10 things to do in Seattle Washington without a car (before a cruise, or after!) free + downtown walking + tours + more!

Hi there!

There are a bunch of budget-friendly things to do in Seattle!

Aside from some downtown walking that you can do, the best way to travel around Seattle is by public transportation with an ORCA card!

The ORCA card is a public transportation card, and it makes it so all you need to do is tap to pay.

The easiest place to get this when you’re flying into Seattle is at the airport. (It’s also easy to get from the airport to downtown by train.)

Depending on how much you plan to take the bus in one day, it may even be worth it to load up a regional pass on the card. (I did this.)

Now, here are things you need to know about in Seattle!

 

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You can make it a Seattle Victoria Vancouver type of trip! I’ve taken a ferry between Seattle and Victoria, and a ferry between Victoria and Vancouver! Also take a look at things to do in Victoria and things to do in Vancouver.

 

Okay, now… here’s how to spend your time in Seattle without a car!

 

 

1. Space Needle

The Space Needle is the most recognizable landmark of Seattle.

There are many places around Seattle that you can get a view of the Space Needle, but of course the best view is from the water. 😁

If you’re on a cruise ship from Seattle, then you’ll see it as you’re sailing away! So be sure to be out on the open deck at sailaway!

You can also see the Space Needle from the water by doing a harbor cruise in Seattle or a sunset cruise.

You’ll also see it if you take the Washington state ferry or water taxi.

 

👆 On this day, I took a water taxi from downtown Seattle to West Seattle and saw the Space Needle and Seattle skyline. I’ll talk a little bit more about going to West Seattle below!

 

And then, you can also go up the Space Needle too.

You can go to the Space Needle on your own, or there are also Seattle city tours that include a Space Needle admission ticket.

 

👆 You can do a hop-on hop-off bus to visit the Space Needle, or just pass by it. See more Space Needle tours.

 

 

 

2. Discovery Park

It’s easy to spend a couple of hours at Discovery Park. You can hike through the forest, walk the bluffs, walk along the beach, and see the lighthouse!

I started my time at Discovery Park at the visitor center.

And then from there, I took the trailhead near the parking lot to start the loop trail, and then continued the trail to the South Bluff and South Beach.

Then walking further towards the West Point Lighthouse, this turns into North Beach. I walked further up and eventually got to the north parking lot, which is where I ended my time in Discovery Park. (Afterward I walked to the fish ladder, next!)

 

👆 There are signs that you can follow to go where you want to go in Discovery Park!

 

👆 You can walk the loop trail in Discovery Park.

 

👆 I walked to the South Bluff from the visitor center.

 

👆 I followed the South Beach trail.

 

👆 You might see some colorful rocks on the beach!

 

👆 You can see the West Point Lighthouse from the beach.

 

👆 You will be going DOWN to the beach, so there are stairs on the hiking trail if you want to go to the beach!

 

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👆 You can follow the North Beach trail to go directly to North Beach, or from South Beach you can end up here.

 

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👆 A trail overlooking North Beach.

 

 

3. Ballard Locks fish ladder

It’s fun to watch the salmon swimming at the Ballard Locks fisher ladder!

You can also watch boats go through the locks.

 

👆 There’s a designated spot that you can watch the fish swimming underwater.

 

👆 You can watch boats at the Ballard locks.

 

👆 It’s a national historic civil engineering landmark in Seattle.

 

👆 After you have finished up at the Ballard Locks, you can go and eat at the nearby Lockspot Cafe. (reviews)

 

👆 I got salmon at the Lockspot Cafe.
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You can go by bus to the Ballard Locks from downtown Seattle. It’s a 25 minute direct bus ride. (map)

I walked from Discovery Park to the Ballard Locks. It was a 20 minute walk from the north side. (map)

 

If your Alaska cruise is mid-summer to early fall, you may be able to see salmon swimming in Alaska through easy walking in Ketchikan and easy walking in Skagway! There is a different kind of observation of a fish ladder in Ketchikan, and it’s fun to watch the salmon “jump up the ladder”!

 

 

4. Seattle Japanese garden

For a nice nature walk in Seattle, you can walk the Washington Park Arboretum (for free) and the Seattle Japanese Garden (for a small fee).

I walked through the Washington Park Arboretum to get to the Japanese Garden.

From reading the reviews, it seems like there were a number of people that were caught off guard by the closing time, with last entry being 45 minutes before closing time.

You can get to the Seattle Japanese garden by bus. It’s a direct 25 minute bus ride from downtown Seattle the Japanese garden. (map)

 

👆 It’s a nice stroll through the Japanese garden in Seattle!

