Seattle in 5 Days: everything you need to know

The Emerald City is the name assigned to the beautiful and idyllic city of Seattle. Home to a thriving arts scene, plenty of history and American culture, activities to see and enjoy in Seattle abound even with its particular weather conditions.

With this itinerary of activities get ready for a spectacular vacation that includes outdoor activities, museum evenings, delicious food and everything else you can imagine.

This itinerary includes 5 full days in Seattle leaving out the day of arrival and the day of departure from the city. If you want to see shorter itineraries I recommend looking at the itineraries of What to see and do in Seattle in 3 days or What to see and do in Seattle in 4 days.

Spend your first day in the city of Seattle exploring some of the highlights of the metropolitan area, as well as its most emblematic monuments. Don't forget your camera!

Get to know the best of Seattle with a city tour.

Perhaps the best way to start your adventure in this city is to hire the services of an expert guide for a quick tour to get to know the best of Seattle. This type of tour allows you to get a quick glimpse of monuments, sights, parks and museums that you can see in detail over the next few days of exploration.

Numerous local companies offer this type of service, so the choice of one or the other will depend largely on your budget but also on your particular preferences. You will find walking tour alternatives , bike or segway tours and other bus tour options.

The itinerary may change depending on the company you choose, however, many of them include a quick look at Pioneer Square, Lake Union, Fremont Troll and China Town.

Information of interest

• Schedule: Offered at different times, I recommend taking the first tour in the morning to make the best use of your time.
• Price: This type of adventure can cost about 75€ on average, but varies depending on the type of tour you choose and the format.
• Duration: You should reserve about 2 or 3 hours for this tour.

Go to the Seattle MoPoP.

You can take advantage of your first day to visit the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, considered a unique museum in its style, is a must for anyone interested in the POP culture of recent years.

Seattle is famous for its contribution of outstanding artists, figures like Jimi Hendrix and rock bands like the iconic Nirvana, are natives of this city. The best part about visiting Seattle's MoPoP is that the exhibits change on a regular basis, so no matter if you've been to the city before, you'll always find something unique.

Information of interest

• Hours: From 10 am to 5 pm.
• Price: Tickets to the MoPoP cost around 28€ per person.
• Duration of the visit: I recommend spending 2 hours touring the museum facilities; if you are a real fan you could take a little more time.

Get to know the most emblematic monument of the city

No first trip to the city of Seattle would be complete without seeing its most iconic landmark: the Space Needle, a 184-meter-tall tower with a flying saucer-shaped observation deck. From your location at MoPop the Seattle's Big Needle is right next door.

The monument was built in 1962 for the Seattle World's Fair and quickly became the quintessential symbol of the city. Climb the Space Needle for the most perfect views of the city; on clear days such as summer in Seattle it is possible to see Mount Rainer (the tallest mountain in all of Washington).

Information of interest

• Hours: Varies depending on the season, I recommend checking the website days before your arrival in the city.
• Price: 34€ adult ticket and approximately 25€ for children from 5 to 12 years old.
• Duration of the visit: One hour is usually enough to go up to the Space Needle, take pictures and come back down.

The Chihuly Garden and Glass is just minutes away.

Get ready to discover unique art by visiting the Chihuly Garden and Glass; located right next to the Space Needle I recommend this as your next visit due to the proximity and the peculiarity of the artwork.

In this space you will find the creative works in blown glass created by renowned Pacific Northwest artist Dale Chihuly. The exhibition was inaugurated in 2012 and has since attracted the admiration of Seattleites as well as the thousands of tourists who flock here every year.

Information of Interest

• Hours: Open to the public from Sunday to Thursday from 9 am to 6 pm; Fridays and Saturdays from 9 am to 7 pm.
• Price: About 30 € adult ticket and 19 € ticket for children from 5 to 12 years old.
• Duration of the visit: I recommend booking at least 1 hour to explore Chihuly Garden.

Watch the sunset at Olympic Sculpture Park.

From your location at Chihuly Garden the Olympic Sculpture Park is only a 10 minute walk along one of the most important avenues in downtown Seattle: Broad Street.

