Sightseeing with the seattle city pass, 10 tips for the emerald city

Sightseeing with the Seattle City Pass | 10 tips for the Emerald City

Seattle kicked off our 25-day road trip through the US and Canada this year. A visit to Washington’s capital is difficult to plan. The “Rain City”, as the Americans themselves like to call it, is not necessarily known for their postcard weather. Even the more than 4,000-meter high mountain Mount Rainier is rarely seen – this simply has to agree with the weather. Too often he is hidden behind clouds. That’s why from the beginning we considered a plan B and C for bad weather. Luckily, the city also has many activities, museums and attractions to visit in rainy weather.

And, of course, directly: The jet lag has gone or should not even come even better yet. So we immediately rushed into the fray and explored the city. On foot, of course: That keeps you awake! By the way: Quite so bad is the frequent drizzle for Seattle of course not. It is no coincidence that the second nickname is “Emerald City”, that is green city. Numerous parks and green spaces line the city, making it one of the most popular cities in the United States.

# 1: Seattle City Pass

Seattle City Pass gives you access to Seattle’s 5 most popular attractions and save you up to 50% off regular entry fees. Adults pay $ 89, children (5-12 years) $ 69. For current prices and more information about the Seattle City Pass, visit the official website.

From the first day of use the City Pass is valid for 9 days. These attractions are inclusive:

In addition, there are plenty of other discounts for cafes and the attractions attached offers (eg photos on the Space Needle at a bargain price). Interesting for us was the 15% coupon for the department store Macy’s.

As we had the fabulous Seattle Drizzle Gray-in-Gray weather especially on the first day in the morning and evening, the City Pass was just right for us.

# 2: Seattle Aquarium

The Seattle Aquarium is located right on the Elliott Bay Waterfront. Especially nice we found the small petting zoo in the tidal pool with starfish and seaweed. The outdoor areas with penguins or the wall-high 360 ° seawater basin are also nice to look at. For a morning in bad weather definitely a worthwhile address. Especially with children is the petting a highlight!

# 3: Harbor cruise Seattle

The commented one-hour boat ride is great for a view of Seattle from the water. Past the historic harbor front, head towards modern Seattle to downtown skyscrapers and the famous skyline with the Space Needle (which, by the way, is extremely small compared to the surrounding buildings). A look at the important seaport complete the tour.

# 4: Space Needles

From downtown, the monorail will take you comfortably from the Westlake Center to the Space Needle (departures every 10 minutes). When redeeming the vouchers from the City Pass, you will be allocated a time slot for entry. We had to wait around 1 hour. Time enough to take a first look over the fence into the Chihuly Garden and Glass and onto the lawn behind the tower including the food market. At a spicy-hot vegetarian burger, we lolled over the wait in the sun.

The drive up is via lifts on several sides. On the way there you will learn with pictures, videos and texts all sorts of impressions from the construction period and the history of the tower. The view from the top is nice, but as always, anyone who stands on the tower does not see it anymore (for a skyline photo). If you want to have Space Needle and, ideally, Mount Rainier in a panorama, you can enjoy sunset in good weather at Kerry Park. There is no better panorama of the city!

View from the Space Needle

# 5: Chihuly Garden and Glass

Just a few minutes’ walk from the Space Needle is a colorful Seattle tip: The Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum showcases glass art by Dale Chihuly in eight showrooms. Dark rooms and illuminated colorful glass in the wildest forms simply look impressive. Whole landscapes of glass were built here. Some sculptures are illuminated in completely dark rooms, creating a completely surreal setting. Glass and garden plants fit together optimally in the outdoor area. Here you have to sometimes double and triple look to distinguish between green plants and glass sculptures. Another highlight is the 12-meter glasshouse overlooking the neighboring Space Needle and a 30-meter-long glass sculpture of red-yellow-orange flowers, which literally floats in space.

