Taking a Trip to Seattle Area, any can't miss places?

NuclearN8

NuclearN8

New member
My wife and I are flying out to SeaTac and spending a week in early September for a road trip vacation. We'll be leaving our 4Runner in PA obviously and renting a car so any technical offroading is out of the question as we'll be renting a compact car to get around...

Does anything have any can't miss attractions around seattle?

Right now we're planning a bit of a clockwise loop with some ferry travel involved...
Seattle to bremerton to Olympic to Victoria Island BC and PRNP to
San Juan Island and then back over to redmond to see a water fall (forget the name) near she wants to see too... .

We'll take good food or winery recommendations as well...

We'll be doing a few hikes in the NPs and stopping at hurricane ridge in visitor center for the view there as well...
 
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Went up there last spring for a week. From what I experienced I would recommend going to see Mt. Ranier, the space needle, and the rain forest(Olyimpic National Park). There's also a pretty cool car museum in Tacoma. Best place we at was literally called "hole in the wall BBq."
I don't live anywhere near there, but those are some of the places that stuck out to me. There's a lot of Seattle members on here so in sure they'll lead you in the right way.
 
Thanks. All those spots are in the list... Gotta go squatching a bit... Haha. I'm hoping some locals chime in to help out...
 
Ain't much in actually in Seattle, typical cookie cutter tech city now. You would be hard pressed to find a Real Seattleite who was born and raised in the city.

Okay, enough of that.

I'd check out the other areas of the PNW. Traffic is horrible in Seattle, all days of the week except for early morning or late evenings. Try taking public transportation(Light Rail/Metro) or Lyft/Uber it if you plan to hit up Downtown, Waterfront, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne and the Lake Union area. When I take friends from out of town I generally take them to the more "touristy must try" spots:

-Paseos/Un Bien. Small hole-in-the-wall Caribbean joint. Always packed with long times. They have a few locations around the city. Fremont St near Wallingford(near UW) and 4th Ave near Centurylink and Safeco field. Try their Cuban roast or their tiger prawn sandwich.

-Chinatown/International District. Grimey area, used to house 40+tents of homeless and drug addicts under I-5 on King/Jackson. It's all cleaned up, for now. Some of the better eats if you want that international flavor. I would recommend Mike's Noodle House, try their wonton, siu gau noodle soup or their wonton/brisket noodle shop. Expect lines outside the door during the lunch rush. If you guys like dim sum go for Jade Garden or Harbor City Seafood. Again, long lines and wait times especially on the weekend. If you want Vietnamese, a popular spot on 12th AVE is Ba Bar. It is across the street from Seattle University, NE of Chinatown.

-Salumi's. Near the outskirts of Chinatown heading toward Pioneer Square. Owned by the parents of Mario Batali(Iron Chef if you watch Food Network) they specialize in Italian cured meats. Their hours are obscure, long lines during lunch but their sandwiches are on point. Only wish they would add more meat.

-Din Tai Fung. Two locations, one in Bellevue's Lincoln Square(another city across I90) and another at University Village by UW. Popular place for Taiwanese soup dumplings "shao long bao". Its chic and trendy.

-Walrus & The Carpenter. I come here for the oysters. Happy Hour oysters. Located in Ballard. You can hit up the locks(you might catch some late Kings/early Coho running through the fish ladder). Golden Gardens is a popular summer spot for bbq's and beach play.

-Toulouse Petit in Queen Anne, a popular French Creole spot near the Key Arena(where our beloved Super Sonics once played).

-Beecher's Cheese/Lowell's @ Pike Place. Beechers makes some good mac n' cheese, get a bowl to snack on and then head into Lowell's for a blackened salmon sandwich(I think King what they're using right now).

-Dicks Drive-In, famous burger joint in Seattle. Lots of locations so just use google to find one near you. Get the deluxe, fries, and a shake.

