Recommended Tours in Seattle and Surroundings

♦ Routes (free): Detailed travel itineraries in USA

Seattle is a vibrant city full of attractions, a selection of recommended museums, parks, a zoo, an aquarium, and it is also a paradise for shopping enthusiasts with shopping centers, giant department stores, a factory outlet center, and wonderful markets. The city serves as a departure port for Alaskan cruises and a starting point for trips to the surrounding national parks such as: Olympic National Park and Mount Rainier National Park.

In this city, there is a wide variety of recommended guided tours for getting to know the city and its surroundings by foot, bicycle, Segway, and vehicle, as well as for more specific purposes like food tours, wine or beer tastings, culture, history, and more, as well as guided tours in the surrounding national parks.

Ordering Recommended Tours in Seattle

Recommended tours to book from GetYourGuide.com:

 

Discount card for attractions in the city of Seattle:

CityPASS Seattle

 

 

Food Tours in Seattle:

For those who love to know where good restaurants can be found and even taste samples before deciding where to eat, joining a food tour is recommended.

♦ Chef-Guided Food Tour in Seattle: Chef Guided Food Tour of Pike Place Market - 2 Hours from Viator.

Below are impressions from a gourmet food tour that includes visits to eight different types of restaurants with tastings of selected samples from each. Along the way, the guide also recommended other recommended restaurants that are not entered. In addition, at each restaurant, you receive explanations about the restaurant and its food from a representative of the restaurant. The guide provides each participant with a wireless device with an earpiece, so he can explain to everyone without needing to raise his voice, and he can be heard well even while walking on a busy street.

The tour begins at a bakery specializing in delicious cupcakes with special flavors, whipped cream, and sprinkles, whose target audience is not only children but also adults. The name of the place is Yellow Leaf CupCake Co., located on 4th Avenue between Bell and Blanchard streets.

The second stop is a pizzeria specializing in truly special pizzas with great flavor, highly recommended. The restaurant's name is Serious Pie, located on Virginia Street between 3rd and 4th Avenue.

The next establishment is a kind of bar/restaurant serving a selection of wines and a fondue of special dips. We tasted fried breaded mushrooms and a type of grilled cheese toast with two types of delicious dips, along with a glass of wine. The name of the place is RN74, and it is located at the corner of Pike Street and 4th Avenue.

 

At the restaurant La Buona Tavola, they offer tastings of special spreads and olive oil with a unique aroma. It is located across from the market on Pike Place.

At the Il Bistro restaurant located near the market, they served rice cooked with a little wine and tomatoes, very tasty, accompanied by a glass of red wine.

The next visit was to a brewery which includes a large and bustling bar where the beer production tank is located right in the middle of the bar! Detailed explanations are given on the beer production process during a tour of the factory, followed by a tasting of two types of beer accompanied by a small bun with two types of hard cheeses. The place is called Pike Brewing Company, located on 1st Avenue between Pike and Union streets.

At a Vietnamese restaurant called Thoa's, they served a tasty noodle dish with some vegetables. It is located on Union Street between 1st Avenue and Post Alley.

 

And for dessert, we visit an Italian ice cream parlor, Gelatiamo, where we receive two wonderful scoops of ice cream in two flavors. It is located at the corner of Union Street and 1st Avenue.

Seattle Bicycle Tour

Guided electric bicycle tour of Seattle and its surroundings:

 3-Hour Electric Bike Tour of Seattle's Waterways, Nature and Neighborhoods

For those interested in a standard bicycle tour:

 A bicycle tour with the company Seattle By Bike, which offers visitors to the city a guided introduction to the city through a variety of bicycle tours.

Amazon's main office buildings in Seattle:

Most of the routes offered by the company are adapted for cyclists - about 70% to 90% of the routes pass through dedicated bicycle paths. The company offers three types of tours by difficulty level - easy, intermediate, and challenging, which last 3, 3.5, and 4.5 hours respectively. I chose the intermediate level tour which passed through the city's famous attractions: Seattle University, Downtown Seattle, the famous Seattle Center such as the Space Needle tower, and the Amazon office complex.

 

 

 And near the array of museums (including the impressive Chihuly museum) and its famous fountain, in the Seattle artist district which has become a high-tech area with Google offices, near Lake Union and its yacht marina, and more. According to our request, the tour also included a visit to the famous Seattle market, PIKE PLACE MARKET.

 

 

From there, along the beautiful promenade by the sea to the port. There we said goodbye to the knowledgeable guide and returned to the cruise ship. The guide was very courteous, explained the destinations we passed, and to my great delight showed extraordinary flexibility in adapting the route to our requests.

 

Underground Tour in Seattle

This is a roughly one-hour tour through a labyrinth of basements in downtown Seattle that were once at ground level. After the city burned down and was rebuilt at a higher level, these basements were abandoned and are now used for guided tours where you are exposed to the lifestyle and hardships of the city's founders.

To book the tour from Viator: Beneath The Streets Underground History Tour.

A short video showing sights from the tour:

 

Boeing Factory Tour

An interesting and recommended tour near Seattle is the tour of the Boeing aircraft production factory. The site is located 25 miles north of Seattle in Mukilteo. It is highly recommended to book in advance!

To book a guided tour from Seattle to the Boeing factory from Viator:

♦ Boeing Factory Tour from Seattle (lasts 4.5 hours and includes pickup from central Seattle hotels):

Boeing Factory and Future of Flight Aviation Center Tour from Seattle

 

The visit starts with a short 6-minute film followed by the guided tour. Bringing bags, cameras, and mobile phones on the tour is prohibited. They must be left in the car or at the site's entrance where small lockers are available for a dollar. Before the tour, it is recommended to arrive with a camera and spend at least half an hour on a self-guided tour of the on-site exhibition and also to photograph the planes outside from the upper floor's outdoor balcony. Before the tour begins, the camera must be left in the locker or car.

A bus leads visitors to the giant building where the planes are manufactured. This is the building with the largest volume in the world. A guide accompanies the group and provides constant explanations. From a high floor inside the production halls, the assembly process of the various planes can be seen. A very impressive and recommended tour.

 

Nature Tours in the Seattle Area

For nature lovers, Seattle serves as an excellent starting point for visiting diverse nature parks such as: Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens and North Cascades. They are all located within a 2-3 hour drive of the city.

 

♦ Guided tours outside Seattle - for purchase from Viator:

 

Mount Rainier Volcano:

Olympic National Park:

Olympic National Park:

Mount St. Helens Volcano:

 

 

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