# 6: Moore Coffee Shop | The best coffee in the city

In the city with the oldest Starbucks in the world you should probably guess the most delicious coffee there. This is how the long lines in front of the store also suggest it. But thought wrong! The visit is not really worth it, but rather a tourist Napp. We rarely drank such delicious coffee, matcha tea and cocoa as Moore Coffee. The hot chocolate was not too sweet, had a delicious nutty aftertaste and a terrific nicely decorated milk froth on top. Master Yoda, Hearts or Smileys – the Barrista of Moore Coffee conjure up true works of art here. For breakfast there are delicious sweet and savory waffles, from 10 clock and sandwiches. The cafe is small and cozy, there are not many seats, but it’s worth the wait!

Moore Coffee Shop
1930 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98101

The perfect breakfast in Seattle

# 7: Moore Hotel | Central and cheap stay

The Moore Hotel is centrally located near Pike Place Market. A double room costs around $ 100 – a very affordable price for Seattle. For the approximately 250 meters away parking garage (Third & Stewart Garage) there are discount vouchers at the hotel ($ 15 for 24 hours).

Breakfast is not available at the hotel. However, right next door is the Moore Coffee store. Also around the Pike Place Market (about 5 minutes walk) there are plenty of breakfast options.

# 8: Pike Place Market

More than 200 small and large stores and market stalls are located in the halls of Pike Place Market, one of the largest and oldest markets in the US. There is not only fresh seafood and fish, fruits, vegetables, pastries, sweet, savory, hot and cold food, but also all kinds of exotic. In addition, there are plenty of flowers that are freshly and lushly tied to colorful bouquets, craftsmanship and in the lower floors a lot of jewelry and music shops (yes, really with records and so). By the way, in 2017 the market will be extended quite nicely towards the waterfront!

As in any market here is: Come here so early, then the market is not so crowded and you can stroll in peace and look at everything.

# 9: The Crab Pot Seattle | Seafood paradise

Take freshly cooked Dungeness crab or Kings crab (king crab), mix a good handful of freshly cooked shrimp with spicy marinated red potatoes and a few half corn on the cob and put it on the table in front of us. In addition, a large Schlabbertuch bound, wooden hammers and fork in the hand and off you go.

If you like seafood you will love The Crab Pot and the spicy crab meat even more. The fact that the huge mountain in front of us is on the table and the cracking of the shell does not always work so fast the food unfortunately cools down very quickly. But taste and experience are great! Crab combos are also available with king crab or salmon and from $ 35 per person. In the evening and especially on the weekend you should book. Waits of 40 minutes are not uncommon here.

The crab pot
1301 Alaskan Way, Pier 57

# 10: Metskers | THE shop for lovers of maps, globes and atlases

Metskers we discovered more by accident. While strolling against the jet lag on our first night, we suddenly stood in front of the store near Pike Place Market. Once inside, we were captivated by the beautiful maps on the walls, the ancient globes, great atlases, decorations and the many guidebooks. Here we have set ourselves once with Lonely Planets to Canadian national parks (the English issues are much more detailed than the German). Incidentally, there is of course also the great scratch map to buy. Ours hangs in our living room!

Seattle for sports enthusiasts

For all fans of American sports, of course, a visit to the Seattle Seahawks (American Football) or the Seattle Mariners is mandatory. Since we’re out of the football season, we drove to a game of Mariners at the Safeco Field (conveniently reachable from Downtown by tube).

What are your memories and tips for Seattle? The city has been awarded several times as one of the most liveable cities in the US. No wonder, because for an American city it is exceptionally green here. Do you also see it like that? Which is your favorite city in the US? We look forward to your opinions! Incidentally, you’ll also find great tips on Seattle at “Heike’s Reiseblog Hallo Welt”.

By the way: Fighting with the jetlag has worked great with us! We arrived at 12:30 local time (9:30 pm in Germany). We went to bed with food and strolled until 21:00 o’clock, then fell into bed and were fit the next morning! We have never been so jet-lagged so uncomplicatedly. Also in the next few days we had no problems and went right through.

Transparency: Many thanks to VisitSeattle for supporting our journey with the Seattle City Pass. Our opinion and recommendations of course remain untouched.

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Christina Cherry
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