 

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5. Northwest trolls (Seattle trolls)

One of my big goals for Seattle was to see the Seattle trolls! And I succeeded in seeing 3 of them! 😁

They are called the Northwest Trolls because they are a part of a project with trolls in Washington and Oregon… but most of them are in the Seattle area. There is one troll in Portland, and the rest are around Seattle. There are 5 trolls in Seattle.

The Seattle trolls are in Ballard, West Seattle, Issaquah, Bainbridge Island, and Vashon.

If you are planning to go to the Ballard Locks, then the easiest troll to see is the troll outside the National Nordic Museum. It’s about a 10 minute walk to the troll from the locks. (map) You don’t need to enter the museum to see the troll, so it’s free to see.

 

👆 You can go to the National Nordic Museum to see one of the Seattle trolls!

 

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Another troll I went to see was in Lincoln Park in West Seattle.

You can take a direct 30 minute bus ride to Lincoln Park from downtown Seattle. (map) There’s no entry fee for this park so this is free too. Lincoln Park is a nice park to go to for a coastal walk.

I took a water taxi from downtown Seattle to West Seattle, walked the Alki Trail (next!) and beyond, and then got a bus to Lincoln Park.

 

👆 You can go to Lincoln Park in West Seattle to see one of the Northwest trolls!

 

👆 Lincoln Park has an easy coastal walking trail.

 

👆 You can see driftwood at the Lincoln Park beach.

 

👆 You might see some colorful rocks on the beach.

 

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👆 You might see whales in Seattle.

 

👆 You might see harbor seals in Seattle on the beach.

 

I also saw the troll in Issaquah. This is a little bit further away, but it’s easy to get to by bus from downtown Seattle. Once off the bus, it’s like a 5 minute walk on the Rainier Trail to see the troll.

When I got to Issaquah, I actually saw a bus that said Snoqualmie on it, and I was like… is there a bus that goes to Snoqualmie Falls from here?!?! Yes, yes there is. So after I saw the troll, I took a bus to Snoqualmie Falls. This is one of the well-known waterfalls in the Seattle area.

The bus timings from downtown Seattle and Snoqualmie (and the other way) aren’t very frequent, so you’ll need some time and patience if you want to take the bus to see the waterfalls. It felt like it took forever to get back. I waited awhile for the bus, and it was a long bus ride too. (And I had to transfer.)

There are also Snoqualmie Falls tours that will save you time.

 

👆 I spotted a troll in Issaquah! 😁

 

👆 This is the Snoqualmie Falls upper viewpoint that is easy to see. You can get to Snoqualmie Falls from Seattle on your own without a car, but it does take time!

 

👆 You can also take the Lower Trail to get a riverside view of Snoqualmie Falls. If you’re going by bus, I definitely recommend this so you will feel like it’s more worth it for all the time you are spending to get there and back!

 

👆 The riverside lower viewpoint is from a boardwalk.

 

👆 A view of the waterfalls next to the river!

 

 

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6. Alki Trail (Seattle water taxi)

If you’re staying in downtown Seattle and want an easy way to see the Seattle skyline from the water, you can take a water taxi to West Seattle!

And as soon as you get off the water taxi in West Seattle, you can start walking the Alki Trail which is a coastal walking trail. You can bike it too. I did see bike sharing bikes after getting off the boat.

Walking from the West Seattle water taxi station, Alki Trail will lead you to Alki Beach. It may be around a 45 minute walk one way to get to Alki Beach.

 

👆 You can take a water taxi from downtown Seattle to West Seattle.

 

👆 There is a great scenic coastal walking trail in West Seattle that you can reach by water taxi from downtown Seattle!

 

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👆 There are signs in West Seattle that say you might see harbor seals at Alki Beach.

 

👆 You might see some colorful rocks on the beach in West Seattle at Alki Beach.
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There are lots of restaurants along Alki Beach, so you can also make it an excuse to go eat classic Seattle food. Restaurants I was looking at were Duke’s Seafood (it’s known for sourdough bread bowl among other seafood things), Alki Spud Fish and Chips (it’s known for… fish and chips 🤪), and Sunfish (also known for fish and chips). Fish and chips in Seattle is a thing.

 

 

In 2024, it’s $5.75 for a one-way water taxi ticket to West Seattle, and $5 if you use your ORCA card. See current fees.

See the water taxi schedule to get between downtown Seattle and West Seattle by boat.

