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Seattle is one of America's most popular cities, due to it's beautiful scenery, it's historical areas, the abundance of museums and art galleries, the down to earth cafe culture and it's music and vibrant nighttime scene. Seattle is a waterfront city and sits in the north west corner of America's lower 48 states.
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Seattle has been in existence for 4000 years with white settlers arriving in the mid nineteenth century. Timber became a major source of industry in the city, and the Klondike Gold Rush saw more prosperity as the mining developed.
With the advent of World War One Seattle developed a large shipbuilding industry and as movies emerged the film industry based around Alexander Pantages began to grow. Today Seattle is at the forefront of technology and the biochemical industry and is a major city on the West Coast of the USA. Six of the Fortune 500 Companies base their headquarters in Seattle and it was the centre for Boeing until recently. Seattle has been ranked 50th in the world for standard of living. |
The city skyline is dominated by the Apace Tower and other skyscrapers such as the Smith Tower and the Washington Mutual Tower. Other well known Seattle landmarks are the Fremont Troll and Pike Place Market. Many people visit Seattle to see the Future of Flight Tour centered on the Boeing industry, and some of the festivals such as the Film Festival or the Seafair and Bite of Seattle.
Seattle is surrounded by many things to see and do including the Mount Rainier National Park, Mount St Helens and the Olympic Peninsula making it the ideal destination for a very varied and memorable visit.
To the west of Seattle is the popular Puget Sound, a huge waterway that travels over 150km and ends up at the Pacific Ocean.
Seattle is broken up into smaller districts that all have their own appeal and tourist attractions.
Downtown
This is the hub of Seattle with it's very popular and trendy Pike Place Market. The waterfront area here is a lovely stroll and has good views of the sound. There is plenty to do Downtown, visit museums and art galleries and enjoy the many cuisines on offer here.
Pioneer Square
This is Seattle's most historic area and the liveliest. A lot of the nightlife activity occurs in this area as well as a trendy art scene.
Belltown
Also very central and popular, you can spend many days here trying out all the cuisines on offer as well as put in some shopping hours.
Seattle Center
This is complex that features theatres, sporting venues, museums and is the home of Seattle's famous Space Needle.
Capitol Hill
This thriving district has a good combination of eateries, shops and nightlife venues. There are some stunning historic mansions here as well as parks and gardens. Capitol Hill is a lovely place to explore.
Fremont
This is the artsy bohemian centre of Seattle.
Puget Sound
This is a great place to explore by ferry. There are many islands and water activities beckoning in this area, as well as maritime museums and parks.
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