This post is a seattle travel guide.
I’m a sucker for lakes, rivers, and oceans, especially when they’re in a city’s backyard. I wouldn’t say I’m the biggest fan of cities, but there’s something calming and serene about the hustle and bustle of a fast-paced city overlooking some kind of body of water. It’s almost like getting the best of both worlds.
Seattle was the last major city I visited on a 10-day road trip through the Pacific Northwest. And *spoiler* I honestly believe it was my favorite city out of them all. That’s saying a lot because I don’t much care for cities.
In this Seattle travel guide, you are going to learn about some ideas of how to plan your trip to Seattle, restaurants to eat at in Seattle, and places to visit in Washington!
This post is a seattle travel guide.
Seattle Travel Guide
Day 1: Exploring Seattle’s Downtown Area
Today we put our Seattle Center city passes to good use and drove to Seattle’s Downtown/Lower Queen Anne area. Unlike Portland, driving around this city to get a good view of it was the best option. Plus, parking was super cheap since I used an app instead of buying parking at the Seattle Center itself.
We mainly wanted to go up to the Space Needle’s observation deck because it’s Seattle’s icon. How could we visit this city and not see it?
I guess I’m a nerd because I was wanting to visit a museum this whole trip. When I looked for the best museums in the country, most in the Pacific Northwest seemed to be in Seattle.
Since we had the passes for the Seattle Center, it included the Space Needle Observation Deck, the Chihuly Garden & Glass Exhibit, and many other attractions. One of my biggest recommendations in this Seattle Travel Guide would be to purchase the pass. Aside from saving money, you’ll get to see so much more while you visit Downtown Seattle.
The Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit
The Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit is located right next to the Space Needle. It’s a museum that houses the studio glass artworks of Dale Chihuly.
Now, I’m not necessarily passionate about visual art (I’m more of a performing arts kind of person), but I do wholeheartedly appreciate art. I’ve never really seen studio glass before, at least not as many pieces congregated in one place. Let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised by this exhibit. It felt like being under a spell, walking from room to room. A wonderful, colorful spell.
Space Needle
After viewing the studio glass exhibit, we got our tickets to go up to the observation deck. The line wasn’t very long, and it moved quickly despite it being a summer weekend afternoon.
Even if the line was slow, I would’ve been too busy reading all about the history of the Space Needle. Also, I would’ve been too preoccupied admiring the aesthetic of the timeline’s photos.
As we moved closer to the elevators, we were separated into small groups in order to travel to the observation deck.
The view at the top of the Space Needle is absolutely breathtaking. One circle around the deck and you can essentially get a view of the entire city.
The weather was perfect the day I went up to the observation deck of the Space Needle (the weather was actually pretty good the whole trip), which made the sights even more inspiring. You could even stay and eat at the restaurant up there, all the while enjoying the moving portrait of Seattle.
Dinner: Taste of the Caribbean
It was getting late after we got to ground level from the observation deck and finished combing through the gift shop. We decided on a restaurant called “Taste of the Caribbean” because it was one of the few restaurants near us that would stay open late and had vegetarian options for me.
The restaurant advertises as having authentic Jamaican food, but I’m partly Haitian and the food hit pretty close to home. Meaning, it was delicious and very filling.
Day 2: Mount Rainier
Today’s agenda was basically to get as close to Mount Rainier as possible. Of course, you could see the mountain from Seattle but it’s definitely worthwhile to visit Mount Rainier National Park.
As someone who doesn’t typically frequent mountains, and as someone who sure as heck doesn’t drive up to them often, I was a bit intimidated by this drive. Mainly because when I drove up to Mount Hood it was very curvy (obviously), but it was also dark and foggy that day.
Great for that twilight aesthetic, but not so great for my nerves.
Mount Rainier
Being the (mostly) intelligent person that I am, I drove from our hotel in Redmond to about the last town we passed before entering the park. So checking to see if we needed gas was my responsibility.
I don’t know what it was. I guess I was so into my music that when my mom asked me about the gas, I kinda brushed off the question. We enter the park and begin driving up the mountain which, by the way, HAD NO RAILINGS, when we collectively realize we need gas or our car will be stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Pro Tip: make sure to get gas before you enter any of these national parks or scenic parks in general. I mean, it’s common sense, but from personal experience, I can see how easy it is to get caught up in whatever and forget about gas entirely.
We were about halfway between the nearest gas stations and figured we’d be better off going back where we came from. It was honestly a blessing in disguise.