-Georgetown in South Seattle. Up and coming area in the Southend. Once known for outcasts and Seattle's grunge scene now has become a trendy spot with a mixture of tech nerds and hipsters. They do food truck Saturdays in the alley. Try Fonda la Carina or Brother's and Sister's Nashville Chicken. Pretty good. Bars like the 9lb Hammer or Star brass is just a walk away.


-Fancier eateries(require reservations if don't wanna wait): El Gaucho(steak), Canlis(oldest & best steak house in Seattle IMO), Any of the Tom Douglas joints(he's a "local" celeb chef) Lola's, Etta's, Serious Pie, Dahlia. John Howie's(Love their imported Wagyu beef but expect $200-$300/person), Palisades in Magnolia is a good romantic spot with a nice view of Elliot Bay with the Mrs.
 
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I like to take my friends to do some island hopping; the San Juans, Orcas, Blake, Lopez. Lots of good hikes and trails for bicycling.

I like to fish so I generally venture out to areas that have fishing opportunities: Neah Bay/Cape Flattery, this is the most NW point you can go in in the lower 48. Not much to do in Neah Bay except for checking Cape Flattery out and fishing(September the Coho fishing will start picking up, the bottom fishing remain plentiful). This is Makah Nation so they might press you to buy a day pass to be on their land. The drive through 112 to Neah Bay is beautiful though. Lots of scenic spots.

-Shi Shi Beach, short but beautiful hike south of Neah Bay.

-Hoh Rainforest/Forks/Olympic NF.

If you head back over to the Seattle area then head east a little over I90 to see Rattlesnake Ridge/Snoqualmie Falls/Pass. Can't miss any hiking spots since you will see loads of vehicles parked on the side of each freeway exit. Just exit off and find the trail head.

And of course if you going to do the Seattle thing there is the Space Needle, Ride-the-Ducks, EMP, Pacific Science Center, Chihuly Glass Museum, Pike Place Market, Waterfront Piers, Sculpture Park, Pioneer Square, Chinatown, West Seattle's Alki Beach, Queen Anne(Kerry Park), maybe catch a Mariners game at Safeco.
 
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Do I count as a place? :hiding:

[MENTION=117117]Seattle206[/MENTION] hit the biggest ones. Museum of flight is super fun, you could easily spend an entire day there. Mt. Rainier and Mt. Saint Helens are both close and have a lot of hiking options
 
Pike Place Market is a nice place to shop and eat lunch along the water front. Or if you're a Bruce Lee fan, you can pay your respects and visit him and his son grave site. Other than that, I'd drive on to BC. Thats where all the fun is. Remember to bring your passport. At the border, the Canadian Mounties will drill you with a 100 questions. Where you going? Where are you staying? How much money do you have on you? on and on.
 
Whidbey Island is one of my favorite places of all time. Deception pass is beautiful and useless bay is a great spot to picnic a lunch.
 
My last trip back, wherein I took the wife on a highlights tour did much of what you are talking about. Hit some microbreweries in Seattle, do Pikes Place market and watch them throw fish and then go exploring all the levels of the market. Go down to the docks level look at all the big ships and stroll. That would be enough of Seattle for me :) If you are ferrying over to the San Juan Islands, spend a day in Anacortes. I enjoy that town as a change of pace over Seattle. However you do it, kayak or tour, go out and see the Orcas. Since you are already planning Olympic NP, I agree with others that the Hoh is amazing, as are the mountains. I like Vancouver Island over Vancouver the city, great choice there. Victoria is like stepping into Europe and the island has a lot of interesting sites from the indigenous peoples. My only real piece of advice, if I were going today, would be to spend as little time in Seattle as possible and spend more time in the rest of the locations you are planning, you will not regret it when you are on the plane home remembering the best stuff on the trip.
 
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NuclearN8 said:
My wife and I are flying out to SeaTac and spending a week in early September for a road trip vacation. We'll be leaving our 4Runner in PA obviously and renting a car so any technical offroading is out of the question as we'll be renting a compact car to get around...

