Trips to Seattle

Tour the Locks

Known as the Ballard Locks, this part of the city is located along winding waterways, in a parklike landscape with incredible seafood vendors. As well as the numerous sailboats and fishing boats that weave their way through the locks, you can peer through underwater windows to spot salmon and steelhead fish as they make their way up the man-made Fish Ladder.

See A Sound Garden and the Black (Hole) Sun

The sound gardens of Seattle are a unique public art work on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration campus. Each steel tower structure has an organ pipe attached to a weather vane, that plays ethereal sounds when passed through by the wind. World-renowned Seattle band Soundgarden got their name from these audio sculptures, and since Chris Cornell passed in 2017, they've become a makeshift memorial to his life and work.

Take a day trip on a ferry

Seattle is located on the edge of the Puget sound, making it a breeze to hop on a ferry and explore nearby towns. A popular trip goes to Bremerton, a fascinating Navy town with excellent seafood restaurants and heaps of military history. You can also visit Vashon island, a large, rural stretch of land that’s best explored on 2 wheels.

Get coffee at Starbucks Reserve Roastery

Starbucks coffee is sometimes accused of being soulless and flavourless, but those accusations couldn’t be thrown at their Reserve Roastery in Seattle, where they house a selection of rare and extraordinary coffees with roasteries and bars serving up surprising creations.

Spend a day lounging at the beach

Is there anything this city can’t do? Yep, Seattle has beaches, too - head to West Seattle for Alki Beach Park, where bikers and skateboarders careen down the sidewalk and street food vendors serve delicious eats to revellers grouped around fire pits. Golden Gardens in Ballard is a more conventional sandy beach, with volleyball, golden sands and spectacular sunsets.

World Rhythm Festival

This immersion into world music, percussion and dance infuses all sorts of musical traditions and serves as a connection between musical styles and cultures. Drum, dance and hear stories from across the world with dozens of interactive workshops and performances.

Seattle Cheese and Meat Festival

Vegans steer clear - everyone else, you’ll be in heaven here, as you taste your way around this meat and cheese extravaganza. Tasting sessions run for 2 hours each throughout the day, and you’ll use your charcuterie board and tasting glass to sample delicious food and drink from a wild range of vendors.

Crosscut Festival

Not one for small talk, Crosscut features days of thought-provoking conversations and bright ideas regarding the most pressing issues facing the world today. Politicians, authors, journalists, newsmakers and more come together and share their thoughts across 40 events.

Recycled Arts Festival

This hip and eco-conscious festival takes trash and turns it into art. All that stuff that was destined for the landfill is transformed into truly remarkable pieces of art, with an amazing variety of exhibits and handcrafted items to check out and buy. There’s also heaps of eclectic live music and a vibrant parade that celebrates community and nature through art.

IFest - Indie game festival

You won’t find Grand Theft Auto here but that’s fine for the attendees of this quintessentially Seattle Video Game Fest. It’s all about the indies here, showcasing the games that are low on budget but high on innovative ideas. If you’re into your pixel art, this is the place to be.

Museum of Pop Culture

This isn’t your everyday museum, it’s a fusion of incredible architecture, creative expression and history, with live music, art, fantasy, cinema and history exhibits along with a not-for-profit ethos. Interactive activities include Sound Lab galleries where you can explore the tools of rock and roll before performing before a virtual audience.

Seattle Art Museum

Located in downtown Seattle, the Seattle Art Museum features art collections from across the world that bridge cultures and centuries. Must-sees include the ‘Art Ladder’ its grand main staircase that features towering sculptures and the Codex Leicester, the last manuscript of Leonardo Da Vinci.

The Museum of Flight

This is the largest independent air and space museum in the world, with mindboggling scale and fascinating aircraft on display, from Boeing Jets to Concordes. It also has flight simulators, and a full-scale Nasa Space Shuttle Trainer.

Nordic Museum

This museum is dedicated to the legacy of immigrants to the US from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. It explored Nordic culture through numerous art exhibits and workshops, providing educational and cultural experiences such as concerts, classes, festivals, film screenings and food.

Living Computers Museum

This museum is a historical catalogue of computing, with huge, fully restored and fully usable supercomputers from the last 50 years, as well as exhibits on robotics, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and video games. The vintage collection is fascinating - ridiculously huge supercomputers that hold less data than we now hold in the palms of our hands.

Seattle burger

Teriyaki

Seafood

Hom bow