I'm going to be in Seattle and then Vancouver shortly after in a couple of month's time, and was just wondering if anyone else had been. I'll only be in each city for a couple of days at the most, so I was wondering what places I should definitely try and visit while I'm there. I know there's the Space Needle in Seattle, but that's about it. Is there anywhere else people would recommend going? Are they relatively safe places to visit or are there any areas I should avoid? Also, does anyone know of any decent, preferably cheap hotels in either city? I won't be there very much at all so a low price and good location is preferable to comfort. Thanks.
I passed through Vancouver a few years ago, on my way to Vancouver Island. As you're only there for a couple of days you're unlikely to get the chance, but the scenery on Vancouver Island is phenomenal and well worth a visit if you can get across to it...
Been to Vancouver often as my in laws live there. Try take a drive from Vancouver to Whistler and the scenery is simply unbelievable. Put one foot on Robson in town there it's amazing all traffic stops unreal. If I could get a job there I would be there tomorrow. The scary thing is loads of people there never lock there cars up there. Try that in London oops even with the cars locked up. One very beautiful city
I've been to Seattle and Vancouver a large number of times but I never really found anything in Seattle to be all that interesting. Maybe you could catch a Seattle Mariners baseball game I guess. Vancouver on the other hand is really amazing. There is Stanley Park which is a giant park in the middle of the harbor. You can rent bicycles and ride around it. There is a zoo and an aquarium in the park. They have some really interesting museums, like Science World. They have a Shakespearean festival on the beach. The downtown is fun as most down towns are. You can take a gondola ride up Grouse Mountain at the end of North Vancouver as well. You may be able to visit some of the olympic sites. If you do get to go to Victoria as well that would also be well worth the time.
Both are amazing places, In Seattle i loved Pike Place Market. and getting the bizarre mono-rail into the Museum of Science Fiction (a must see for anyone who loves movie props + tin robots, costumes and art and history of everything sci fi) The museum is right next to the space needle too. In Vancouver? Stanly park, for sure. Its ace. great place to walk, rent bikes or roller blade around. i think there are some totem pole replicas there too. Granville island / market. got some good food there If your into art, the Vancouver Arts center, at the time they had a pretty big comics / games art exhibition on. In both cities i walked around ALOT, and imo, it was the best way. I saw so much, places off the beaten track, lost or walking the long way round. you'll find your own cool places, just keep your eyes open and feet moving.
You've already mention the Space Needle, it's pretty neat, but don't expect to spend a lot of time on it. There's a restaurant up top that you might consider getting reservations to. It makes the experience far better because the top of the Needle is actually slowly turning and over the course of a good meal you can notice it. Other than it's a short trip up and a short trip down. Around it is the Experience Music Project. You'll almost certainly see it next to the Needle. It's a big, colorful and oddly shaped building thing. All sorts of stuff all about music. Various displays and famous instruments, along with some interactive musical things. Good way to spend a few hours. How to get there? Monorail. Check some maps on where the terminals are and give it a ride or two. It's a pretty unique experience. If my memory serves there should be a terminal reasonably close to: Pike Place Market. Awesome place full of various unique shops and people throwing fish! Yes, there is a fish market and they throw the food around, it's a lot of fun to watch. But if you just walk around you'll be amazed by all the different things you can find. And there's a giant bronze piggy bank you can drop some of your crazy British currency in! If you're an animal lover (like myself, could you guess by the name?) then you can check out Woodland Park Zoo. It's pretty much just a zoo, but then again all zoos are pretty amazing in my book. Your call. See also: aquarium on the waterfront. Following that, walk the boardwalk! There's all sorts of random things along there, and some very clever beggars too. I found one offering the chance to kick him in the balls for just 50 cents! While you're down there you can maybe hitch a ferry ride somewhere if that interests you. Some people think the ferries are really something neat, but be warned: unless you're really amazed by them they're just boats. Never been myself, but Gasworks Park is supposed to be interesting. It's a park set up at an old refinery with a lot of the equipment sitting around still. And it's along a lake so there might be other things to do out there, I'm sure they do boat tours and maybe you could rent your own boat if you like. Not too sure. Lastly, any reason for these locations? I'd almost say go to Victoria over Vancouver if you're just going for fun.
Thanks for all the posts so far, they've all been really helpful Yeah, I'm catching a cruise up to Alaska (specifically Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan) which sails from Seattle and ends in Vancouver (I get it free, one of the benefits of having family who work on there). Alaska is somewhere I've always wanted to visit, but I thought as I was there I might as well take a look around both of these places.
