Weekend in Seattle: My 3-Day Seattle Itinerary

Last Updated on March 8, 2024

Planning a weekend in Seattle? Here’s the ultimate 3-day Seattle itinerary by my friend Jarrod from Ramble Around the World.

Nicknamed the Emerald City, Seattle is the ultimate city for outdoor lovers due to its proximity to three national parks: Mount Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades. Add in whale watching, craft coffee and amazing seafood — you’ll understand the city’s recipe for success.

Having spent a few weeks in Seattle and the surrounding areas during back-to-back summers, I’ve gotten to know the Emerald City rather well. Here’s my recommended itinerary for a weekend in Seattle, broken down by neighborhood. 

Weekend in Seattle Itinerary

For those planning a weekend in Seattle, this itinerary will help you make the most of your 3 days in Seattle and see as much as possible. I’ve included the best things to do in Seattle, the best places to eat and stay in Seattle.

Seattle Itinerary Day 1: Downtown

Start your weekend in Downtown Seattle, an area packed with the most famous sights in Seattle, and some of the best food in the city. Let’s dive in before your mouth starts watering for Pacific seafood.

Visit Pike Place Market

As one of the oldest public markets in the United States, Pike Place Market is the iconic landmark of Seattle. It opened in 1907 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

It’s also where you’ll see the well-known Public Market Center sign, accompanied by a huge clock. Taking a photo in front of the iconic signs is one of the most touristy things to do in downtown Seattle — but you can’t leave without snapping one!

Stroll around Pike Place Fish Market

Pike Place Market encompasses a large area and houses several shops and restaurants. What draws most people here however is the fishmongers’ “performance” as they sling fish like a football. Even if you don’t buy anything, stay for the show!

Foodies can also sign up for a guided food tour led by a chef, and learn all about the local ingredients and specialty. It’ll also include sampling fresh seafood and a full lunch.

Scour through Pike Place Farmers & Crafts Market

From 10 a.m to 4 p.m. every day at the north end of Pike Place Market, you can find one of the longest-running craft markets in the United States. The Pike Place Farmers & Crafts Market began in the late 1960s and is still fully equipped with unique trinkets and craftwork you’ll only find in Seattle. 

Try Seattle’s Famous Seafood Chowder

Pike Place Chowder serves the best seafood chowder in the entire city. Its house specialty, the Market Chowder, is carefully crafted with the chef’s freshest ingredients of the day. That means you may get halibut, or salmon, oysters, and even crab! 

Even though this was my favorite spot to eat at Pike Place, there are a few restaurants in Pike Place with a view of the Puget Sound. Check out Lowell’s Restaurant, The Athenian Seafood Restaurant, Sound View Cafe and Pike Place Bar & Grill if you want to dine with a view.

Admire the Original Starbucks

Built in 1971, this original Starbucks store started the craze the world now knows today. Get there early because you’ll probably wait in line for at least 45 minutes just to snap a photo or grab a latte. But, if you’re a coffee lover, it’s a cool experience to feel history exude through the front doors.

See the Seattle Gum Wall

If you get grossed out easily, the Seattle Gum Wall may not be for you. It’s an alleyway filled with hundreds of thousands (maybe even millions) of pieces of chewed gum. Yes, people chew their gum and stick it on the wall. It’s one of the weirdest pieces of artwork I’ve ever seen, but dang it’s cool!

Located almost directly below the Pike Place Fish Market, you need to walk through the short alleyway to get to the walls filled with gum — even if you’re a germaphobe.

Take an Underground Tour

The Great Seattle Fire burned most of the city to the ground in 1889. Much of what you see today is actually built on top of the remnants of old buildings, tunnels and underground alleyways. A Seattle underground tour is the only way to see the forgotten parts of the city — and experience paranormal activities some residents say still haunt the hallowed grounds.

Tours are only one to two hours long and include a comical narration of historical facts and what’s perceived by the locals as souls who never left the underground. It’s spooky and hilarious at the same time.

Book an Underground Tour

Have Dinner at Waterfront Park

Waterfront Park along Elliott Bay is packed with great restaurants and bars. It’s also home to the Seattle Great Wheel, which is the tallest ferris wheel on the West Coast. Get your tickets here!

It’s also where ferries depart to take you to Bainbridge Island, a small island you can see from nearly every high point in the city. Grab dinner at The Fisherman’s Restaurant and enjoy the sunset from under the Seattle Great Wheel as it begins to light the sky.

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Seattle Itinerary Day 2: Various Districts

Stroll through Olympic Sculpture Park

Olympic Sculpture Park was created by the Seattle Art Museum as a green space where people could enjoy the outdoors while looking at world-class sculpture art. It’s home to permanent sculptures and incorporates a rotating schedule of new art, so you’re bound to have a unique experience every time.

Take a side road or two when walking to the park and you’ll find impressive street art on the walls of many buildings. Much of it can be seen taking up entire buildings!

