Four Seasons Hotel Seattle: Within Walking Distance

These days the Emerald City is brewing up more than great coffee. You’ll find the real buzz just steps from your door.

Sep 14, 2012

By: Haley Shapley

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You may be visiting Seattle, but for a trip around the world, go no farther than across the street to the Seattle Art Museum. Exhibits cover everything from 2nd-century Syrian flasks to early 20th-century British Columbian house posts to 16th-century African masks. Don’t miss the Porcelain Room, an awe-inspiring collection of more than 1,000 porcelain pieces from Europe and Asia, arranged by colour and theme. Also memorable is the Italian Room, a wood-panelled step back into 16th-century Chiavenna, a town in northern Italy.

Photography courtesy Seattle Art Museum

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If you have kids in tow, the Seattle Aquarium is a must-see—and it’s fun for people of all ages. The Life on the Edge tide pools are main attractions where you can roll up your sleeves and get up close and personal with a sharpnose crab, tube worm, coonstripe shrimp or any of the myriad other creatures hanging out in their underwater haven. Outside, the harbour seals and sea otters won’t disappoint on the cuteness scale.

Photography courtesy Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

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For those who miss the lost art of letter writing, de Medici Ming Fine Paper is something like a wondrous time capsule, just waiting to be unearthed and explored. Although the shop is tiny, the selection is vast—here, you can get a card for any occasion, wrapping paper in exquisite designs and glass pens to sign your messages. Many of the products are made locally, and all are sourced with care.

Photography courtesy de Medici Ming Fine Paper

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Fresh flowers, flying fish and fruit samples, oh my—there’s no place like Pike Place Market. A bustling collection of farmers, craftspeople, street performers, tourists and locals, the market is the perfect place to stroll the day away, so leave plenty of time to explore its nooks and crannies. One of the most popular stops is Pike Place Fish Market, where fishmongers send fresh seafood flying through the air. You can also grab a morning latte at the original Starbucks café.

Photography courtesy Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

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It may not be the oldest or most popular attraction in Seattle, but the Gum Wall is one of the most colourful—and quite likely the most disgusting. In fact, in 2009 TripAdvisor named the wall one of the world’s “germiest” attractions. But don’t let that deter you. In Post Alley, located beneath Pike Place Market, is an amazing assortment of chewing gum that has been accumulating on a brick wall since the 1990s. It’s worth a stop for a photo op and the chance to add your own well-chewed piece to this living art project.

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You could rely on intuition or guidebooks, but sometimes a living, breathing tour guide is the best way to discover a new place. During the Market Ghost Tour, get the scoop on Seattle’s supernatural stories, with a good primer on the history of the city. If wandering through the stalls of Pike Place Market leaves you pondering which foods to try, a Savor Seattle tour will give you more than a dozen tastes of some of the city’s best offerings (get ready for cherries, chowder and cheese), plus great background info on how the market operates.

Photography courtesy Albert Shen/ Savor Seattle Food Tours

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Dinner and a movie has been done, but what about dinner and a live music show at one of Seattle’s top performance venues? Right next door to the Hotel, The Triple Door serves up some of the best Asian-fusion fare in the city to tunes performed live by noteworthy musicians. Housed in the historic Embassy Theatre, The Triple Door preserves the original theatre’s 1920s vaudeville atmosphere, but offers a contemporary (and award-winning) dining and music experience. The venue is intimate, the booths are comfy, and there’s not a bad seat in the house.

Photography courtesy The Triple Door

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If you can tear yourself away from the infinity pool at Four Seasons Hotel Seattle, which overlooks Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, you’ll find yourself right in the heart of downtown Seattle, an easy stroll from the shops, restaurants and attractions of this prettier-than-a-postcard city.

Four Seasons Hotel Seattle: Within Walking Distance