Two days itinerary in Seattle

Here’s the best two days itinerary in Seattle for when are visiting the United States.

I suggest stopping by Seattle for at least two days because there’s a lot of things to see, but you can still get a good overview in a day.

Seattle is the northernmost major city in the United States, located around 160 km south of the Canadian border and on the West Coast of the United States.

I’ll list here all the things to do when spending a day or two in Seattle.

• Day One : Pike Place market, Pioneer square, Chinatown, Central Public library, MOPOP and the monorail, Belltown, Space Needle, Olympic Sculpture park
• Day Two : Fremont, Ballard locks, Discovery park, Kerry park, Capitol Hill, Washington park arboretum and the Japanese garden

Day One

Start your day at the Pike Place Market.  it’s one of the oldest continually running markets in the country (closed only on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day).

You’ll find the original Starbucks café, musicians performers in the street, hundreds of local artisans. In two words : it’s a buzzing place. Absolutely worth the detour.

Here you’ll be able to try out “the world’s best Mac and cheese” at Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, and some amazing cheesecake at The Confectional.

Nearby, you can checkout the Gum wall (an entire wall covered with chewing gum since 1990) and the Post-it wall :

Pioneer square is the historical neighbourhood, it’s full of beautiful old buildings in Romanesque Revival style and there’s a calm atmosphere there.

Not far from it, you can have a little break at the Waterfall garden, it is a little peace haven :

Like every big cities, there’s an international district. Chinatown is mainly worth the detour for the food scene and the ornate Chinatown Gate.

The absolutely unique design of this glass structure is worth seeing, as well as the view from up top.

For me this is the highlight for this two days itinerary in Seattle ! It’s an elevated straddle-beam monorail line passing through the Museum of Pop culture (MOPOP).

The building of the MOPOP is truly unique and is even more beautiful with the sun rays reflecting on it.

This vibrant district has lots of trendy restaurants and bars, in a decor full of skyscrapers. Not to miss here : The amazon spheres.

The Amazon Spheres are the headquarters of the Amazon campus in Seattle, made up of three giant interlocking glass globes which house a giant greenhouse botanical garden of the Amazon rainforest type.

The symbol of Seattle ! The Space needle is a must see when visiting this city.

This iconic landmark and observation tower was built for the 1962 World’s Fair.

This park is an outdoor extension of the Seattle Art museum. You’ll see many sculptures there, and the beautiful view is a nice bonus.

(It’s open to the public for free).

That’s it for the first day ! For the second, I’d suggest going a bit outside the city center to discover some impressive viewpoints and sightseeing.

Day two

For this second day, I’d suggest getting a car because those are places a bit further away from the city center.

Fremont is a nice neighbourhood to visit when coming to Seattle, and there’s a lot to see around.

Try to find the Fremont troll under the Aurora Bridge, locate the ‘center of the Universe‘ (a sign post that indicates the distance from many places around the world), or wander in the Fremont Sunday Market.

 Ballard locks is a complex of locks at the west end of Salmon Bay in Seattle. It’s a peaceful to walk along and enjoy the sun !

If you’re looking to get outdoors without getting out of the city, this is the place ! You can walk all the way to a beach and a lighthouse as well :

Kerry Park is really really small, but awesome for the panoramic view of Seattle. From there you can see the skyline, Space Needle, Elliott Bay, and (on clear days) Mount Rainier.

This vibrant neighbourhood is one the best districts in Seattle for the entertainment and is home to a historic gay village.

Start at the corner of Pike Street and Boren Avenue, and walk up Pike Street.

To end your visits and this two days itinerary in Seattle, I’d recommend going to the Washington Park Arboretum. Inside this huge public park (free), you can take a loop trail (around 1h20) to enjoy the nature, trees and birds around.

Don’t miss the Japanese Garden, located at the south end of the Arboretum.

It’s known to be one of the oldest Japanese Gardens in North America, and is considered as one of the most authentic Japanese Gardens in the United States.

If you have time, I cannot recommend enough visiting Seattle by night.

As soon as the lights lit up and the night comes, you’ll get at different atmosphere, almost like is the city is even more buzzling at night.

Check out one of the many game arcade (pictures below are of the Gameworks arcade), impressive with all their neon lights and vibrant energy.

Wander in the streets of this skyscraper’s jungle, looking for the sunset reflection on buildings and discovering the nightlife.

And that wraps up my two days itinerary in Seattle !

It was a wonderful trip, in 2-3 days you get a really good feel of the city center as well as the surroundings. It’s doable in a day if you have no car and visit only the city center, although I would suggest spending at the very least two days, just because it’s nice to see it at night as well.

If you plan to travel to the United States, check out this article, detailing what to know before your US vacation !

If you need a personnalized itinerary, you can fill this form and I’ll find you the best accommodations, flights and itinerary !