About Seattle

More information can be found at:

• Seattle Yahoo
• Seattle Sidewalk
• Seattle The Emerald City
• Seattle by Expedia

Steep hills. Lush greenery. Glimpses of sparkling water everywhere—Puget Sound, bays, lakes, rivers, canals. And snow-capped Mount Rainier in the distance suddenly emerging from its mantle of clouds. A visitor soon learns why Seattle is known as "The Emerald City." Seattle is a welcoming place, even though the population of the city and the greater Puget Sound region is 2.7 million and growing. The natural boundaries of hills and water produce a city of neighborhoods that feel like small towns, vibrant and intriguing. Every neighborhood has its share of charms. Quirky or classic, there are limitless opportunities for discovery.

Seattle's delights can be found throughout the city, from its impressive downtown to its surprising neighborhoods. The list which follows may not be definitive, but it is instructive. Classic Seattle attractions like the Space Needle and Washington State Ferries are joined by lesser-known gems, the quirky, the hip, the unexpected. All promise rewards for the visitor with an urge to explore. They're an enticing sampler of the worthy attractions offering a memorable glimpse of the style, charm and vitality of Seattle today:

1. Pike Place Market (Downtown)
1. Tillicum Village (Waterfront)
2. Elliott Bay Book Company (Pioneer Square)
3. Space Needle (Seattle Center/Queen Anne)

The Pike Place Market downtown is the soul of Seattle, the oldest continually operating farmers market in the country, a civic resource saved from the wrecking ball of "progress" by public vote in 1971. But the market is no staid historic site preserved for tourists. It is a free-form funhouse of sights and smells and sounds and characters, a place where farmers and craftspeople display their wares and where residents and visitors alike jostle their way along crowded aisles and brick streets. Salmon fly through the air at fish vendors here, vegetable and flower displays are turned into works of art, countless eateries cook up tastes of the world, hillside vistas offer views of ferries and freighters passing on the bay below, street performers provide comic relief, and the original Starbucks coffee store still dispenses espresso drinks. Gawking is permitted, free of charge. The market is roughhewn poetry, always in motion.

Up from the market is the commercial heart of Seattle, a lively downtown district of department stores, specialty shops, renovated historic theaters, hotels of every size, multiplex cinemas, espresso stands, restaurants and unexpected shopping experiences. City Centre's atrium includes a dazzling display of art glass, with work by Dale Chihuly and others from the internationally known Pilchuck School. Westlake Center's spacious exterior balconies overlook Westlake Park, the city's unofficial gathering place, where the paving tiles display a Northwest Indian design.

The Washington State Convention and Trade Center is not the usual monster box consigned to the downtown hinterlands. This thoughtfully designed convention center sits atop Interstate 5, an ingenious solution that put it within walking distance of more than 5,000 hotel rooms and also linked it with Freeway Park, a peaceful urban oasis with a cascading waterfall.

Seattle's downtown is enjoying a cultural rebirth. The Paramount and Fifth Avenue theaters have been restored even beyond their former glory, now hosting touring musicals and concerts. Benaroya Hall is under construction, soon to become home of the nationally-recognized Seattle Symphony. Wolfgang Puck's new pan-Asian restaurant, ObaChine, is a short step from Planet Hollywood, NikeTown and the country's first GameWorks by Sega, a multimedia entertainment experience. "Hammering Man," a mammoth sculpture, stands guard at the entrance to the Seattle Art Museum, a striking post-modern structure designed by famed architect Robert Venturi. A dramatic grand staircase leading to noteworthy permanent exhibits of art from Africa and Native American Northwest art, as well as traveling exhibits from around the globe.

The Denny Regrade, also known as Belltown, is downtown's hippest area, a fast-developing scene of cutting edge clubs, boutiques, taverns, galleries and restaurants, plus high-rise condominiums and apartments that have suddenly jump-started this long-neglected part of the city. Now, it's the 2218 and The Vogue, where Flying Fish meet the Crocodile Cafe.

Saltwater and sea air evoke voyages and adventures that drew visitors to Seattle's Waterfront Neighborhood a century ago, when the docks resounded with cries of "Gold!" and this was the last stop in the States for throngs of prospectors heading north to Alaska. Now, the crowds on Alaskan Way may seek shorter voyages and tamer adventures, but they are drawn here, too.

The Waterfront still excites the senses with its hurly burly scene of bright lights and colorful banners, clanging bells on restored streetcars, large parks overlooking passing ships, ferry horns echoing off downtown skyscrapers, enticing aromas of salmon, crab and sourdough bread.

