Seattle trip suggestions

[DawnM]

I was going to suggest the Ethiopian place near Pike Place while you are there, but I see it has closed down.

Pike Place has loads of great places to eat in it and around it, so you won't lack for food there.

Definitely hit an Ivars while you are in Seattle.

My favorite restaurant around Seattle is Shamianas, a Pakistani/Indian place, but it isn't really close to anything sight seeing wise, so that may not be convenient.

Pick up some Pike Place Market Spice Tea at PP!

Dawn

How about some places to eat? Any suggestions?

 

[atheneze]

Wow. Thanks everyone for all of your great suggestions. I will show this thread to my husband so we can plan accordingly.

 

[Tribe0701]

Beachers cheese right across the street from pikes place market has amazing Mac n cheese, along with lots of other great things.

The "first" Starbucks is right there also, it's nothing special but it's the only place to get first Starbucks mugs and cups, so if you are a Starbucks kinda person it might be worth the very long line.

There is an amazing gelato shop right around the corner from the market, I can't for the life of me remember the name, if you walk up the hill from the main corner of the market and make a right at the first street it's on your right.

Also visit the most disgusting tourist site ever......the gum wall. It's down in a little ally from the market, there are signs, but you could just ask someone. It is an alley with the walls covered in used chewing gum, it's so gross, but just one of those gotta see it to believe it things.

 

[v.t.]

Just a warning, if you have severe allergies or asthma, be careful on the underground tour, a lot of dirt and dust.

 

[ssawka]

Just a warning, if you have severe allergies or asthma, be careful on the underground tour, a lot of dirt and dust.

Good advice, but I have Asthma due to dust and mold allergies and I did fine. So, if your allergies are not severe you should be OK. I think a good judge would be, can you go into an unfinished basement for any length of time?

 

[MEM]

I just came back from a whirlwind business trip to Seattle (5 days including 2 travel days). I took DD16 with me and she played tourist while I worked. We did have an early breakfast at Daily Dozen Donuts one morning at Pike Place Market as well as lunch at Pike Place Chowder. I can highly recommend the seared scallop chowder there - DD loved the New England style chowder (we are Bostonians, after all). She went to the EMP and while she enjoyed it, felt it can be done in 2 hours or less. She enjoyed the horror/sci fi section of the museum more than the music part - they had an original Dalek from the Doctor Who series that she thought was "wicked cool". We did take the monorail to the Space Needle and the Chihuly Garden and Glass. I can highly, highly recommend the Chihuly exhibit/museum - I felt it was stunning, especially the garden and how the live plants complemented his glass art. The Space Needle was okay - we waited until sunset which was quite beautiful. If you have been to the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio the Space Needle pales in comparison but its still a must-do. Some colleagues of mine were able to extend their stay a few days and took a ferry to Bainbridge Island and a cruise to Vancouver, BC. One of them also did the Underground Tour and enjoyed it. They ate at a very high-end restaurant on the waterfront called "Aqua" - too rich for my wallet! I'd love to go back to Seattle and do all the things I missed.

 

[Misskitty3]

I also recommend riding the ducks it was a lot of fun.

We also liked the Chihuly Garden and Glass at the base of the Space Needle.

For dining we enjoyed the Purple Door and Ivars.

At Pike Place Market there is a restaurant called The Pink Door. There is also a restaurant called Purple in Seattle (and a few Purples on the eastside too). Both restaurants are great and you can check them out on line.

We love any of the Tom Douglas restaurants (Lola for breakfast and Serious Pie for pizza are especially good).

Ray's Boathouse in Ballard has amazing views and great seafood.

Top Pot donuts are really, really good!

Wild Ginger is our favorite Asian restaurant.

Molly Moon's has wonderful ice cream.

Paseo has amazing Cuban sandwiches but you will need to stand in line to get one!

 

[atheneze]

Thanks for all these suggestions. We are getting excited and our itinerary is getting full as we want to do alot of things from your suggestions.

 

[Tamar]

Another vote for Chihuly! I suggest going to Trip Advisor or Open Table to find restaurant reviews. My favorite restaurants are SeaStar and Crow, but there are many places to choose from.

