2 Days in Seattle – What to see and do, Where to Stay, Which restaurants

Introduction

Since I’ve written about my 2-3 day trips in international cities I’ve been so, I figured I’ll at least write what I would do in 2-3 days in my backyard, Seattle, Washington.  This is the itinerary I usually take people on or send them when they visit Seattle.  You can customize as you see fit.

 

When to visit

First off, the best time to visit Seattle is in the summer, so anytime from May-September.  The weather is random the rest of the year, but it’s mostly gloomy and raining.  The summer is perfect though (usually in the 80’s and blue skies.)

 

Where to stay

Make sure you pick a downtown hotel.  Don’t stay in the suburbs.  And really, you should stay at one of these 5 locations.  As to which hotel, I can say I’ve stayed at the Sheraton Seattle (marked SPG).  It’s right next to a Cheesecake Factory and every international tourist looooves the CF.  It’s in the middle of the downtown shopping area (up and down Pike Street is where the shops are at) and is pretty central to everything.  For you Hyatt people, Olive 8 and the Grand Hyatt are also good places.  As you can see, Olive 8 is a bit further away, but it’s probably the most modern in the choices.  The Westin is a bit out of the way, but not horrible.  The W is further south of the Hilton and probably a 10-15 min walk to the Sheraton.  I haven’t heard of a single review on the Hilton Seattle, but it looks like it’s in a good spot too.

 

Day 1

The map you see above is basically everywhere you want to go.  Let’s assume you start your day at 9AM.

• 9AM – Walk down to Pike Place Market.
• 9:30AM – Wait for 30 minutes in hopes someone buys a fish so you can see it thrown.  Try a piroshka while you’re there.  Make sure you elbow your way through the crowd at the first ever Starbucks!  Take a selfie under the sign like everyone else.
• 11:30AM – Walk your way down the waterfront to Elliott’s Oyster House for lunch.  I highly recommend the Kumamoto oysters.  You’ll never go back to any other kind of oyster.
• 1:00PM – Walk back towards your hotel/mall area.  Maybe stop at the Seattle Aquarium if you like.  Or the Seattle Art Museum if that’s your thing.
• 4:30PM – Take the monorail from the mall to the Space Needle.  The last time I did this years ago, it cost $2 each way.
• 5:00PM – Decide if you want to overpay to go up the Needle.  Walk around the area a bit.  Maybe book a “Ride The Ducks” tour for tomorrow if you want.  Go to the glass museum or the EMP if that’s your thing.
• 6:00PM – Ride the monorail back and rest up at your hotel.
• 7:00PM – Dinner (see below)
• 10:00PM – If you are old like me, go back to hotel and sleep.  If you are into the night scene, you can stay around the mall area and see what’s open.  Else you can take an Uber or Lyft to Belltown (tell them to take you to Amber and start there.)  You might see a football player or even A-Rod or at least a Bachelor or Bachelorette there.  If Amber’s not your vibe, there are a lot of other places nearby.  If you’re into untz untz, hit up Foundation nightclub.  If you want less pretentiousness, hit up the Capitol Hill area (tell them to take you to Tavern Law) and go from there.

 

Day 2 – other things to do

Now that you’ve seen all the major sites already, day 2 can be whatever you want.

• You can visit Bruce and Brandon Lee’s tomb.  Take an Uber.  The Seattle Asian Art Museum is there.  It sucks, but if you’re already there, go for it.
• Visit the Starbucks Roastery.   I’ve been twice.  I never know what do to there.  I’d suggest you find a tour time.  This is almost walkable from the Sheraton.
• You can do the Ducks tour I mentioned earlier
• Wine tasting in Woodinville.   About 30 minutes from Seattle.  You should visit Chateau Ste Michelle since they are the biggest and most recognized winery.  Try to get in on the hourly wine tours.  The locals (like myself) go to the warehouse district in Woodinville since the wineries are jam packed together and less touristy.
• Museum of Flight is pretty cool
• Seattle Art Museum is cool; I’d skip the Asian Art Museum though.
• Alki Beach is nice (not a swimming beach) – eat at Salty’s on Alki
• If it’s cherry blossom season (mid March), visit the Univ of Washington campus.
• If it’s late March/early April, visit the Tulips up north.
• If you have a car and enjoy hiking, you can go down to Mt Rainier and hike around there (4 hrs each way I think.)  For a closer hike, go to either Mt Si (maybe an hour+ away) or Tiger Mountain.  Stop by the Snoqualmie waterfalls too if you go to Si or Tiger.
• You could kayak around Lake Union (fellas, make sure your SO helps row too or your arms and back will be sore tomorrow.)
• You could take a ferry to the San Juan Islands and explore
• You could drive to Vancouver (2.5 hrs OW) – at the current exchange rate of 1:0.7, do it!  Stop at the Tulalip casino on the way or the best Premium Shopping Outlets (1.5 hrs OW)
• Oktoberfest in Leavenworth  Keep your expectations low.
• If you like to gamble, we do have a lot of Indian casinos around.  If you like gambling and LOBSTER, go to EQC on Wednesday or Sunday.  If you love gambling and KING CRAB, go to Snoqualmie casino.  You’ll see a lot of smaller casinos in town; I’ve only been in a couple of those.  I wouldn’t really recommend them unless you have a gambling problem.

Restaurants

Canlis – Arguably the most high end restaurant in town.  Here is my review when I went.

Din Tai Fung – You’ll need a car until the one in downtown opens.  Ignore the people who say Vancouver xiao long bao is better.  It’s not.  While the skin is thicker and it has more meat, I like the finesse of the DTF xlb.  By the way, the Seattle chain tastes just like the ones in Taipei and Shanghai.  If you did a blind taste test, unless you’re an 80 year old Asian man who has refined his palette, you won’t be able to tell the difference.  Hello placebo effect.

Tamarind Tree – BEST VIETNAMESE IN TOWN.  My buddy’s Korean realtor brought me here for the first time.  The place looked too fancy at first (usually the more hole-in-the-wall, the better the food is.)  I wasn’t blown away with my first experience.  However, over the years, I keep on going back.  Food is reasonably priced, the decor is nice, and the food is actually good.  Another solid option – Green Leaf.

Shiro’s Sushi – BEST SUSHI (or one of.)  One of Jiro’s apprentices worked here for a while.  I think he’s moved on to a new restaurant already.  However, Shiro’s is still popular.  Line up 30 minutes before opening to get the omakase at the bar.  No reservations for the sushi bar omakase.  Another solid option – Maneki.  Update – here is his new restaurant – Sushi Kashiba (I had the omakase there and thought it was pretty good albeit pricey.)

List – One of my favorite spots in town, but only go on all-day happy hour Sundays and Mondays.  Everything on the happy hour menu is half off and delicious and did I mention the $15 full bottles of wine?  There are only 10 or so tables, and I don’t think they take reservations.  Expect to wait 30-60 minutes at peak times.

Santouka Bellevue – BEST RAMEN.  I realize it’s a chain, but it is the best in town.

Elliott’s Oyster House – It may not be the best oysters or seafood, but it’s in a prime location and the food is solid, albeit a bit pricey.  This is more of a lunch place than say a dinner place.  Btw, if you’ve never tried a Kumamoto oyster, try it here.  My favorite oyster due to its sweetness.  Other noteables – Salty’s (great view), Waterfront Seafood (fancy seafood.)

Okay, I know there are many more restaurants (especially the newer hipster restaurants,) so feel free to Google if you didn’t like my selections.