 

 

7. Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square is Seattle’s “original neighborhood” and one of the most popular ways to learn about it is by doing a beneath the streets underground tour.

One of the reasons I wanted to go to Pioneer Square was to see totem poles! (The other reason was to go to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, next. I walked through Pioneer Square to get there from downtown.)

 

👆 You can see a totem pole in downtown Seattle by walking to Pioneer Square.
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Walking in downtown Seattle

Walking from Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle to Pioneer Square is a 10-15 minute walk. (map)

You can also do a historic walking tour in Pioneer Square.

 

 

For totem poles during your Alaska cruise, you can see them through easy walking in Ketchikan and easy walking in Sitka! You can also see totem poles in Victoria BC!

 

 

8. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

If your Alaska cruise is taking you to Skagway, you must learn about the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park!

Skagway is considered a gateway to the Yukon where “stampeders” went as part of their journey in search of gold.

Some people also started there journey to search for gold in Seattle.

And there are Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park visitor centers in both Seattle and Skagway to learn about this history.

So you can start off learning about it in Seattle!

 

👆 The Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is a national park unit that you can visit when you are in Seattle!

 

👆 Some people started their Klondike Gold Rush dreams in Seattle.
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👆 You can get a national park passport stamp in Seattle at the Klondike Gold Rush visitor center!

 

 

How to get to the Klondike Gold Rush national park visitor center

You can walk to the Klondike Gold Rush visitor center if you’re staying in downtown Seattle. You’ll walk through Pioneer Square, so you can stop to look at the totem poles!

Walking from Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle to the Klondike Gold Rush national park visitor center is around a 20 minute walk. (map)

 

You can also do easy walking in Skagway to explore Klondike Gold Rush history there!

 

 

9. Pike Place Market

You literally can’t miss Pike Place Market if you’re in downtown Seattle.

It’s there in big bold red letters. You will see it.

This is one of the most popular things to do in downtown Seattle.

You can go to Pike Place Market on your own, and there are also food tours in Seattle that go through Pike Place Market, like the chef guided food tour.

 

👆 You can walk around Pike Place Market.

 

👆 Walking around Pike Place Market.

 

👆 One of the famous restaurants in Pike Place Market is the Market Grill. Pike Place restaurants close at like 5pm.

 

👆 One of the main things to order at the Pike Place Market Grill is the world famous blackened salmon sandwich.

 

👆 Another famous food spot at Pike Place Market is called Pike Place Chowder.

 

👆 Fish and chips are a thing in Seattle. I got the Alaskan halibut fish and chips at Pike Place Chowder because… Alaska. 😆 I first went to the Pike Place Market location in Post Alley and… wow long line. So I went to the mall location one on Pine Street, and… no one in line.

 

👆 You can get more than just chowder at Pike Place Chowder.

 

👆 You can get ready-to-eat Alaskan king crab legs at Pike Place Market.

 

👆 You can get cooked dungeness crab at Pike Place Market.

 

👆 Not Pike Place Market, but more food in downtown Seattle: a Seattle hot dog! (map)

 

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10. Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier is the prominent mountain that you can see from downtown Seattle on a clear day.

If it’s a good weather day, look for it!

 

👆 This was a view of Mount Rainier I got from Pier 66, which is the main cruise ship terminal for NCL Norwegian cruise ships. But you don’t need to be going on a cruise in order to get the views from the observation area.

 

Aside from seeing Mount Rainier from downtown Seattle, of course the best way to experience it is to actually go to it!

Mount Rainier National Park is one of the national parks in the Seattle area you can get to without a car through a Mount Rainier National Park day tour from Seattle.

There is another national park you can do as a day trip without a car, and that’s the Olympic National Park day tour from Seattle.

 

 

ORCA card

You can learn more about the ORCA card for public transportation in Seattle at the myorca website. I got my orca card at the airport, and there is also an app.

 

 

Cheaper places to stay in Seattle

When I stayed in downtown Seattle as a solo traveler, I stayed at the Green Tortoise Hostel. It can work out just fine if you are traveling alone and all you need is a place to sleep! It’s in a really good location, with the famous Pike Place Market just across the street.

I’ve also stayed near the airport at hotels with free airport shuttles. After one cruise, I stayed at a Country Inn and Suites near the airport.

Another time I was in Seattle, I stayed at the Red Roof Inn near the airport. This was really close to the airport that you could even walk 10-15 minutes and be at the airport. This was a 2 night stay, so I had one full day in Seattle. Staying near the airport meant easy access to public transportation to get downtown too.

 

Happy planning your travel to Seattle!