtown Seattle that felt like the right way to experience this unpretentious, bohemian city. 

The hotel is also just a few streets from Seattle’s landmark Pike Place Market, which overlooks the serene Elliott Bay. The country’s oldest farmers’ market is a great place for a quick meal, or to watch the Seattle tradition of fish throwing, where your fresh salmon is chucked from the ice to the fishmonger.

Such historic practices feel quaint when viewed in light of the city’s current status as a technopolis, home to countless start-ups, several major headquarters and a number of tech billionaires, including Bill Gates.

Seattle was originally a frontier town, settled in 1851 (though Native American tribes had lived there much longer) and it became the forefront of the American lumber industry. The frontier spirit certainly survives in the city, from the innovative Space Needle  built for the 1962 World’s Fair to the establishment of the Boeing Factory in 1966, which played a pivotal role in the Space Race. Still today, Seattle’s chilled-out, hippie vibe belies frenetic advancements in tech.

In 1869, a fire ravaged the city; the entire business district was destroyed and new infrastructure was built on top. As a result, there’s a great subterranean tour  that leads you through entombed streets and shopfronts. I wonder if in another few hundred years, if there’s an equally catastrophic digital crash, tourists will be taken through the abandoned Amazon office complex in the same way.

But it’s hard to be dystopian when Seattle is just so upbeat. Not in a grating way, but in a “pinball and picklebacks at 4pm on a Thursday” kind of way. The pinball museum  is the most fun you can have as an adult or child; try your thumbs at retro games like Buckaroo. And a pickleback, for the uninitiated, is a shot of whiskey and a shot of pickle brine. Delicious? Who cares!

Seattle also caters to a rugged, adventurous life. With Mount Rainer and the cascades close by, skiing and hiking are how residents spend their weekends. The closest I got to nature was a cycle on a rented electric bike around Olympic Sculpture Park , downtown Seattle’s largest green space, which zigzags from the pavilion to the water’s edge. 

Instead of escaping into the beautiful surrounding mountains, I trekked up Capitol Hill, the area in which I felt most at home, with its upmarket shops such as Totokaelo selling designer clothes and home accessories. I browsed Elliott Bay Book Company , then drank a beer from a mason jar – a universal symbol of hipsterism – and ate a grain bowl (ditto) at Oddfellows café. Even in such rarified surroundings, the atmosphere is warm and inclusive. 

The city has benefited from this welcoming spirit and is a melting pot of cultural and culinary influences, particularly from East Asia. In Pike Place Market, Tenzing Momo is the West Coast’s oldest and largest herbal apothecary and perfumery. Seattle’s most spectacular Asian grocer, Uwajimaya, is a great place for gifts, snacks or a quick meal. But it’s at the Wing Luke Museum  where you get a real sense of the legacy of the Asian American community, which at one time even included martial arts icon Bruce Lee.

I can’t visit anywhere in the US without seeking out a retro diner. So before leaving, I had a breakfast of veggie hash and eggs at The 5 Point Cafe. This Seattle institution is open 24 hours a day, and as I drank coffee at 7:30am alongside the techpreneurs tapping away on their laptops, the previous night’s revellers were still knocking back whisky on the other side of the bar. This rock ’n’ roll diner encapsulates the spirit of the city: quirky, stimulating, a little edgy and unexpected. 

The Seattle Insider’s View: Kate

Go west: that was the rallying cry of my childhood summers. For two glorious weeks, we’d trade New York’s concrete heat for the crisp air of my father’s native Washington state. At 10, I took my first solo flight to attend what we jokingly called "Camp Margi", a stay at my aunt’s house in Seattle’s Madison Park, where I brushed up on swimming, sailing and all things outdoorsy with my cousins Jimmy and Chris.

Even now, whenever I land at Seattle’s airport, surrounded by towering firs and the distant snowcapped Mount Rainier, I feel the tingle of adventure. Sure, it looks more like a true city these days – with an expanding light rail system, glass office towers and an influx of new residents lured by tech dollars. But Seattle remains a remarkably green place whose beaches, waterways and forests will bring out your inner nature lover.

A good place to start is the Center for Wooden Boats , a hands-on maritime museum on the docks of South Lake Union. It offers rentals and workshops, plus free sailing outings on Sundays – a tradition going back 40 years. Volunteer skippers take small groups out on antique vessels; show up by 10am to get a first come, first served time slot.

A fleet of water taxis and extensive ferry network make it easy to continue zipping around with a sea breeze in your hair. I took a 10-minute ride across Elliott Bay to West Seattle with my husband and daughter. As it pulls away, the taxi leaves in its wake a glorious skyline panorama, so have your camera at the ready.

We spilled out of the ferry and onto the dockside patio of Marination Ma Kai . The Hawaiian-Korean fusion spot, which began as a roving food truck, serves piquant combinations such as kimchi pork quesadillas, pork katsu sandwiches and kalbi beef tacos. Lunch fortified us for the 30-minute walk to Alki Beach along a bungalow-lined waterfront path that we shared with joggers, cyclists and rollerbladers enjoying the brilliant sunshine. If that sounds like a scene out of Southern California, it is – complete with beach volleyball and palm trees.

Bainbridge Island, however, feels thoroughly Pacific Northwest, with its evergreen hills and rocky shorelines. It’s a 35-minute outing by ferry and entices with a mix of pursuits: get to know local talents at the contemporary Bainbridge Island of Art , or stroll the forests and gardens of the 60-hectare Bloedel Reserve. 

Another morning was spent at Ballard Locks, an engineering feat that allows ships – and migrating salmon – to move from the salty Puget Sound to the freshwater Washington and Union Lakes. Summer is the peak season to come face to face with chinook or sockeye salmon. Within the Ballard Locks complex, you’ll also find a manicured, English-style botanical garden.

Its stands in contrast to the untamed woods, driftwood-strewn beaches and meadows of nearby Discovery Park. A former military installation, it’s laced with trails and a few historic landmarks (a Victorian-era lighthouse and Fort Lawton). More than 270 bird species have been documented here, along with seals, sea lions and the occasional coyote.

Even with all my time in Seattle, there are still wild corners that I’ve yet to experience. Take Golden Gardens on the Puget Sound, in the north end of artsy Ballard. Or Seward Park, which juts into Lake Washington in the shape of a thumbs up. On a clear day, you can walk the 4km loop to take in a view that seems to stretch to eternity. Bald eagles live within the park, thick with old-growth Douglas firs, red cedars and madrones.

Seward Park has become a beloved refuge for my friend JD, who moved to Seattle about a year ago. When I asked for recommendations, she rattled off favourites in Columbia City, an under-the-radar neighbourhood in south Seattle. She raved about Sicilian comfort food at La Medusa, coffee at Empire Espresso, craft cocktails at Lottie’s Lounge, and live music at The Royal Room. 

Not long ago, this was a provincial place, infamous for the “Seattle freeze”: the chilly reception that awaited outsiders. So I was heartened to discern JD’s sense of belonging. Maybe that’s the upside of Seattle’s boom – a warming of the climate that benefits locals and visitors alike.

This story was originally published in March 2019 and updated in February 2026.