Popular Washington Vacation Cities

What to Know

Nicknamed "The Emerald City", Seattle is a lovely green city packed with beautiful evergreen trees and spectacular views of the Cascade and Olympic mountains. Known for being the home of Boeing, the Space Needle, Microsoft, Amazon.com and Starbucks, Seattle also has a lively cultural, music and arts scene. Over the last 25 years, the city has undergone incredible revitalization and rapid development (mostly because of the influx of money from Microsoft and other software companies).

From a plethora of outdoor activities to a diverse cultural scene, Seattle offers tourists a full range of diversions. Spend a sunny day sailing or kayaking between the inlets of Puget Sound or hiking in the Cascade Mountains. Or look no further than Seattle Center (described below) for everything from the Seattle Opera to the majestic Space Needle.

While the city is best known for its fresh seafood and inventive Northwest cuisine, you can find just about every type of food imaginable. Don’t leave without sampling fresh fish at Ray’s Boathouse or a creative "Northwestern" dish at Cascadia. Yes, Seattle is the home of Starbucks, but there are hundreds of good locally owned coffeehouses. Sample the bold and flavorful espresso at Caffé Vita.

Where to Go

Pike Place Market is comprised of hundreds of shops, including farmers and merchants who offer fresh vegetables, seafood, restaurants, crafts and artwork and the original Starbucks.

Pioneer Square is Seattle’s oldest neighborhood, a 17-square-block area in the National Historic District. Its charming, red-brick buildings have been revived and now hold a great arts, café, shopping and nightlife scene. Historical highlights are Klondike Gold Rush Historical Park and the unique Underground Tour.

The Seattle Center is home to the Seattle Opera, Seattle Repertory, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pacific Science Center and the Key Arena, and it also offers exhibits, IMAX movies and laser shows. Most notable is the city’s most famous landmark, the Space Needle. Visitors should not leave the city without a trip to the observation deck offering incredible views. The "Needle" and the Seattle Center can be reached by a 90-second monorail ride from downtown's Westlake shopping center. Below the Needle is the Experience Music Project. Founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen as a tribute to Seattle-born rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix, the EMP is an interactive rock and roll history exhibition, as it traces 100 years of Pacific Northwest music history.

The Downtown Shopping District is the premier shopping destination in Seattle, with numerous national department stores, fashionable boutiques, jewelers and more. Rainier Square offers luxury shopping with such upscale choices as Louis Vuitton andEscada. Shoppers should not overlook Seattle's unique neighborhood shopping opportunities. Districts like Capitol Hill, Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford and West Seattle offer many independently owned shops and specialty stores.

When to Go

On average, it rains in Seattle at least 50 percent of the time, with the heaviest rain periods between January and May and between October and December. In general, June, July and August are the driest and warmest months.

Summer months in Seattle are generally beautiful, dry and not too hot (with temps averaging in the 70s and 80s). The city offers a number of great festivals in the summer months, ranging from Seafair (arts & crafts and music) to the huge Labor Day weekend Bumbershoot music festival. And if you’re in town for more than a few days and the weather is clear, get out of the city and take a cruise through the San Juan Islands or venture through the rainforests of Olympic National Park.