Does anything have any can't miss attractions around seattle?

Right now we're planning a bit of a clockwise loop with some ferry travel involved...
Seattle to bremerton to Olympic to Victoria Island BC and PRNP to
San Juan Island and then back over to redmond to see a water fall (forget the name) near she wants to see too... .

We'll take good food or winery recommendations as well...

We'll be doing a few hikes in the NPs and stopping at hurricane ridge in visitor center for the view there as well...
Click to expand...

You're probably thinking of Snoqualmie falls (mentioned in another post). Cool spot right on the road side, recommend the Snoqualmie brewery in downtown Snoqualmie for good craft beer and pizza and sandwiches.

My go to for oysters is Taylor Shellfish Co. in Capitol Hill. It's all they do plus geoduck sashimi, dungeness crab, and raw scallops and spot prawns, great fresh stuff.

Other fun places to check out would be the mountain loop parkway and the Big Four Ice Caves as well as Lake Twenty Two, both fun quick hikes with good scenery. Deception Pass as mentioned earlier is cool and there are some cool hikes down to crystal mountain and rainier as well. If you hop across the mountains on Hwy. 2 (Steven's Pass) and hit up Wenatchee you're in prime apple and peach picking season and that's always a good time (plus a great drive), if you head to Wenatchee you'll pass through Leavenworth a fun German Alpine themed town with good brats and beer as well as tubing down the Wenatchee River (I did it in September a few years ago and had a blast, beware the water is COLD).

Bellingham is a fun town but that's north of Anacortes where the San Juan ferry drops you off. Great brewery there too (Boundary Bay) and they have a half marathon and full marathon in September (I know not everyone's thing but I thought I would mention it, I've done the half twice).

I think everything else I would mention has been mentioned by others and yes the traffic is absolutely atrocious on both I-5 and 405 (I-90 isn't too bad but only gets you to Snoqualmie on that list of places).

Enjoy your trip!
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback and suggestions. We definately added a few things to our road trip list! Appreciate everyone who responded.
 
You can probably find wineries anywhere in the area. Woodinville has started to build a reputation and be very dense with them. It's also close to Redmond.

Port Townsend isn't far from the olympics and is a cool little town to walk around for a few hours or even stay over night and grab some food at some of the restaurants.

If you're coming back down from B.C. it never hurts to stop in Bellingham. The downtown there has a nice small-city/town mom n pop shop feel to it with plenty of good food and breweries (most popular one being Boundary Bay Brewery, known for their IPA and Scotch Ale). There are also some really cool hikes just outside of Bellingham (oyster dome being the most popular), a few of which are on Chuckanut Drive.

On that note, if you're driving from Bellingham south back toward Seattle, I'd get off of Interstate 5 in Bellingham and take Chuckanut Drive. Winding road along the water with gorgeous vistas of the Puget Sound and it's many islands. Goes from Bellingham to I believe Mt. Vernon (another cool little city, also with a brewery, Skagit River Brewery) where you'll hop back on I-5 south.

There are loads of places to eat in all the above mentioned cities/areas, just yelp it and any place with good reviews will not disappoint (even the ones with bad reviews tend to be better than some places I've found around the country with amazing reviews, people up here are never impressed with anything it seems like).
 
Don't forget Sky View Observatory at Columbia Center. This thing is way higher than the Space Needle and if you go at night, the view will be unforgettable, at least I never forgot it.

Sky View Observatory

Also definitely grab a bite to eat at the Market. Amazing seafood pretty much anywhere you go there.
 
I used to live in Seattle. The winery up in Woodinville, Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, is very nice. You could drive over through Redmond and up. Redmond is pretty neat, as it's Microsoft's home. There are some fancy fancy restaurants over in Woodinville as well.

And Vashon Island is better than Bremerton.
 
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