A group of us are heading out there early August for 4 days. Anyone got recommendations on what to see, do or places to eat? Was thinking about driving out to the Olympic National Park for a day to do some hiking/sight seeing but wasn't sure if it was worth the 3 hr drive out there.
Olympic is pretty cool if your into hiking and such, its a coastal rainforest. Mt Rainier is also pretty cool if you want to drive, 24ft of snow still in the parking lot in June the year I went and the veiws are awesome. And if you want to make a road trip out of it go down to Cannon Beach and see the Goonies while you are at it.
http://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/learn-me-on-seattle.339611/ http://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/seattle-and-vancouver-what-to-see-and-do.320892/ http://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/hey-northwestern-peeps-what-to-do-in-seattle.316756/ That's a good start. If you are looking for food recommendations, post up your ethnic preferences and we can find something for you. There is good hiking within an hour of Seattle, but it does get better/bigger the farther out you get. August is a great time to visit, if it's the first weekend of August you get to see the Blue Angels perform over Lake Washington at Seafair (https://www.seafair.com/), which is a great big city wide celebration with parades and other activities. It will be "hot" (by Seattle standards), but great weather as the first week of August has the lowest rainfall averages (August 4th is the driest day of the year on average, with 9 days of rain over 125 years of recorded history).
Not a native there, but have visited often. There's plenty to do depending on what you like. Here's a few quick suggestions... If you're into aviation: Boeing Factory tour in Everett Museum of Flight If you want to check out outdoor activities...(there are so many parks and hiking areas, but here are some mainstream ones): Snoqualmie falls, about 35-40 mins from Seattle actual Gas Works Park, close to Seattle actual and pretty easy trek around the park Discovery Park, same as above Japanese Garden Kerry Park Mt Rainier, might have to set aside some time to fully enjoy the visit If you're a whisky fan: Copperworks distillery tour and tasting Pike's place market is usually a big attraction for tourists. If you're a foodie, there's plenty of great food and drink spread around the city. Just use yelp to see what might interest you.
It's super touristy which I'm not usually a fan of but the Seattle Underground Tour is really interesting. You get a history lesson and a tour of some tunnels/roads that run under the city.
I'm a native. Tons to do. You can't go wrong with the seafood. Halibut fish and chips are a must. Fresh Dungeness crab is fantastic. Ivar's was always a favorite of mine and is quick but there plenty of great seafood joints. Food trucks are usually great too. Capitol Hill area for the trendy/hipster drinking scene and night life. Excellent people watching if nothing else. Bring an open mind, plenty of weirdos but it's fun. You can't miss the PNW brewery and beer scene. There are TONS of great breweries in town with awesome beer. Red Hook is a larger national brewery but has great food and tours. If you like IPAs you're in the right city. Avoid Pioneer Square in downtown. The homeless situation is getting real bad. Pike Place is the #1 touristy spot. Go to watch them throw a fish but that's it. Everyone you know will ask of you if wemt so check the block and move on. Skip the Space Needle. Kerry Park is just up the road and has the view you want. Free too. If you're heading to the the peninsula to check out the Olympics take the ferry over. Very cool experience and a great photo opportunity. Mt Rainer is a day trip and absolutely worth it. Drive up to Paradise and go for a hike. It's incredible. Also a day trip is Mt Saint Helens. The parking lot will leave you speechless. Totally worth it. You could also make a day out of the Columbia River Gorge. Grab a hipster brunch in Portland then stop for beer and food in Hood River at the Full Sail Brewery. That's my favorite spot in the whole PNW. Yes, a long day but worth it. Rock and Roll Museum is cool. The music scene great, lots of live bands at night across town. Plenty of cage free organic music. The weather will probably be perfect. "Hot" in Seattle is 90, dry, and a light breeze off the sound. You'll be enamored and want to move to Seattle but don't forget it's "wet" from Labor Day to Memorial Day.
Also if you don't want to drive to all those places and still see them, check out Kenmore air. They have been flying seaplanes from the harbor for like 60years. They do Seattle and my St. Helens etc air tours. From seaplanes. Cool as hell
What ever you do, don't worry about what's going on back at home. I mean don't even bother calling. Definitely nothing happening back at home.
Drink coffee. Drink beer. Use an umbrella. Go watch soccer. Get out of the city and check out the cool waterside towns that are everywhere.
It's summer, no umbrella needed for the next 90 days or so. I must be tainted from living in Portland, but the first thing I notice when I'm in Seattle is how few homeless people there are. Downtown is really clean IMHO. Otherwise I agree with all of the above. Just depends on if you are an outdoors type or city type. Or even both. Seattle has a great mix of it all. Just plan your day around traffic if you are trying to get to multiple parts of town though. And I would add Bruce Lee's grave just because.
Nah. It's a big misconception about the NW. Granted, summer doesn't really start until July. But during that time it seldom rains at all. Just dumps on us the other 9 months of the year. And if you have an umbrella, we automatically know you are a tourist
Portland maybe, I just know in Seattle the only dry time is when NHRA has the drags scheduled. Every other date we tried was wet
Oh, it's going to rain any time you even think about putting motorcycles on a track The rest of the time it's fine though. I have lots of family up there and never really plan on rain being an issue from about July until September when I'm up there. You may get some cloudy days which I'm pretty sure Seattle leads the planet in.
Having said that, it's going to be a monsoon for the OP and Godzilla will probably come out from under the nuclear sub base. Seattle blows ass when it does rain hard unless you just like drinking. Fortunately, there is lots of drinking to be had.
Decent jacket and a good hipster style hat that is waterproof and you'll be fine barhopping no matter the weather