My Seattle City Guide

I love Seattle. It's probably one of my favorite US cities. KB and I have been once before, but when friends wanted to pop back up and explore over MLK weekend we were ready to go again.

Now that I've been to Seattle twice, I feel like I've got a good hand at the things I personally love to do...even more than once!

So whether you're planning a trip or maybe you're standing in the center of Pike Place right now - here is my mini Seattle city guide for ya.

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seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide

Where to stay.

I'll be honest - I've never stayed in a hotel in Seattle. On both of my two trips, we've chosen to stay in Airbnbs.

I'd definitely love to try out some local hotels, but the Airbnb options are plenty and there are some in great locations!

On our first trip, we snagged an apartment in Belltown. When you look up info on Belltown, you'll see words like "trendy," "hip," and "night life." I want to really emphasize the night life portion. Our Airbnb was inconveniently across the street from a rowdy bar. I was not a fan. Pros and cons though, am I right? Our apartment may have been loud at night, but there were plenty of spots to grab a drink and it was walking distance from downtown Seattle.

On this last trip, we stayed in an Airbnb in the Queen Anne area. The house we were in was amazing. Major props to our friends who did the research and booked! The neighborhood in general has a great low key suburban feel and there are little coffee and donut shops around almost every corner. The location wasn't walking distance from downtown, but honestly that didn't really hinder us at all. Every major attraction was about a 10 minute Lyft ride away.

seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide

What to do.

Explore Pike Place

It's no doubt that every single Seattle city guide tells you to pay a visit to Pike Place - that's because it rocks! Pike Place is on every list for a reason. Not only are there loads of stands to buy flowers, jewelry, and other homemade trinkets - but there's also a shit ton of amazing food.

I've got my favorite Pike Place food spot listed in the food section later in this post, but trust me, you'll want to save room to eat at Pike Place.

KB and I loved walking through the stands filled with both fish and flowers (no worries, the smells don't overlap). We also found an awesome stand that sells jerky. It was SO TASTY. 

I also bought a delicate little silver stacking ring at one of the stands! Such a fun area to do a little local shopping.

 

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seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide
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seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide

Check out Chihuly

Chihuly Garden and Glass is my favorite place in all of Seattle. It just is. And I'm not even a museum person!

Seriously, usually I'm falling asleep at anything that even slightly resembles a museum.

Chihuly is different. Chihuly is basically a walk-through art exhibit featuring some amazing works by Dale Chihuly. His primary art form is amazing, stunning blown glass. It's unreal. The photos really do speak for themselves, so keep scrolling to see some pieces from the exhibit.

There's an indoor portion as well as an outdoor garden area. Even though KB and I had been here during our first trip, we were so excited to come back. This exhibit never gets old!

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seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide
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seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide

Pose with the Fremont Troll

The Fremont Troll is another favorite Seattle spot of mine. I absolutely love posing with this troll. Don't ask me why. I don't have a reason. It just looks cool. Lolz.

The Fremont Troll actually has a really cool history. The spot under the Aurora Bridge had become a dumping ground filled with trash and known for drug deals - the creation of the Troll has since turned the spot into an artistic monument and popular tourist destination.

You can pop by to pose in front of the troll, but my recommendation is to crawl right on up. Come with your camera ready.

seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide

Chill at the Starbucks Roastery.

The Starbucks Roastery was a new stop for us on this trip! I was totally blown away by how cool the experience was. Not only were we able to order coffee flights as if we were in a brewery, but there was food and coffee trinkets galore.

The food was actually bananas, though. We were pretty full from all our other meals (food section is just down below!), but we were peeping HARD at everyone else's plates. Big beautiful salads, bowls of mac and cheese - I was lusting.

I'm glad we packed carry-on because it helped restrain me from purchasing everything in the store section. I've never seen so many amazing mugs, french presses, and espresso glasses. I did pick up some exclusive Reserve espresso beans for my dad, though!

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seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide

Where to eat.

Piroshky Piroshky

MY FAVORITE PLACE TO STUFF MY PIE HOLE IN ALL OF SEATTLE.

Can you tell I'm a Piroshky Piroshky fan? Seriously. Don't let the line intimidate you - there will be a line - it's worth it. Trust me.

Piroshky Piroshky has an amazing selection of delicious sweet and savory pastries. My personal fave include the potato and onion, beef, anything with cheese in it - ugh I'm drooling just thinking about it.

I love Piroshky Piroshky.

For two people, I recommend ordering one sweet and one savory. These bad boys are pretty big and filling, so try not to let your eyes be bigger than your stomach.

...or just say fuck it and order one of everything. Not going to lie we've definitely ordered like five of them just for ourselves before so no judgement over here.

Piroshky Piroshky is located at Pike Place Market, so you can make this a pit stop as you're exploring the area!

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seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide

Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar

We walked to a Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar after exploring Pike Place. The walk took about 20 minutes. On a non-rainy day, the walk was easy!

If you like seafood, this is the spot for you. Taylor Shellfish has plenty of oyster varieties to indulge in, but also has a good selection of other seafood and even soups. I'm pretty picky with oysters (I only like super small ones), so while my friends dug into a giant platter I ordered myself a seafood stew. The stew was packed with clams, mussels, and veggies in a tomato broth - it was delicious!

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seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide

Rockcreek

On group trips, we like to have a larger "fancier" group dinner on one of the nights. One of our friends made a reservation for the group at Rockcreek.

Rockcreek definitely does have an elevated vibe, but it's not pretentious. The staff was incredibly friendly and warm, the food looked amazing and tasted even better. The bulk of the menu is seafood. I ordered cod and it was so light and tasty. I'm totally going to try to make cod at home now!

Rockcreek is definitely worth a visit - and I thought worth the money - but do come prepared to spend a little extra cash.

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seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide
seattle-city-guide

We had the BEST time in Seattle and honestly, even after two trips now, I still can't wait to go back again.

Have Seattle recommendations to share? Drop them in the comments below!