#seattletour

When friends of mine visit Seattle for the first time, they often ask what must absolutely be seen, and specific things that one should really do while there. But while I love my city deeply and take pride in showing everyone how to have a good time in it for all it’s worth,  I struggle to think of a sole sightseeing or individual experience that would really make the trip, because something that is so special about Seattle is all the little things that each neighborhood has to offer.

And that’s not as simple as just saying “Ride to the top of the Space Needle”, because while that might seem like an obvious option, it would be the last thing I’d suggest.

I love Seattle dearly, and while I know it better than any other place, I know that there is still much I don’t know and have yet to experience. So when I say “Seattle’s Best”, I mean this is my best of Seattle. And others have a different best, because there are just that many good things to experience there, and it would take a lifetime to unveil all its beautiful treasures. How I hope to come home someday and have the chance to do just that.

I’ve structured these suggestions in the form of what a day in a neighborhood of Seattle might look like, and tried to keep in mind creative options of how to balance between free and pricey experiences.

SEATTLE CENTER | QUEEN ANNE

1. Get coffee at Caffe Zingaro (where I was a barista for 6 years) and enjoy drinking it in the Seattle Center, near the fountain and the Space Needle.

2.  Ride to the top of the Needle, if you must, but DO NOT eat there. A more savory way to spend your time and your money, would be to see the new Chihuly glass museum right next door.

3. Pop into Mercer Street Books, say hi to Debbie, the owner who made it a used bookstore worth keeping around.

3. Get a hamburger and milkshake from Dick’s Hamburgers

4. Walk up the hill to see the view from Kerry Park (and the brick building my husband and I met in!). Walk to the end of Highland Drive to catch a different view of the water.

5. Walk back down the hill and get a coffee from Uptown Espresso (because you are in Seattle and will want to drink as much of the sacred juice as possible, and this is a really unique space).

6. See a movie next door at Uptown Theatre

7. Pack a picnic from Metropoliton Market and walk down to Myrtle Edwards and Olympic Sculpture Park. This is one of the rare and very beautiful chances to actually get next to the water in the city. It’s a beautiful walk, and a peaceful place to sit, especially near sunset.

8. Get a cocktail from the Sitting Room

Also in the area: Seattle Repertory Theater, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Toulouse Petit, Seattle Center Armory 

CAPITOL HILL

1. See the Elliott Bay Bookstore

2. Pop into the Record store across the street

3. Eat a slice of Pizza from Big Mario’s

4. Have some Molly Moon’s ice-cream and sit in the park, if it’s summer, watch a movie outside!

5. Check out Atlas Clothing Company and Redlight Vintage

5. Eat Dinner at Oddfellows ($$) OR Quinn’s Pub ($$$)

6. See a band concert at Neumos

7.  Or a movie at the Egyptian

8. If craft cocktails are your jive, walk up a ways to Tavern Law

BALLARD

1. Have breakfast at the Hi-Life, what used to be an old firehouse

2. Walk down Ballard Ave (on Sunday, there is a Farmer’s Market).

3. Pop into stores such as Lucca and Trove Vintage Boutique

4. Eat Gelato from D’Ambrosio

5. Get a Sandwich from The Other Coast 

6. Take said sandwich to go and ride a bus up the way to the Ballard Locks and Fish Ladder, or to Golden Gardens Beach

7. Return to Ballard Ave and have a coffee from Bauhaus’ new location on Market Street

8. Send a card from Ballard Sip & Ship

9. Eat dinner at The Sexton ($$ gastropub), Staple and Fancy ($$$), Volterra ($$$ Italian), Bastille ($$ French),  The Walrus and Carpenter ($$ seafood)  This street keeps booming with fantastic dining, you really can’t go wrong

10. Eat a molten chocolate cake from Hot Cakes, also highly recommend the salted caramel milkshake

Those are my top three recommended locations, but if you are in town for a while and have some time for side trips…here’s a couple other neighborhoods worth seeing:

UNIVERSITY DISTRICT

1. Have coffee from Cafe Solstice

2. Walk through the University of Washington Quad, and see the reading room in the Suzzallo Library

3. Eat some Pho or bubble tea, or if you don’t want something weird like that, get a bratwurst from the German

4. Check out Magus Used bookstore

5. Turn into the alley behind, to see Allegro coffee, the first Seattle coffee shop!

6. Pop into UW bookstore for touristy things and other bargain books, a new journal, or postcard perhaps

7. Rent a kayak or a boat on Lake Washington

FREMONT

1. Have coffee from the Fremont Coffee Company

2. Pop into the Fremont Vintage Mall 

3.. Walk along the river, and if it’s Sunday, see the farmer’s market.

4. Buy a picnic from PCC Market

5. Bring said picnic up the road to Gasworks Park for a great view of the water and city

6. Eat dinner at the Whale Wins ($$)

7. See the Troll

15th AVE | NORTHERN CAPITOL HILL

1. Breakfast from the Wandering Goose

2. Walk over to Volunteer Park to see the Asian Art museum

3. Eat dinner at Smith, I highly recommend the poutine

4. See a play at WET

SOUTH LAKE UNION

1. Eat breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe

2. Pop into the antique store on Republican and Westlake (across from Uptown)

3. Walk by the lake and maybe see the center for wooden boats

4. Have a coffee or some lunch at Row House Cafe

If you’d like a nice day trip, you might take a ferry ride out to Bainbridge Island