Seattle.. best time to visit?

[KristinCB]

Husband and I are starting to plan for a trip.. its our 10th anniversary this summer and we never really had a real honeymoon or anything so we are thinking about doing a road trip to seattle..

What is the best time to visit weather wise?? We are thinking maybe late august but thats all up in the air atm...

Is seattle a nice place for just sorta a relaxing/browsing trip?

[Misty Cato]

I love this area, but I'm probably biased :) Late August, even September are nice, but it's really a roll of the dice on weather.

There's definitely plenty to see and do. For relaxing/browsing I'd say Pike's Place/waterfront area is great and head over to Westlake if you want to do some more traditional shopping. Of course if 'relaxing' to you is a good hike or bike ride, there's plenty of that too, but you'd want to get away from the city center a bit.

[xboxmom]

LOVE SEATTLE!!! :D

There is really a ton of stuff to do and see here its a wonderful place. I have an entire list! Some of the things we have done, some we haven't. After the 4th of July you are pretty much golden til Oct. weather wise a few scattered showeres from time to time but for the most part summer is the most beautiful time here in the Northwest! :D

Here is the Ever expanding list!

Downtown Seattle:

Theo Epstein’s Chocolate Factory Tour: loads of free wonderful chocolate samples and an awesome tour!

Gas Works Park

Seattle Public Library

Seattle Underground Tour: Super Fun loved the stories of the early seattle.

Smith tower: Amazing Views!

Olympic Sculpture Park: fun walking art exhibit outside (across the street is a nice place for lunch at the spaghetti factory.

Seattle Aquarium

Pike Place Market: beautiful fresh flowers for uber cheap!

The Space needle: a bit pricey to go up but worth it at least once in a lifetime

Sporting Events:
Mariners, Sounds and Seahawks

EMP and Pacific Science Center

Sci-Fi Museum

Woodland Park Zoo

West Seattle Ferry

Ballard Locks fun to see better during Salmon Spawning season

Museum of Flight

Harbor Cruises

Ride the Ducks

Fremont has an awesome Troll under the bridge that is a fun must see

Green Lake Park they also have a fun Community theatre in the old Bathhouse that we have season passes too which is really fun

Easter Washington:

Deception falls! OMG so beautiful!
Lake Wenatche: fun to go and rent a paddle boat and play in the lake
Leavenworth: Fun German Village, great wine shops and Cheese shope!
Snoqualmie Falls: Again OMG beautiful and if you go make sure you stop in for a Fancy dinner at Salish lodge and ask for a window table!
Serpent Land: Fun little Zoo in Monroe that is nothing but reptiles they have the BEST BBQ ummmm Bus outside their little place too.

South of Seattle:

Mount St. Helens a must see on a NON rainny foggy day.

Sept is fun to head to Puyallup for the Fair

North of Seattle:

Tulalip Casino and Outlet Mall
In March/April they have the tulip festival in Mt. Vernon! SO beautiful!

Whidbey Island:

Deception Pass: so fun to walk out on the bridge and look down at the water

Fort Casey

Fort Ebey

Double Bluff Beach: My kids adore this beach one of the few “sand” beaches here in Washington and tons of fun sea shells too!

Ferry ride

Canada:

Vancouver
Queen Elizabeth Park
Capilano Suspension Bridge!!!! A MUST SEE!
Grouse Mountain also a very fun must see
Victoria
Butchart Gardens
Parliament


Things we still haven’t done yet:

Mt. Rainer, Washington Park Arboretum, Bank of America Tower, discovery park, San Jauns, Orcas Island

[xboxmom]

Not the best scrap one of my earlier ones but this is the views from Smith Tower

http://punkhim.smugmug.com/photos/348531348_EhVRD-L.jpg

Gas works park with grandma and Grandpa

http://punkhim.smugmug.com/photos/371362203_QMFKd-XL.jpg

Tulip Festival

http://punkhim.smugmug.com/photos/318671026_AM49b-L.jpg

[pewtertm]

LOVE SEATTLE!!! :D
Mt. Rainer, Washington Park Arboretum, Bank of America Tower, discovery park, San Jauns, Orcas Island


Mt. Rainier and the San Juans are a must IMO!!!

