Visiting Seattle's top attractions is one way to learn the city's history, culture, industries and unique beauty and character. Seattle is beyond the ordinary. The creative vitality of the city is felt in the diversity of its regional cuisine and industries such as its Boeing planes and state-of-the-art infrastructures.



Feel the richness of its landscape by visiting Seattle's zoos and marine parks. Get a crash course about the city's interesting past by visiting historical sites such as Pioneer Square and the Klondike National Historic Park. Seattle attractions simply abound in the city, so visitors have plenty of options to suit their time, budget and interests. Here are some of the top attractions in Seattle worth including in your itinerary.

PIKE PLACE MARKET

Pike Place Market receives an average of 9 million visitors each year. Established in 1907 as the local farmers' response against high cost of produce, Pike Place Market is the oldest farmer's market in the U.S. It features 600 shops and stalls of farm produce, specialty foods, antiques, crafts, collectibles and international groceries. Visitors will also find 60 restaurants and take-out counters at Pike Place Market.

PIONEER SQUARE

Pioneer Square is Seattle's oldest neighborhood. Pioneer Square consists of 17 blocks of century-old, red brick buildings that have been restored into art galleries, offices, cafes and shops. After dark, the historic Pioneer Square becomes an entertainment district when nightspots, sports bars and hard rock taverns come alive.

SEATTLE AQUARIUM

Get to view octopus, otters and other Pacific Northwest marine creatures at the Seattle Aquarium. More than that, get to touch and explore their aquatic world through the facility's touch tank and underwater dome. Three dive shows are featured each day.

WOODLAND PARK ZOO

Woodland Park Zoo is second only to New York's Bronx Zoo in terms of the number of Best National Exhibit awards won from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The 65-acre zoo is home to 300 animal species, 35 endangered and 5 threatened animal species, and 1090 animal specimens. Exhibits include Bug World, African Savannah, Australasia and Temperate Forest.

BOEING TOUR

The Boeing Tour brings visitors to a 98.7- acre facility, the largest building in the world by volume. The building contains Boeing 747, 767 and 767 in their various states of assembly and flight test. The tour takes more than an hour to complete. Visitors should be ready to walk for approximately one-third of a mile, take 21 steep stairs and one elevator ride.

KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK

Klondike National Historic Park features exhibits and audiovisual programs that portray the 1897 Klondike gold rush in the Yukon Territory and how Seattle served as a gateway and transportation center for miners rushing north. Two historical trails, the White Pass Trail and Chilkoot Trail, are well-preserved here.

SEATTLE SPACE NEEDLE

The Seattle Space Needle is one of Pacific Northwest's major landmarks and Seattle's symbol. This tower reaches 605 feet into the sky. Built in 1962, the Space Needle observation deck provides a 360-degree view of the downtown Seattle skyline, Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier, the Olympic and Cascade Mountains and surrounding islands. Visit the SkyCity Restaurant inside the tower at a height of 500 feet and experience unique dining on Pacific Northwest cuisine. The restaurant even rotates!

SEATTLE CENTER

The Seattle Center is 74-acre complex that holds the Seattle Opera, Seattle Repertory, Pacific Northwest Center, Pacific Science Center and the Key Arena. In the middle of the campus is the International Fountain, a modernist water sculpture with 20 spouts, different water shooting patterns, and accompanying world music that is changed monthly. Other attractions include the Kobe Bell (a city landmark), the Fisher Pavilion, and the Fun Forest Amusement Park. In 1962, the campus was the site of the Century 21 Exposition.

HIRAM M. CHITTENDEN LOCKS & CARL ENGLISH BOTANICAL GARDENS

The third most popular of Seattle's top attractions, Chittenden Locks was built in 1917 by the Army Corps of Engineers. This complex of locks is located in the middle of Salmon Bay, allowing passage of vessels from Lake Washington to Puget Sound. Also known as Ballard Locks, Chittenden Locks draws tourists who love watching a parade of sailboats, barges, yacht and motorboats. Located on the grounds of Chittenden Lcoks is the Carl English Botanical Gardens; it grows more than 1500 flower varieties and 500 species.

MT. RAINIER NATIONAL PARK

The Mt. Rainier National Park features an active volcano coated with 35 square miles of snow and ice. Surrounding the peak are valleys, waterfalls, wildflower meadows and old growth forest. Of the 10,000 climbing attempts made each year, only 25% of all people make it to the peak of Mt. Rainer successfully. The national park draws approximately 2 million visits annually.