Visiting this gigantic park is one of the best things to do in the city because of the fabulous artistic sculptures that you can enjoy in this space. The park is located on the shores of Elliott Bay, which offers fabulous views of the sunset over the waters.

Enjoy dinner and a stroll in Belltown

Famous for its trendy stores, bars, art galleries and restaurants, Belltown is one of Seattle's trendiest areas and is located right next to Olympic Sculpture Park. Take a leisurely stroll and enjoy fine dining; some of the suggested places include:

• Some Random Bar A bar and eatery whose food offerings feature a variety of American dishes and an extensive collection of craft cocktails.

• The 5 Point Cafe A traditional American restaurant that is almost 100 years old; its specialty is fresh American sandwiches served throughout the day.

• Taqueria Cantina A bar-restaurant whose gastronomic offerings consist of Mexican dishes and drinks.

On the second day of exploring the city, I recommend going a little further south to get to know more about Seattle' s gastronomy and the spaces where the locals live their lives together.

Spend a few hours exploring Pioneer Square

Wake up early in the morning to make the most of the day and get to know one of the most interesting areas of Seattle: Seattle's Pioneer Square, the neighborhood is famous for its historical background and for being one of the first settlements in the northwestern United States.

If your budget allows, in Pioneer Square I highly recommend participating in the Beneath the Streets, considered one of the best tours in Seattle, it is an excursion that takes you through subway passageways dating back to the 18990s.

Information of Interest

• Hours: Always open to the public.
• Price: Free of charge. The subway tour costs about €30 per visitor.
• Length of visit: Reserve about 3 hours to explore this area of Seattle.

Enjoy the Seattle Art Museum

From your location in Pioneer Square, the Seattle Museum of the Arts is just a 9-minute walk down Seattle's 1st Avenue. This space houses one of the most important art collections in the United States.

The amazing collection includes some 25,000 pieces ranging from European masterpieces to contemporary sculptures; the Olympic Sculpture Park and the Asian Art Museum are part of this gigantic collection.

Information of Interest

• Hours: open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm.
• Price: The adult ticket costs approximately 20 € while young people from 15 to 18 will have to pay 13 €.
• Duration of the visit: Depending on your taste for art you can book from 1 to 2 hours to visit the museum.

Take a culinary tour at Pike Place Market

To all my traveler friends visiting Seattle for the first time, I recommend not leaving the city without doing one of the most fun activities in town: a food tour of Pike Place Market.

You'll find numerous local companies in the city that offer this experience, and they all follow a similar format: a guide who is an expert in local history and gastronomy takes the group of travelers through the famous Pike Place Market. A gigantic, bustling two-level market near the waterfront and located in the heart of Seattle. The views of the place are truly breathtaking.

The Pike Place Market is also a landmark for shopping for local produce as well as art pieces.

Interesting information

• Hours: Open to the public all week from 09h to 18h.
• Price: Free, the tour with a guide costs about 60€ and includes food tasting.
• Duration of the visit: You should reserve at least 2 hours of your itinerary.

Get to know the city from the sea on a cruise on Seattle's waters.

At the end of your second day I recommend taking a boat ride on the waters of Elliot Bay on a fabulous sunset cruise in Seattle. This guided tour will take you through the history of the city while taking in spectacular views of Seattle's cityscape and the distinctive mountains of Washington State.

Interesting information

• Hours: This tour is offered at various times, I recommend taking the end of the day tour.
• Price: You will have to pay about 35 € per passenger, approximately.
• Duration of the visit: The tour lasts about 1 hour, you should be at the port about 20 minutes before boarding.

For your third day in Seattle dedicate the itinerary to visit some areas of the city away from downtown, so you can see parts of the city that you could not enjoy in a short trip.

Wake up early to go to Discovery Park

Located north of Seattle, Discovery Park is the city's largest green space where you'll find all kinds of interesting adventures including hiking trails, mountain scenery, beaches and sand dunes by the sea.

For traveler friends visiting the city for a few days, 2 days in Seattle or less, I always recommend visiting Discovery Park so that you can explore a bit of Washington's nature without leaving Seattle.

