What Should We See in Seattle With Limited Time

Our flight on May 11 arrives in Seattle at 11:30, then we board our cruise ship the next day. We wanted to see the Space Needle, but believe it will still be under renovations.

We might get a light snack for lunch, to save room for seafood for our evening meal, and are staying in a hotel near the airport. Other than that, we have no idea of what to do! Any suggestions are very much appreciated.

Our flight on May 11 arrives in Seattle at 11:30, then we board our cruise ship the next day. We wanted to see the Space Needle, but believe it will still be under renovations.

 

We might get a light snack for lunch, to save room for seafood for our evening meal, and are staying in a hotel near the airport. Other than that, we have no idea of what to do! Any suggestions are very much appreciated.

The Klondike Gold Rush Museum operated by the National Park is a great option. Plus if visiting Skagway, the National Park in town is connected to this one.

Pike place Market is another good option.

The Space Needle can still be accessed.

Pike Place Market is interesting, If you are much of a music buff the EMP museum is worth a visit.

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Once you get settled at the hotel you can do several things in a few hours.

Visit the Space Needle

Visit Pike Place Market.

No need to go inside but the first Starbucks is right across the street so you can take a quick view.

A couple of additional photos of the Market.

From there if you like walking you could walk about 30 minutes over to Pioneer Square Park and also view other sites along the way.

Another area we walked to was near what was the Olympic Park.

You can see the Needle from that area too.

I would get a map of the downtown area and then with some research map out a route of places you want to see.

If you don't want to do a lot of walking remember you can use taxi's.

Keith

Purchase a day pass before getting on the light rail into Seattle, this way you can use transit to move around Seattle. Seattle has a good transit system. The underground transit tunnel allows you to quickly move through town.

With ~24hrs you definitely need to focus on the sites likely to be best for you. Personally for these short visits I always recommend starting with Trip Advisor - pour over the top-ranked attractions, read up on each, and see which ones you and your travel companions all agree sound good - instead of CC users who know diddly-squat about the kind of things you enjoy (myself included!)

In case you do share some of our sensibilities though (we are in approximate ranking most interested in food/drink, fine arts, culture, animals) another opinion: not already mentioned above we have gone back several times to Woodland Park Zoo and SAM (Seattle Art Museum). The Space Needle is such an iconic part of the Seattle skyline that we have never gone back, because the view FROM it simply wrong - you can't see it! Even without renovation issues, the views from the other public tall buildings are therefore, to us, more Seattle-y than from the needle.

I can't in good conscience say NOT to visit the market at all, as it's just too iconic for a first-time visitor, but be aware that there will be hordes of other tourists around clogging the place up. If you go drop bags at the pier then come back, all the disembarking pax will have beaten you there; if you go the day you arrive it's already far too late to avoid crowds even if your flight is bang on time. Going around closing time the day you arrive is likely your only hope of reducing the press of humanity... maybe some locals who do frequent the market can suggest the evening 'sweet spot' time to visit, as we always go first thing.

Who is this? Where is totem pole located? Thanks

I'm pretty sure both that totem and 'Chief Seattle' bust are in Pioneer Square (along with an elaborate cast-iron pergola from same time as the bust, <WWI, which was rebuilt early 2000s after it was hit by a truck and shattered).

I found my photos from the Klondike Gold Rush Museum - Seattle branch

Where the museum is located. Below are pictures from the museum.

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I'm pretty sure both that totem and 'Chief Seattle' bust are in Pioneer Square (along with an elaborate cast-iron pergola from same time as the bust, <WWI, which was rebuilt early 2000s after it was hit by a truck and shattered).

Many Thanks

Our flight on May 11 arrives in Seattle at 11:30, then we board our cruise ship the next day. We wanted to see the Space Needle, but believe it will still be under renovations.

https://web.ticket.spaceneedle.com/

My mistake was buying the tickets there.... there was a 3 hour wait in the late afternoon.

Thank you everyone. Your pictures are beautiful, and We went to Klondike in Skagway years ago, so Seattle's would be so interesting.

Pike Street Market would be fun, too.

I think we should have flown in a few days early.