Seattle offers so many amazing activities for families. Whether you’ve gone one day or one week, the city is bursting with opportunities for family friendly fun. With years of spending time with family in the area under our belts and kicking off our 10 day road trip from the urban oasis, here’s a quick snap shot of our favorite things to do in the Emerald City.

Quick Take: 5 Seattle Sights

1. Spend the day at Seattle Center
   The opportunities are practically endless if you just follow your way to the iconic Space Needle which stands within the Seattle Center grounds. Some even go there just to enjoy the beautiful gardens and art that is all around the area. A few notable activities include the Seattle Children’s Museum, the Pacific Science Center, the Chihuly Garden and Glass, Museum of Pop Culture and Seattle Duck Tours. There is far too many activities to feature in this one post so we’ve gone into detail in our Seattle Center blog post.
2. Find Flying Fish at Pikes Place Market
   Pikes Place Market is a must-see for any out-of-towner and a playground for both parents and children alike. Mom and dad, the original Starbucks location is right at the entrance to the market, if you are willing to fight the long lines you can grab your frap and revel at the home of the siren that has half the world in her spell. Walk through the marketplace and enjoy the sounds, tastes, textures of the shops that is accompanied by the fighting fregrances of fresh fish and full blooms. For a bit of extra fun, whether you tackle it as one team or many, you may even consider venturing on a Pikes Place Market Scavenger Hunt to take in the whole experience.
3. Wander the Woodland Park Zoo
   Open daily, the Woodland Park Zoo is a wonderland of wildlife. It gives your family the perfect opportunity to inspire the little ones with dreams of international travel with exhibits from Australia, Africa, Asia and various ecosystems. The zoo is also part of the Seattle City Pass program which lets you save some cash on the top attractions. Adult admission is about 20 bucks and children ages 12 and under are $13. One of our favorite stops is the Snow Leopard exhibit. I mean when will you ever get to see such an amazing animal? We’ve been to many other zoos, including one of our favorites in Saint Louis (mostly because its free! and adult friendly), and those certainly didn’t have such a rare species to spot (pun intended).
4. See Under the Sea at the Seattle Aquarium
   One of the most beautiful sights in the Pacific Northwest is Seattle’s Puget Sound. We encourage you to take a walk around the many shorelines and parks while you’re there but if you can’t there is always the aquarium. This attraction gives you an underwater view of the amazing sea life that surrounds the area – including sharks 🦈 and a Giant Octopus🦑.  It’s a little more pricey than watching the land animals at the zoo but it offers a ton of opportunities for learning and experiencing new creatures as a family. You may even want to print out some of the fact sheets, or access them from your phone, while you’re visiting to enhance your underwater excursions.
5. Takeoff to the Museum of Flight
   If you want to inspire the future pilot in your family, or just revel at the genious flight engineering that our nation’s travel industry derived from, stop by the Museum of Flight on your trip to Seattle. Admission is relatively reasonable with children under 4 recieving free entry and other ages ranging from $14 to $24, with small price breaks for those who plan ahead and buy online.  The venue opens a little later in the morning at 10 a.m. and we encourage you to check the events calendar before you go to see if there is anything in particular that catches your eye. There are over twenty air and space crafts to experience and there are audio guides available in 7 different languages.

For Your Junior Park Rangers

Seattle is called the Emerald City, not because the Wizard of Oz lives there but, because it is surrounded by beautiful lush greenery. We set off on our 10 day road trip from this amazing destination and if you follow our itinerary you will start your journey with 2 awesome national parks and a million other green spaces in between.