The 6 Self-Guided Tours in Seattle Worth the Money

1.Olympic National Park Self-Guided Driving Audio Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 40 reviews · 5 to 6 hours (approx.) Our pick

This self-guided audio tour starts at the Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles and uses GPS to play stories along the drive toward Sol Duc. Expect Elwha River stops, Lake Crescent viewpoints, and optional routes to places such as Hoh Rainforest and Hurricane Ridge. It costs $16.99 per group of up to four, but you’ll need a separate park pass.

“Enjoyed the audio tour, app was easy to download and once we got it set up, love that we didn’t have to touch it again. Only thing I would change is I think the listing is misleading. The full itinerary show on the listing is the combination of the main tour plus the two bonus tours. Because of that, we didn’t budget the full amount of time it would take to hit every stop because I assumed it would be the 3-4 hours mentioned on the listing. So we only did the main tour, then detoured and did Forks and La Push. Didn’t make it to Hurricane Ridge, Ruby Beach,…”

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2.Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour in Olympic National Park

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 11 reviews · 8 hours to 1 day (approx.)

This self-guided GuideAlong audio tour uses your phone’s GPS to play English commentary as you drive around Olympic National Park. Follow suggested routes or choose your own, with stories on rainforest ecology, local history, wildlife, and stops such as Hurricane Ridge, Hoh Rain Forest, and Rialto Beach. Download it before you go, then listen offline at your own pace.

“This was the best 20 bucks we’ve spend in a long time. Highly highly recommend. Guide is very accurate and gives you a lot of historical, natural, and anthropological information. Then there’s the droll sense of humor which we grew to love.”

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3.Seattle Time Travel Exploration Game and Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 9 reviews · 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.) · from $7Best value

This self-guided Seattle walking game uses the Questo app to guide your group from the Father and Son fountain through Seattle Center landmarks, including the Space Needle, MoPOP, and International Fountain. Solve clues at your own pace, with no tour guide. The game is in English, costs $7.20 per person, and is free for kids.

“Difficulty finding the instructions once we signed up - they were not clear, and we just kept being sent to the same page, essentially going in circles for about an hour. Customer service was great - they were prompt and helpful. That's about the only positive I have to share. When my partner went to download the trip instructions, they wanted all his information, rather than mine (I was the one who signed up/paid). He chose not to have it on his phone, because they wanted too much info. So we just used the one phone (we paid for two, which it turns out we didn't need to). The path…”

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4.Olympic National Park Self-Guided Audio Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 7 reviews · 10 to 11 hours (approx.)

This private Shaka Guide audio tour follows a long route from Port Angeles through Olympic National Park to Lake Quinault, linking mountain viewpoints, old-growth forests, waterfalls and Pacific beaches. GPS-triggered narration, directions and music play through the app. It costs $15.19 for a group of up to 15, but you’ll need your own transportation and must pay park entry separately.

“Beautiful area. Great narration. Provided history, stories and soothing music. New exactly where we were the entire tour.”

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5.Uncover Seattle: Self-Guided Audio Tour

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 7 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $14

Explore Seattle with downloadable English audio and a GPS map, starting and ending at Victor Steinbrueck Park. The roughly two-hour route points out Alki Point, Pike Place Market, the first Starbucks, Pioneer Square and the Space Needle, with stories about the city along the way. You set the pace, but bring your own phone and plan for no admission or transportation costs.

“App didn’t work so had to download which has no map. Had to guess the locations and use google maps. A bit long winded at times.”

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6.Beaches, Bites and Bavaria in Leavenworth: A Self-Guided Audio Tour

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 3 reviews · 35 minutes to 1 hour (approx.) · from $7

Start at the gazebo in Front Street Park and follow a VoiceMap audio tour past cafés, Waterfront Park, the Nutcracker Museum, München Haus, and more. The English guide covers Leavenworth and its German influence. You can walk at your own pace, download the audio and map for offline use, and skip a section if weather blocks the route.

“Unfortunately, the area of waterfront Park was snowed in and we were unable to access that half of the tour. After the new year they had a dump of 3 feet of snow. Therefore, half of the tour was inaccessible and it was difficult to operate the tour/phone to cut off that area and Restart elsewhere. Also, Very cold so went in and out of shops along the way. Did not work out as expected.”

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