The best things to do in Seattle

Cathay Pacific is relaunching direct flights to Seattle from Hong Kong in March 2026, opening the gateway to Washington State’s vibrant cultural capital. Planning a visit? Check out our guide below to the best places to explore in the Emerald City.

1. Outdoor parks

Think of Seattle and, inevitably, nature springs to mind. Its largest green space, Discovery Park , is a wonderland of rocky beaches, forests, meadows and a lighthouse. The Loop Trail  takes you on a 4.5-kilometre jaunt through these diverse landscapes, including a lookout point for views of the Puget Sound and Mount Rainier. Keep an eye out for seals, great blue herons and other creatures along the way. Seward Park  is another great place to spot old-growth Douglas firs, red cedars and madrones.

2. Farmers’ markets 

Opened in 1907 by farmers eager to cut out the middleman, Pike Place Market now welcomes 10 million locals and visitors annually (weekday mornings tend to be the least crowded). For a seafood feast, Matt’s in the Market  stands out for its fried catfish sandwich. Beecher’s Handmade Cheese  is another favourite for their bowls of macaroni cheese. Globetrotters, meanwhile, will appreciate the atlases and accessories at Metsker Maps .

3. Local brews 

Seattle is the birthplace of Starbucks, but amid the city’s bustling coffee scene, smaller-scale purveyors have cropped up – many of which you won’t find anywhere else. Victrola Coffee Roasters roasts its own single-origin coffee and hosts free tastings at its East Pike Street location on Fridays. In Capitol Hill, Espresso Vivace ’s pavement bar has been a fixture for over 30 years – beloved for its latte art and silky cappuccinos made with northern Italian espresso.

4. The music scene

Grunge music and Seattle are synonymous, and radio station KEXP , the first to play Nirvana on air, has continued to champion local talent – from indie rockers Band of Horses to rapper Macklemore. Stop by for a studio tour or listen in on a live in-studio performance, an experience that can accommodate up to 70 viewers. Speaking of live shows, the cool kids still want to play The Crocodile , which now occupies three storeys and operates several performance venues including a hotel, and the grander beaux-arts Paramount Theatre .

5. Fresh seafood 

Slurp regional oysters at The Walrus and the Carpenter , Renee Erickson’s celebrated small-plates bar in Ballard. Rockcreek casts a wider net, serving mussels from Washington’s Totten Inlet as well as Neah Bay rockfish and Hawaiian swordfish. In West Seattle, creative omakase menus of sustainable-only sushi await at Mashiko , while Salty’s on Alki  offers a bountiful brunch buffet, including made-to-order omelettes with crab and lobster, chowder and Puget Sound clams.

6. Island hopping

Seattle operates the country’s most extensive ferry network. Bainbridge Island makes an appealing day trip, only a 35-minute scenic ride across Elliott Bay. Walking up to the main town of Winslow, you’ll pass the contemporary Bainbridge Island Museum of Art and an eclectic mix of boutiques and locavore dining spots including Seabird , which is known for in-season seafood. Explore the island’s wild side at the Bloedel Reserve , which shows off the Pacific Northwest’s majesty of towering cedars and an ethereal moss garden.

7. Literary culture 

The Elliott Bay Book Company  hosts near-daily author readings, and bookworms can while away a few hours browsing its cedar shelves. The Central Library , with a strikingly modern Rem Koolhaas design, and The Alexis Royal Sonesta Hotel’s Bookstore Bar are other places to curl up with a good read (and, at the latter, a stiff cocktail). Classics come to life through the resurrected Book-It Repertory Theatre’s stage adaptations. It’s no wonder Seattle has earned a Unesco City of Literature designation.

8. Manmade wonders 

Named after Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly, Chihuly Garden and Glass  features a soaring conservatory that houses a 30-metre-long suspended sculpture in citrus hues. Overhead, the Space Needle  offers an open-air observation deck with glass benches and a lower level with the world’s first rotating glass floor. The Spheres , meanwhile, is a trio of enormous glass orbs full of 40,000 plants sourced from cloud forests worldwide. It’s open to the public two Saturdays a month.

9. Quality museums 

Seattle’s most spectacular museum is Olympic Sculpture Park , a former industrial stretch of waterfront that now showcases striking installations by the likes of Alexander Calder, Richard Serra and Teresita Fernandez. It’s free to visit and open 365 days a year. Meanwhile, Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park is the bucolic setting for the art-deco Seattle Asian Art Museum . They’re both offshoots of the Seattle Art Museum , the city’s cultural grande dame. 

10. Pride of place

Founded by industrious Scandinavian fishermen, the neighbourhood of Ballard pays tribute to its heritage at the National Nordic Museum  and the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks , a waterway system for boats and spawning salmon. The area’s modern-day workers produce craft beer at Stoup Brewery , as well as jewellery, homeware and paper goods at Venue . To the east, Fremont has a hip food scene (Kamonegi ’s soba noodles are habit-forming) while keeping its unique charmloveably with public art and freewheeling festivals like the Solstice Parade .

This article was originally published in March 2019 and updated in September 2025.