If you can hop on the ferry, I'd definitely stop at San Juan Island, spend some time in Friday Harbor, and then take the bus up to Lime Kiln State Park. We spent two hours watching pods of orcas playing...fantastic experience! There's also a beautiful lavender farm there (hmmm...could make great kit inspiration!)

[deepounds]

Oh, Seattle's an excellent choice, Kristin! As you can see, it's absolutely gorgeous there & there's definitely no shortage of fun things to do & places to visit. I think you all would have a wonderful time there . . . in fact, this is making me want to visit again myself!!

[scrapperjade]

We traveled through Washington state on our way to Oregon last summer and didn't stop in Seattle (unfortunately), but we did spend a day in Leavenworth. It was amazing!!! It's such a quaint little town (feels like you stepped into Europe), and there were lots of gift shops and fun things to look at! If you are going to be near there, I recommend stopping in for even just part of a day if you have time!

[nun69]

please stop buy and visit me on your way :) I am 10 mins off the I-5 freeway...and I am another for it being a great place to see! I lived on Whidbey Island for 7 years and the Deception Pass bridge is a very cool site! And I really enjoy the Woodland Park Zoo :) I agree with the weather being hit or miss but I think anytime between July-mid-Sept you are good ~

[dgreenshield]

I also recommend hiring mopeds to cruise on Friday Harbor, ride over to the park to view the whales and orcas. Market ghost tours.

They are refurbishing the market right now, it should be done by the end of April.

[pewtertm]

If you are planning a trip to the Seattle REGION...then I'd definitely recommend a trip to the Olympic Peninsula (http://www.olympicpeninsula.org/). Olympic National Park is gorgeous...you've got the Olympic Range, the coasts, and the Hoh rain forest (the best part IMO). If you're into Twilight (which I am not), then you can visit Forks (thankfully I went BEFORE the Twilight craze LOL).

[nun69]

I forgot about the Fork tous! I TOTALLY want to do that with my DD :)

[xboxmom]

Yep for got to put on the olympic national forest we did that too! Stayed at Lake Crescent! Beautiful lake!

https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/data/500/medium/lakecrescent-copy.jpg

https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/data/500/lakecrescent-copy1.jpg

[NettieB]

Summer doesn't start here until after July 4th. Seriously. ;)

If you want to avoid the crowds, Sept., after the kidlets are in school, when the weather is still in the 60-70'-80's is good. Aug-Sept I think are the best summer months.

If you are a leaf peeper, early Oct might be good this year.

[WalkersMommy]

I agree that Aug-Sept are probably the best for weather! SO much to do in Seattle like everyone has mentioned, I'm sure you would love it! :thumbup:

[kristijoy]

I grew up in Seattle! DH and I were married on July 23rd. It always seemed that the 3rd weekend in July was the hottest of the summer! I would DEFINATELY wait until late July or August. I can remember many a drizzly 4th of July! There's TONS to do in Seattle. If you like busy there are lots of things to visit. If you want to just 'hang' take a ferry boat ride across the sound just to enjoy the view! It's not really a 'sit on the beach' kind of place.

Oh...and definately do NOT go in June. June is NOT usually nice and most people are a bit crabby about it!

[Misty Cato]

Oh...and definately do NOT go in June. June is NOT usually nice and most people are a bit crabby about it!

Hahahaha, you know us so well.

[4noisyboys]

I love everything about Seattle! I miss living there and I know my dh and I (probably the kids too) would love to move back. Don't get me wrong...I love living in California...I was born and raised here, but I miss it so much up there.

I remember we moved there in early October (1987). They were having an indian summer...I had been living in Alaska for 7 years prior to moving there. OMGosh. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was cold at night, sunny and warm in the daytime, but still long sleeve weather. Here in SoCal in October, it's still about 110 in the days. YUCK!!!

I agree though...summer months are best. That's the time I'd be telling you to avoid coming to Southern California!! Come here in the winter!

[kristijoy]

Hahahaha, you know us so well. I live in Portland now...not too much different! :p