But what seems, at first glance, a place of souvenirs and salt water taffy is a neighborhood in transition. One symbol of the transition is the new Harbor Steps, a 16,000-square-foot staircase so grand that it is, in fact, a park. This has turned out to be much more than just a pedestrian link between Western Avenue on the Waterfront and First Avenue and the Seattle Art Museum above. Harbor Steps has quickly become Seattle's version of Rome's Spanish Steps, a meeting place to pause and reflect and catch the sun, amid eight waterfall fountains, extensive plantings and inviting seating areas.

Pier 56 is the gateway to Tillicum Village, a resplendently Northwest attraction which delighted 17 world leaders gathered for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 1993. Visitors can cruise the same route across the Sound, enjoy the same alder-smoked salmon dinner and watch the magical stage production of Dance on the Wind, which recreates Northwest Indian traditions. This memorable evening is one of the available conference tours.

The Waterfront is home to The Seattle Aquarium, with its dramatic underwater dome room and its entertaining exhibits that range from a Pacific coral reef to cavorting sea otters. Next door is the Omnidome Theatre, where the huge screen thrills with hang-onto-your-seats features.

Sailing adventures still begin on the Waterfront. Washington State Ferries depart from Pier 52, carrying passengers in cars, on bikes and on foot. Bainbridge Island is an easy half-hour jaunt to charming historic Winslow; Bremerton is a scenic hour away to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and its historic Navy ships.

The red brick buildings give warmth and character to Pioneer Square, Seattle's oldest neighborhood, now an historic district. These sturdy structures have endured boom and bust and renovation, somehow maintaining their grace through it all. This was the home of the original "Skid Road," a term born when timber was slid down Yesler Way to a steam-powered mill on the waterfront.

Pioneer Square comes alive after dark. The historic district becomes entertainment district, with one of the city’s liveliest collections of nightspots, from sports bars to hard rock taverns to romantic eateries. When the sports fans and the club crowds depart, Pioneer Square reverts again to its leisurely pace. This is prime browsing territory, with stores offering everything from expensive antiques to handmade toys, but especially books. Elliott Bay Book Co. is the literary heart of this book-loving city, a homespun bookstore that keeps increasing in size and building on its reputation as one of America's best. Night after night, writers from around the world give free readings of their work in the book-lined basement of Elliott Bay, before rapt audiences sipping espresso or microbrew beer.

Pioneer Square is rich in history and lore, examined in spirited detail on the popular Underground Tour which visits the eerie sunken storefronts of what was ground-level Pioneer Square before the Great Fire of 1889. Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park is a small museum recalling the crazed days a century ago when rough-and-ready gold-seekers converged on Pioneer Square on their way to the Yukon. 1997 marks the centennial of the Klondike Gold Rush, with celebrations and re-enactments planned throughout Seattle.

Seattle Center is the enduring legacy of the Seattle World's Fair, the Century 21 exhibition in 1962 that gave the city its first taste of being big league. The soaring Space Needle, with its observation deck and restaurants, may no longer seem as futuristic as it once did, but it has endured to become the city's symbol, recognized around the world. At the Needle's base is 74-acre Seattle Center, a park with so many attractions that it serves as Seattle's living room.

But Seattle Center is also the site of the Pacific Science Center, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Children's Museum, Intiman Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the dazzling Seattle Children's Theater. Linking Seattle Center to downtown is the Monorail, with its startlingly brief 90-second trip. This quirky relic of the World's Fair may prompt local chuckles as the "Train to Nowhere," but it surely remains the only monorail in the world traveling between two buildings with food courts (Center House and Westlake Center).

Beside Seattle Center and climbing the steep hill to the north is Queen Anne. Always one of the city's most desirable neighborhoods because of its dramatic views, appealing boulevards, and eclectic mix of housing and residents, Queen Anne is home to thriving shops and restaurants and enjoys a friendly, small town atmosphere despite its nearness to downtown.

Kerry Park on West Highland Drive offers the most-photographed view of Seattle, with the Space Needle in the foreground, skyscrapers and the busy harbor behind and Mount Rainier hovering in the distance (on a clear day). This is a can't-miss postcard of "The Emerald City,'' especially on long summer evenings when the amber light of the setting sun reflects off the glass skyscrapers.

Neighboring Magnolia has magnificent views too, a new marina and restaurant complex, plus the surprisingly untamed Discovery Park, 400 acres of windswept bluff and broad sand beach. Discovery Park is a place where bald eagles often nest and where the Daybreak Star Arts and Cultural Center provides an impressive testament to the richness of Native American life.