If you’re a typical tourist, winter may not be the ideal season for visiting Seattle and sightseeing. The overcast skies, drizzling rain, and occasional snow would be enough to numb your toes and dampen your mood. BUT if you aren’t an average visitor, you’re in for a rare treat. You don’t need special powers to make the most out of winter in Seattle. To uncover the beauty hidden within Emerald City, you need a map and a weather app. To enjoy it, high spirits and good company. And to know where to start, you need our little guide.
Get closer to the Seattle skies with the Space Needle
Regardless of what you already know about the Space Needle, the most striking Seattle landmark, the visit will leave you breathless. What exactly will make your stay here memorable? Most likely the heights, arguably the sights, possibly the snacks, and certainly everything combined. Get 500 feet above the ground and feel the power of a bird’s-eye view through a revolving glass floor. Too chilling for your taste?
Organized wine tasting and selected snacks will warm you up a bit. Or do you prefer local craft beer in a revolving restaurant? If your schedule allows it, wait until the evening and enjoy the Seattle lights as Seattleites do. This iconic landmark will offer you an exciting perspective on the ups and downs in life and a couple of local history lessons. It’ll certainly expand your views.
Explore Seattle on Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour
If it gets cold above ground, then go on a tour below it. Bill Speidel’s tour will warm you with his legendary humor but also teach you the history of Pioneer Square. You will learn how unexpected and unplanned the preservation of this historic area was, as well as the tour that became its byproduct. However, it became a huge success quite expectedly.
If you hope that learning local history can be fun, at Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour, they ensure it. And although the story of the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 sounds chilling, without it, Seattle’s Pioneer Square wouldn’t be a historical site today, the area wouldn’t rise a story above its original ground level, and wouldn’t feature hidden subterranean facades of the buildings overhead.
You may even decide to move to one of those buildings in Seattle, WA, from another state. Take the time to look for and choose reputable interstate movers, though. They can get you to Washington hassle-free and help you settle in. Then, you can enjoy Seattle every day, every night, above and underground, and in every season.
See life through the colored glass at Chihuly’s
What better time to add color to your day and make the most out of winter in Seattle than by visiting Chihuly Garden and Glass art exhibitions? The museum is dedicated to art in glass form, and each installation will amaze you. But what else can you expect here?
You can enjoy unique, captivating artwork, observe it being made, and purchase a piece from the artists. Even sit and dine within the museum if a stroll through eight interior galleries and a focal point – Glasshouse – becomes too overwhelming. And you’d think that an outdoor garden is barren in winter, but Chihuly’s is not any Seattle garden. It features some of the most impressive, hand-blown glass plants and objects illuminated to create a mesmerizing effect after dark.
Take a class on blowing glass
If you had enough of a cold winter day in Seattle but not of glass, head over to the Belltown neighborhood of Downtown Seattle. At the Seattle Glassblowing Studio, you will surely warm your hands in their hot shop! Of all free Seattle attractions, the glassblowing course at the Studio is arguably the most rewarding.
While admission to the gallery is free of charge, a private class in working hot glass and shipping your artwork is not. However, a couple of hours of unusual learning experience and taking pride in your private and original glass art collection are priceless.
Experiencing this may easily impress you enough to decide to move to Emerald City. The only task between finding a home and enjoying the city becomes exploring the database of Verified Movers and finding the right crew to handle your relocation. It may be even easier than making your glass vase!
Brighten up your day at Woodland Park Zoo
The WildLanterns exhibition will make sure you see animals in an entirely different light. True, if the weather is cold, you may not see some of the real animals. However, this Nationally award-winning zoological garden has a lot more to offer. If you visit during the evening event, you will experience captivating light (and motion) displays of animal-themed lanterns.
Don’t worry that the cold Seattle winter night or rain will ruin your outdoor experience. There are many warming stations scattered throughout the Zoo, as well as places where you can grab a snack and hot chocolate. The WildLanterns exhibition will take place until January 30, 2022, so make sure to find time for this even during your stay.
Is this all? Of course not!
Our choice is only a tiny part of winter activities in Seattle awaiting you this winter season. You won’t make the most out of winter in Seattle if you miss its famous eateries and shops at Pike Place Market, coffee shops, bars, and museums. And if hiking and snowshoeing in nearby Mount Rainier National Park, watching a hockey game, or ice skating leaves you craving for the tropics, Volunteer Park Conservatory has a Victorian greenhouse setting that will introduce you to warmer climates. The best thing is you won’t have to compete with throngs of impatient tourists. That is winter in Seattle for you!
