Seattle is the largest city in Washington State and Northwestern United States. It is located about 150 km from the border between Canada and the US. At first, it was for me the starting point of two road trips : one through the national parks of the states of Washington and Oregon , and the other to discover Glacier National Park in Montana.

However, I obviously could not leave without  visiting  Seattle. So I spent two days walking around in sunny weather despite the city’s nickname, rainy city . If you also want to go there, I suggest you accompany you in the organization of your stay .

We are going to see how to explore Seattle in two days in a pleasant way, without rushing and without blowing your budget , but still discovering what makes this city interesting! We will also see when is the best time to spend time in Seattle and I will give you various advice, particularly in terms of accommodation.

1. How to get to Seattle?

If you are arriving by plane, you will land at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport . To get to the city center, you have several options:

Take a taxi, Uber or Lyft;

Take the 1-Line train from SeaTac/Airport to the University St Station stop (approximately 1 hour journey) for 3 euros, cheaper than the first option. The purchase of the ticket is made at the machine of the station (payment in cash or credit card). It is also possible to buy a day pass but I don’t think that’s necessary.

✎ When I visit a city, I use Google Maps to find out the best way to get from point A to point B. However, in Seattle you can also use this trip planner for your train trips, especially from the airport to the city center.

2. What to do in Seattle? First day

Assuming you arrive in Seattle in the morning, so you have about a full day to explore the city. For this first day, I don’t plan a lot of activities so that you don’t feel rushed and that this first day doesn’t end for you (especially if you got up early in the morning to take your flight).

On the map below, you can see the walking route that goes through the places I myself visited on my first day in Seattle named from A to F.

3. Start with a Free Walking Tour

A free walking tour is a tour allowing you to discover a city through historical explanations and anecdotes told by a guide. Initially you pay nothing; it is when the tour is coming to an end that you are free to tip if you are happy with it.

For this first experience, I chose Seattle 101 . I joined my guide and other travelers at Victor Steinbrueck Park and it was off for 2 hours of strolling through the streets of Seattle. In two hours, you have time to learn a lot about the history of the city, but I found it a little too long – probably because it took place between noon and 2 p.m. I was very hungry…  (plan a little snack just in case).

The guide was however fascinating and knew how to do it to make the tour even more fun with in particularincredible anecdotes . So I loved this experience and I recommend it. However, I would say that this is a first approach to the city but that you will no doubt want to retrace your steps later to discover certain sites in more detail.

Duration : 2 hours.

at the time of writing the article, the tours start at 11:00 a.m. and end at 1:00 p.m.

Free reservation on the Seattle 101 website .

4. See the Gum Wall with your own eyes

Not far from the Pike Place Market is the Gum Wall, a portion of wall covered in used chewing gum . Its origins date back to 1993 when people lined up to see a show at the Market Theater; to pass the time, they found nothing better to do than stick their chewing gum on the wall.  Since then, the chewing gum has been completely removed twice. Each time, it only took a few months for the wall to be covered again in chewing gum by tourists.

I think it’s quite special, let’s even say very disgusting but photogenic! In fact, it’s atypical so why not take a look… I nevertheless did not wish to participate in the development of this work (lol) but many tourists come to stick their own chewing gum on the bricks of this Seattle alley.