 

[Tamar]

By the way, car rentals out of SEATAC have been crazy expensive for several months. Over $100/day. You might want to keep an eye on rates starting now and if you see a good rate, snap it up!

 

[atheneze]

I actually got a car rental out of SEATAC for $71 for that weekend. I started out at $120 from Thrifty, then $85 from Enterprise and just found a cheaper one from Budget last night!

 

[Misskitty3]

Here is a great trip report and at the beginning they visited Seattle. She has a lot of great pictures too! They did a couple of Pike Place tours as well.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=45230298#post45230298

 

[atheneze]

Here is a great trip report and at the beginning they visited Seattle. She has a lot of great pictures too! They did a couple of Pike Place tours as well.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=45230298#post45230298

Wow thank you. We're planning to do the Pike Place Market tour that she took.

 

[atheneze]

Best seafood restaurant? Any suggestions?

 

[Misskitty3]

Best seafood restaurant? Any suggestions?

Here are some suggestions but you'll probably find lots of option on Yelp.

Ray's Boathouse (or their cafe upstairs) -- nice view and on the water
Palisades -- nice view and on the water
Seastar -- I have only been to the Bellevue location which does not have a view but the food is amazing!
Cutters -- located right at the edge of the Pike Place Market
Etta's -- Across the street from Cutters - famous for their crab cakes but anything they serve should be excellent
Steelhead Diner - I haven't eaten there but is supposed to be great.

 

[budbeerlady]

We LOVED Seattle and cannot wait to go back again.

Pike Market, we bought cheese, bread, pastries and meats to make our own lunch.

Chihuly museum under space needle was amazing, the surprise favorite of the trip.

We took a Tours Northwest tour to Mt Rainier. So great and highly recommended!!!!

Wanted to take ferry to island but ran out of time.

Aquarium on waterfront was amazing. Has the BEST touch pools we have ever seen. Even Dd said it blew Shedd aquarium away!

And because I am a Disney dork we rode the monorail over to the Space Needle.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

Subbing for a family vacation in late July - is that an ok time to go? We don't have much flexibility with younger son's baseball schedule.

LOVE this thread so far. We have been fortunate enough to travel a lot in the US, but the Northwest corner and the southern (Hilton Head type) shores are our last two big stops we are dying to do!

 

[Misskitty3]

Subbing for a family vacation in late July - is that an ok time to go? We don't have much flexibility with younger son's baseball schedule.

LOVE this thread so far. We have been fortunate enough to travel a lot in the US, but the Northwest corner and the southern (Hilton Head type) shores are our last two big stops we are dying to do!

Late July in Seattle usually means higher temps and less chances of rain!!

 

[Texan]

Must get chowder at Pike Place Chowder at the Market; hard to find a seat but so worth it; hard to decide between the salmon or clam chowder; we got ours in a bread bowl; I would have loved to done the Market tour, it is rather crowded and so much to see, but when I inquired about the tour there was a minimum of 10, and the minimum was never reached; so we just wandered around and didn't see as much as we probably could have; the fresh fruit and flowers there are amazing; we couldn't find anywhere local to eat around the Needle, so just ducked into the Subway; the Needle is really cool to do when it is starting to get dark

 

[Misskitty3]

Must get chowder at Pike Place Chowder at the Market; hard to find a seat but so worth it; hard to decide between the salmon or clam chowder; we got ours in a bread bowl; I would have loved to done the Market tour, it is rather crowded and so much to see, but when I inquired about the tour there was a minimum of 10, and the minimum was never reached; so we just wandered around and didn't see as much as we probably could have; the fresh fruit and flowers there are amazing; we couldn't find anywhere local to eat around the Needle, so just ducked into the Subway; the Needle is really cool to do when it is starting to get dark

Here are some ideas for food at Seattle Center --

http://www.seattlecenter.com/food/

I like Pagliacci which is a few blocks from Seattle Center and Dicks Drive In is a Seattle institution if you like burgers (also a few blocks from the center).