The Ultimate Guide to Seattle

Before visiting Seattle the only thing that I knew about the place was that Kurt Cobain lived there and that it was also home to the first Starbucks store. Both super cool facts and to be honest as a music lover and coffee obsessor I had to visit, I just worried that it would be too cool for me. I’m definitely not a hipster and my legs are way too chunky for skinny jeans. So where would this leave me in Seattle? After two days in the city I was in love with this quirky little place. So here is our ultimate guide to Seattle.

 

About Seattle

Seattle is located in the West Coast of the US and is surrounded by water, mountains and some incredibly lush forrest. As my bus pulls into Seattle I am greeted with rain, something I was warned about when visiting the city. Truthfully though I was lucky and the rain did not last long at all. In fact a lot of my trip consisted of slight wind and blue skies.

Things to do

The public transport system in Seattle is really improving and the coolest thing about it is that you can travel by monorail in the Downtown area. This was obviously something that I had to do, and I ended up at the Space Needle. The rain had cleared and the blue sky was showing so I had to take advantage and head to the top of the tower. The view did not disappoint!

Space Needle

The Space Needle was built for the 1962 World’s Fair and has since become an iconic part of Seattle’s skyline. Once at the observation deck which is around 520ft high, you get a 360 degree view of Seattle as well as some pretty impressive mountain ranges. It’s nowhere near as high as other North American observation towers like the CN Tower or the Willis Tower, but it is well worth the trip up. Especially on a nice day.

Museum of Pop Culture

For the music and movie lovers if you take a short walk from the Space Needle you will find the Museum of Pop Culture. It is a very interactive museum and the exhibits cover music, video games, and horror cinema amongst other things.  Being a music fan myself I really enjoyed looking at some of the rare artefacts including lyrics written by Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix, both prominent acts to come out of Seattle.

One of the coolest exhibits has to be where you can pick up an instrument and play to a virtual audience. For a brief moment you feel like a rockstar. That being said it was a very brief moment for me as I learnt that I am a terrible musician even in front of a virtual audience, and it was best to put the guitar down and just keep moving.

Coffee shops & Pike Place Market

Seattle is a great place to chill out and grab a coffee. There as so many trendy coffee shops you can go to, but for novelty’s sake you can also visit the first Starbucks located around Pike Place Market. The market is a must see on its own anyway. Here you can find fresh seafood and flowers, which made me wish I lived in Seattle. Unfortunately no one wants to take smelly fish and unwatered flowers back to their hotel room. There are also some crafts shops and the all important tourist stalls capitalising on Seattle’s musical connections. I cannot tell you how many Nirvana postcards I bought.

Quirky Seattle

One of the more quirky but also really gross attractions has to be the gum wall. Only a city as hip as Seattle can get away with having a wall filled with chewed gum and chewed gum sculptures as a must see tourist attraction. And whilst we are talking about the quirky the Fremont troll is another attraction you cannot miss. The troll is located under the George Washington Memorial Bridge in the neighbourhood of Fremont. You have to tick this off your quirky bucket list for sure. Fremont itself is also a fun place to explore with lots of vintage shops and supercool cafes.

Seattle is a great place to get in touch with your quirky side, and it has to be hands down the coolest city I have visited in North America to date. It’s really loveable with a ‘we don’t care about being different’ attitude. Definitely add it to your list if you are looking for something fun and different.

Looking for more USA inspiration why not read:

Reasons you must visit Memphis