Visit Space Needle 

Just a 10-minute walk away from the sculpture park is Space Needle, one of the most iconic and unique man-made attractions west of the Mississippi River. It was built for the 1962 World Fair in Seattle and has been evolving since.

Nowadays, a lightning-fast elevator takes you 518 feet above the city. There you’ll find a restaurant and bar, as well as a glass-encased, 360-degree viewing area that allows you to see all sides of the Emerald City. It costs anywhere from $32.50 to $37.50 per person to go up to the top, depending on the day and time.

Hike up to the Top of Kerry Park

Head north and walk for 25 minutes or drive 8 minutes to Kerry Park. This is one of my favorite hidden gems in Seattle, and what I believe to offer the best view in the city. The top of Kerry Park looks south toward Mount Rainier in the distance, catching the Space Needle, most of downtown and Puget Sound in the view.  It’s also one of the best free things to do in Seattle. 

Have Dinner at Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar

Capitol Hill is home to the LGBTQ community in Seattle. It’s also home to some cool bars, coffee shops and one of my favorite little quaint restaurants in the city, Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar. They’ve been growing and serving their own farm-to-table Pacific Northwest oysters and shellfish since the 1890s. That’s way before it became the cool thing to do!

It’s still a family-owned and operated business, so only a few things have changed through the years. One of the changes is the live saltwater wells in the middle of the restaurant. You can walk around the tank and choose from a variety of strange-looking fish only found in the Pacific Northwest.

Have a Tour at Starbucks Roastery

Across the road from Taylor Shellfish is the legendary Starbucks Reserve Roastery. If you’re a coffee lover and Starbucks fan, you can’t miss this spot. 

The roastery in Seattle is where master roasters hone their craft, concocting some of the most notable and rare single-origin coffees brewed by Starbucks. It’s also one of the only places in the world you can get a fresh cup of Starbucks coffee a few minutes after it’s been roasted.

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Seattle Day 3: Wildlife Watching

Go Whale Watching in Puget Sound

Orca whales are commonly seen year-round in the Puget Sound, which is the body of water running alongside downtown Seattle and many of its waterside neighborhoods. Most whale watching tours depart from Marina Beach Park in Edmonds, a 30-minute drive from downtown Seattle. Book your whale watching tour here!

Whale watching in Seattle is at its best from late May through October. That’s when you can see humpback whales and minke whales making their migration alongside the year-round orca residents. 

Experience Pioneer Square

Drive back down south to Pioneer Square is home to old-town Seattle, a place where the history of gold miners runs deep and the walls would tell you the most heartfelt stories if they could talk. This is where Seattle all started — way back in 1853. You can now find Pioneer Square filled with old-school plazas, hipster bars and phenomenal local restaurants.

Visit Klondike Gold Rush Historical Park

A 6-minute walk from Pioneer Square is an interactive museum that’ll give you glimpse of Seattle’s past. The Klondike gold rush brought in hundreds of thousands of tons of gold and thousands of people from all over the world. The gold rush single-handedly paved the way for what all of us now know as Seattle. You can learn about the history of the gold miners, original setters and everything in between. Book your tickets here!

Have Dinner at Occidental Square

End your weekend in Seattle at the bustling Occidental Square, just a few minutes’ walk from the historical park. You’ll find all sorts of eclectic things: human-sized chess, sculptures, totem poles, old buildings and people enjoying the Seattle summers. If you go during summer weekends, you’ll also find a bustling square filled with life, music and food trucks.

Extra Time in Seattle?

And if you have an extra day or two, make sure to do a day trip to the nearby Olympic National Park, one of the best National Parks in the US. It’s home to the Hoh Rainforest, which features a soundscape conservation project known as the “one square inch of silence”. The project aims  to protect the area from all human-made sounds. This is definitely one of the most remote places in the US.

There are 14 feet of rain annually in this dense, moss-covered rainforest, so crowds are kept to a minimum. This corner of the Olympic Peninsula houses remains as untouched as any place in the Northwest, famous for its moss-cave hiking trails and thousands of shades of green.

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Seattle Travel Guide

How to Get to Seattle

The gateway to Seattle is the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). There are several flights a day from nearby airports like Vancouver and Portland.

Flying into Seattle from other cities in the US is really affordable. You can fly from New York to Seattle for as little as $250 return or Washington DC to Seattle for just $350 (6-hour direct flight) return.

Flying from Europe to Los Angeles is also affordable. You can find direct flights from London to Seattle for as low as $700 return.

Search for Flights to Seattle

By Car

Driving is definitely the most convenient way of getting to Seattle, as compared to the Greyhound (bus) or Amtrak (train). Below is a timetable with the time it takes to drive here from neighboring cities.

Distance	Duration by Car	Duration in Time
Victoria, Canada	102 miles (172km)	4.5 hours
Vancouver, Canada	143 miles (230km)	2.5 hours
Portland, Oregon	180 miles (290km)	3 hours