On your tour be sure to visit the West Point Lighthouse, one of 18 active lighthouses in the state of Washington. The views are spectacular.

Information of interest

• Hours: From 04h in the morning until 23:30h.
• Price: Free for all public.
• Duration of the visit: As long as you want, I recommend reserving 2 to 3 hours for this tour.

See the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks

Go to the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks to enjoy the locks operated by the Army Corps of Engineers of Seattle. Here you'll watch large ships pass through the canal between Washington Lake Channel and Puget Sound, tour botanical gardens and watch sea lions hunt for food in the water.

Considered by many travelers as one of the best things to do in the city, if you are going to Seattle with children this is a visit you won't want to miss and that the little ones will enjoy immensely. Although the attraction is located very close to Discovery Park public transportation can be complicated in this area of the city so I recommend taking a cab from the Discovery Park visitor center and you will reach the Hiram in a 5 minute ride.

Information of interest

• Hours: Open to the public daily from 07h to 21h.
• Price: Free for all visitors.
• Duration of visit: Spend at least 1 hour exploring the area and enjoying the views.

Go shopping on Seattle's Pine Street

Take advantage of the arrival of the afternoon to have lunch and stroll along Pine Street, one of the busiest shopping streets in downtown Seattle.

From your location at the Hiram M, you should make your way back to downtown Seattle. The best way to get there is to take the Seattle Metro D line, you'll find a stop just 3 minutes from Pine St., which is just a short walk away.

One of the most important shopping centers in the area is the Pacific Place Mall; with numerous stores it is ideal for your travel gift shopping.

Take the Seattle Ghost Tour at dusk.

Many American cities offer ghost tours at dusk to travelers , an experience focused on getting to know the mysteries and the most secret stories of the most popular cities. Seattle is not far behind and numerous local companies offer this type of experience to its citizens, this adventure is considered one of the best tours in Seattle by travelers visiting the city for the first time.

A ghost tour is one of the best activities to do in Seattle at night, walking the streets in an enjoyable tour with other adventurous travelers like you; some versions of ghost tours include a pub crawl, or a tour of downtown's best bars for a night of fun.

Interesting facts

• Hours: They take place at night starting at 7pm.
• Price: You will have to pay about 25 € per traveler, some experiences can be a little more expensive.
• Duration of the visit: From 1 to 3 hours depending on the company you hire for the experience.

You already know a bit of the best of Seattle, so I recommend reserving your fourth day to explore the areas beyond the city limits and dedicating this day to exploring the nature and wildlife of the northern United States. A visit to Mount Rainer from Seattle is a local favorite and you'll soon find out why.

Organized tours from Seattle include a professional local guide, transportation to and from the city as well as the necessary orientations for a day of adventure and outdoor fun.

The best time to experience the mountain scenery and trails of Mount Rainier is if you go to Seattle in August or September; this time of year is characterized by low rainfall which keeps the hiking trails dry and the meadows full of flowers and green vegetation. I recommend booking in advance as the demand for this type of adventure increases considerably at this time of year.

Information of interest

• Schedule: This type of adventure starts early in the morning to make the most of the day. Departure time varies between 07h and 09h.
• Price: Approximately 165€ per traveler.
• Duration of the visit: Approximately 10 hours; due to its location on the outskirts of Seattle and the length of the tour you should reserve a full day for this adventure.

If you want to have a day of adventure in nature spend your last day in the city getting to know Snoqualmie Falls, considered one of the most impressive natural attractions near the city and a favorite adventure for locals and travelers visiting the city for a vacation.

Seeing the falls is especially impressive in the summer, if you go to Seattle in July the Snoqualmie Falls adventure is considered one of the best trips to take from Seattle.

However, take into consideration that these months coincide with the peak tourist season so the smartest decision is to book in advance.

Information of interest

• Schedule: Departure time varies depending on the company you hire for this experience.
• Price: From 80€ per traveler.
• Duration of the visit: From 4 to 8 hours depending on the company you hire and the itinerary of activities.