Enumclaw, Washington
Lunch: Wapiti Outdoors
Enumclaw, Washington was the last town we passed before entering Mount Rainier National Park. Although we for sure needed gas, the small town had restaurants with pick-me-up meals. In search of restrooms, (also hard to find in the middle of nowhere and during a pandemic) we found ourselves in a small cafe of sorts called Wapiti Outdoors.
It was the cutest place and the food was just what we needed before venturing into the park again. My sweet tooth couldn’t resist getting ice cream/a gelato.
I’d been seeing this “huckleberry” flavor all over the Pacific Northwest and was curious as to what it was. Turns out, this cafe had that flavor (the purple ice cream) and this tasty sour apple gelato. We also grabbed a box of pizza which was pretty good considering my high expectations from mainly eating pizza on the East Coast.
Back to Mount Rainier
Now that we had recouped, we headed back up the mountain. However, we decided not to go the same way we had gone originally because none of us liked the fact that there were no railings.
As it came to be, we took a route that led us to the highest elevation and closest distance that Mount Rainier could be viewed. It was spectacular and much more secure.
My brother said that looking at Mount Rainier was like looking up into the heavens. At first, I thought he was being way too dramatic, but I would have to agree. I’m certain when I looked again, really looked, the clouds seemed as though they were parting and the sunlight peeked through.
Dinner: Island Soul Rum Bar & Soul Shack
I love soul food so, of course, it was me that recommended we eat at the Island Soul Shack. Located in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle, which hosts a lively downtown area full of culture and spunk.
We had to eat outside because indoors is their bar so everyone in your party has to be 21 or older. Keep that in mind if ever you do eat at this restaurant.
The food was worth the slightly chilly breeze. As a pescetarian, I was pleased with their menu and decided on this coconut cream tofu dish with candied yams and brown rice as my sides. It was so good I inhaled it and forgot to take pictures of it to share here. Oops.
Day 3: Driving All Over Washington State
This day we simply drove from place to place, all over Washington state. We drove from Seattle to Tacoma to Olympia to Forks, then back to Seattle. When we got to Forks we drove by Lake Crescent and visited the city of Port Angeles.
We just drove from early morning to late at night. This whole trip to the Pacific Northwest was a road trip, but this day, in particular, was a mini road trip itself.
Seattle to Tacoma and Olympia
We left Seattle to visit Washington’s most known cities. Essentially, we drove in a jagged circle from Seattle and stopping last basically at the border of Canada. In order to actually make it to all of these places, we had to leave early.
I drove us to Tacoma first, but we didn’t really feel moved to walk around the city. Instead, we viewed it from inside our car. My best impressions of Tacoma are colorful; it was colorful aesthetically, but also in the perspectives of those who resided there.
We made our way to Olympia, the capital of Washington. We drove around the downtown area but got out to walk by the capitol buildings.
Twilight Forks, Washington
I couldn’t be in Seattle, four hours away from the Twilight Forks, Washington, and not go there. It’s partially because I expressed this multiple times that we ended up also visiting parts of Olympic National Park, Port Angeles, and the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
From Olympia, we drove straight to Forks. Exhausted from driving all day, I took a nap only to wake up to this iconic sign. If you’ve seen the movies, you should know what I’m talking about.
I’m not sure why we entered the information center here but I’m glad we did. The lady here was the biggest Twilight fan and kindly gave us maps so we could go on our own guided tour.
Olympic National Park
Lake Crescent
On our way from Forks to Port Angeles, we drove into Olympic National Park to be greeted by this lovely deep water, crystal lake surrounded by rolling forested hills. Lake Crescent is huge and we didn’t mind the lingering view at all.
Port Angeles
This was our last stop on our 3-day trip to Seattle. We visited the waterfront area where the boardwalk is, Port Angeles’ historic downtown area.
The air was cool and solemn despite the strength of the sun. In the distance, we could see Canada, lying behind a thick sheet of dark clouds that moved from here to there.
Port Angeles to Seattle
After visiting Port Angeles, the sun began to set on us and on our trip.
Seattle and the surrounding area are amazing. I’m not the biggest fan of cities, but I would genuinely consider moving to Seattle. I mean, there truly is a neighborhood for everyone here because the city is so diverse in cultures and aesthetics. Outside of Seattle, the scenery is worth spending time really taking in.
Okay Washington state, I’m thoroughly impressed.
This post was a seattle travel guide.
