Seattle at a Glance

• Downtown
  

  Fun Things, Free things, Places to visit in Downtown Seattle - Museums, theaters or theatres, and Seattle’s state of the art library await your enjoyment, or a visit to SAM (Seattle Art Museum), maybe a night at the Symphony. Many fine downtown Seattle restaurants offer a wide variety cuisine and entertainment just waiting to delight your palate and entertain your senses.

• Capitol Hill
  

  map

  Capitol Hill is home to much of Seattle’s history and many of the city’s oldest parks and museums. Lakeview Cemetery is the final resting place of many of Seattle’s famous and infamous, including Bruce and Brandon Lee. Visitors from around the world come to pay homage to Bruce and Brandon.

  Capitol Hill’s Broadway area is one of Seattle’s most eclectic and trendy area as well as the home of the grunge music movement.

  Why Capitol Hill & What Makes It Special.

• Belltown
  

  map

  Check out the artist studios, try your hand at glass blowing and end the day at a near by restaurant, coffee house, bistro or pub… There is something for everyone in Belltown.

  Skip to How Denny Hill Became Belltown

• Chinatown/International District (The ID)
  

  As you stroll through the Chinatown/International District, close your eyes and let the cacophony of voices sort themselves into the various languages and dialects of the many that call this area home. The cadence of the different voices can transport you back to a time when this area was just beginning to grow and build.

  The first Chinese businessman, Chin Chum Hock, arrived in Seattle in 1860, by 1868 he was considered the leading businessman in the old “China Town” located in Pioneer Square.

    

• Pioneer Square
  

  Originally, the early structures in the Pioneer Square Historic District were mostly wooden, but nearly all burned in the Great Seattle Fire of 1889. By the end of 1890, dozens of brick and stone buildings had been erected and to this day, the Victorian/Romanesque architectural character of the neighborhood is derived from these late 19th century buildings.

  Most current businesses located in the Pioneer Square Historic District are housed in the original brick building constructed directly after the fire. Some even housing the same kind of businesses as when they were first rebuilt. We here in Seattle get nostalgic when we look at the dates on these old buildings, 1890, 1893, etc. Now we know you people form Europe, Asia, and even our own east coast have socks older than that, but please don't deprive us of our historic moment.

• Seattle Center
  

  

  map
  The Center is bordered by Denny Way on the south side, Mercer St. to the north, Fifth Ave and Broad St on the East and 1st Ave on the west. Entrances located off Mercer, Fifth Ave, Denny Way, Broad St, and 1st Ave.
  Phone: 206 443 2001
  Events Line: 206 684 8582
  www.seattlecenter.com/
  Admission to the Seattle Center and the Center House is Free.
  Food Court in Center House

  

  Seattle Center is Seattle’s community meeting place - the home of the Space Needle, the Monorail, the Experience Music Project, and annual events like Bumbershoot, the Northwest Folklife Festival and The Bite of Seattle. It houses the Key Arena, the Pacific Science Center, the Imax theaters, Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Seattle Opera. Catch a play in one of the 10 great theaters, attend the opera or ballet, enjoy a concert or go see a hockey game in Key Arena, or have dinner at the top of the Space Needle. The Center is open everyday all year, and something is always happening.

• SODO DISTRICT (aka South of the Dome)
  

  

  We do love our sports here in Seattle, and you will love the Seattle sports experience our area offers you in the SoDo neighborhood. Not one but two state of the art athletic complexes, one block apart and right down town!

   

• South Lake Union
  

  A Little Bit About Lake Union

  map

• Waterfront
  

  

  Alaskan Way along Elliott Bay
  map

  Stroll the Waterfront from The Washington State Ferry Docks on Marion Street 18 blocks to Myrtle Edwards Park off Broad Street. Browse in a myriad of small shops; stop for a bite in one of the many dining spots, ranging from hot dog stands to five star restaurants and everything in between. Play in the park, go to the aquarium, ride a carousel or take a harbor tour. Maybe just watch the sail boats and ships, or enjoy the mountains. Take your time, but be sure to enjoy.

• West Seattle & Alki Beach
  

  
  West Seattle is known for having developed at its own pace. It’s become a place where the sense of community is strong. There life is lived with the ease ones finds in a small town not yet overrun by mega-this and mega-that. Most who work there live there, and are proud of the friendliness and civility with which they conduct their daily lives.

  Six or seven blocks along California Street are the heart of West Seattle’s commercial district. They’re filled with restaurants, taverns and shops of all kinds. Your clerk or wait person there may well be an owner or family member who’s ready to assist you. When you leave and they say, “Have a nice day,” you know they really mean it.

  West Seattle has a lot to offer visitors and residents. There’s history to learn, parks at every turn, theaters that delight and entertain, ethnic restaurants to satisfy your quest for something different. There are places for biking, walking, birding, jogging, running, or skating.

  Alki Beach, Seattle’s true beachfront, has miles of sand, tide flats and the smoothest sidewalks around. Bring a picnic lunch, kids and their friends, to make a day of it, breath that salt-tangy fresh air, watch for marine traffic, look at the far vistas. You will go home feeling that somehow your horizons have expanded.
  Thank you, Tom (our West Seattle Connection) for allowing me to repackage your interview about West Seattle.

• Pike Place Market
  

  map
  Between 1st Ave. and Western and Union st. on the south end and Virginia St. on the north end
  www.pikeplacemarket.org

  When you think of The Pike Place Market think of a city with in a city, as the Market is run by its own quasi-government, The Pike Place Market Preservation and Development authority. Currently the heart of The Pike Place Market occupies some nine acres and is open all year except, on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

• South Seattle
  

  South Seattle, or sometimes referred to as the South End, is an area made up of the neighborhoods south of Seattle Central District and east of Interstate 5: Rainier Valley, Rainier Beach, Seward Park, Mount Baker, Georgetown, Beacon Hill, Skyway and Bryn Mawr. A historically diverse area in both ethnicities and customs, South Seattle offers many cultural experiences to the visitor.