A city under its own streets, a mountain on the skyline.
Which Underground tour is worth the hour in Pioneer Square, what a whale boat out of Friday Harbor costs, and whether Rainier or the Hoh rainforest gets your one free day. Reviews of every Seattle tour you can book.
Four Seattle orders most first visits begin with.
Below the pavement, under the market clock, up at Paradise and out on Elliott Bay.
01from $29One storey downBeneath The Streets Underground History TourThe sidewalks of Pioneer Square were raised after the 1889 fire. The old shopfronts are still down there.
02from $68Under the market clockPike Place Market Tasting TourChowder, smoked salmon and the first piroshky of the day, before the stalls fill up.
03from $164The mountain dayMt. Rainier Day Tour from SeattleParadise meadows and glacier views on Rainier, two and a half hours from downtown.
04from $45Out on Elliott BaySeattle’s Original Guided Harbor CruiseAn hour on the water for the skyline, the ferries and the cranes of the working port.
Rainier, the Olympic rainforest or Snoqualmie Falls: where Seattle’s spare day goes.
Three directions, three very different lengths of day. Here is what each one costs to book.
Downtown Seattle: the Needle, the waterfront and Pioneer Square’s buried blocks.
The city is compact enough to walk between the Space Needle, the market and the old brick streets in a morning. These are the downtown bookings travellers choose most.
- 1Guided Underground Walking Tourfrom $31
- 2Seattle City Highlights Tourfrom $88
- 3Space Needle & Chihuly Garden and Glass Ticketfrom $67
The Seattle tours more travellers book than any other.
The complete Seattle list →Food walks, mountain days and harbour hours: what fills first, and what each one costs.
1
Chef Guided Food Tour of Pike Place Market
Spend about two hours walking Pike Place Market with a chef guide and a group of no more than 12. Sample food from around nine vendors, which may include chowder, Beecher’s cheese, tacos, truffles and chocolate. Routes vary, so not every stop is guaranteed. You’ll start and finish outside Simply Seattle.
From · $73
Read our review →
2
Mt. Rainier National Park Highlights Tour
from $150
3
Guided Underground Walking Tour
from $31
4
Seattle City Highlights Tour
from $88
5
Space Needle & Chihuly Garden and Glass Ticket
from $67
6
Seattle City and Snoqualmie Falls Half-Day Guided Tour
from $94
7
Boeing Factory Tour with Guided Transport from Seattle
from $125
8
Seattle Wine & Snoqualmie Falls Highlights Tour
from $119
Seattle is a harbour city first. Get out on the Sound.
Elliott Bay cruises past the piers, sunset sails under a pink Rainier, and the boats that leave Friday Harbor and Anacortes looking for orcas. Half of what makes Seattle is only visible from the water.
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2
3Three things you can only do from Seattle.
Plenty of cities have a tower and a harbour. Few have streets buried under streets, a jet factory you can walk through or a glasshouse full of Chihuly.
The Seattle Underground
After the Great Fire of 1889 the city rebuilt in brick and then raised its streets a storey or two to beat the tides. Shopkeepers moved upstairs, and the old sidewalks were left in the dark beneath glass skylights you can still spot from above. Guides walk you through what survived, with the stories that went with it.
- 1Beneath The Streets Underground History Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 8,006 reviews
- 2Guided Underground Walking Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 2,144 reviews
- 3Haunted Seattle Booze and Boos Ghost Walking Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 572 reviews
The Boeing Factory
The Everett plant is the largest building in the world by volume, and the tour puts you on a gallery above the assembly floor where wide-body jets are put together. Phones and cameras stay in a locker, and children must be at least four feet tall to join.
- 1Boeing Factory Tour with Guided Transport from Seattle★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,247 reviews
- 2Boeing Factory and Future of Flight Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 363 reviews
- 3Boeing Factory Tour with Private Group Transport from Seattle★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 13 reviews
Chihuly Garden and Glass
Dale Chihuly grew up in Tacoma, and his glass fills the galleries and garden at the foot of the Space Needle. The glasshouse holds a hundred-foot sculpture in reds and ambers, best seen when the evening light comes through. Most travellers book it together with the tower.
- 1Space Needle & Chihuly Garden and Glass Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,890 reviews
- 2Chihuly Garden and Glass Entry Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 374 reviews
- 3Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 133 reviews
Seattle eats at Pike Place, then goes looking for coffee.
The market has run above the waterfront since 1907: fish stalls, piroshky, cheese curds and flower sellers on three levels. Book a tasting walk early, before the cruise crowds arrive, and leave room for the cafes up on Capitol Hill.
Every Pike Place tour →
Six places a Seattle trip reaches, by road, ferry or seaplane.
The islands up the Sound, the rainforest coast past Port Angeles, a Bavarian village in the Cascades and the bridge over Deception Pass. Pick a direction and see the best day out there.
Four Seattle bookings that will not wait for you.
Most of Seattle can be arranged the night before over a coffee. These four run on timed entries, seasons and short windows that decide the date for you.
- 01Space Needle & Chihuly Garden and Glass TicketEntry runs on timed tickets. Clear-evening sunset slots are the ones that go first.
- 02Whale Watching from Friday HarborThe orca and humpback boats run their full schedules from spring into autumn, and summer departures fill.
- 03Tulip Festival in Skagit Valley Tour from SeattleThe Skagit Valley fields bloom in April, and the tours run only for those few weeks.
- 04Boeing Factory Tour with Guided Transport from SeattleTours run in small groups with a height minimum for children. Weekend and summer slots go early.
What a day of Seattle sightseeing actually costs.
Every outing on the site, sorted by price per head. A good share of the best Seattle hours cost less than dinner on the waterfront.
Observation decks, the Underground, an hour on Elliott Bay and the museum entries.
Market tastings, sunset sails, Snoqualmie half-days and the whale boats from the islands.
- 1Chef Guided Food Tour of Pike Place Marketfrom $73
- 2Mt. Rainier National Park Highlights Tourfrom $150
- 3Seattle City Highlights Tourfrom $88
All-inclusive Rainier and Olympic days, Leavenworth over the pass and private charters.
When the Seattle drizzle settles in, go under a roof.
From October to May the rain comes soft and often, and Rainier hides behind cloud for days. That is the time for jet hangars, glass galleries, the buried streets of Pioneer Square and a slow crawl between espresso bars.
By place: the city and the Sound
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