SEATTLE CITY GUIDE Chris and Miguel take the Coastal Passage route from Vancouver to the US home of grunge
music onboard the legendary Rocky Mountaineer. The boys then explore the sights of
Seattle including the vibrant Pike Place Fish Market before Chris heads off to see some of
and the iconic and unusual attractions in this city, from the Space Needle to a glass garden
to the very sticky Gum Wall.
SEATTLE, U.S.A. The capital city of the State of Washington, Seattle, is located 182 km south of the United
States- Canadian border. It is known as the Emerald City because the city and surrounding
areas are filled with greenery. If you visit Seattle be sure to pack a rain jacket as Seattle and
the Pacific Northwest generally have a wet climate. There is a wide range of accommodation
to suit every budget.
For more information Seattle tourism, see http://www.visitseattle.org/
PIKE PLACE MARKET Pike Place Market is a nine-acre market with 11 buildings and six levels of approximately
500 shops, restaurants, and vendor stalls. Pike Place Market features the longest
continuously operating farmer’s market in the US. The famous neon Public Market Center
sign on the corner of First and Pike dates back to 1927.
Fish throwing at Pike Place Market has been a tradition in Seattle for more than 30 years.
Fishmongers at Pike Place Fish Market shout orders and toss fish to each other, and even
the odd paying customers. This actually started as a prank with one of the employees and
the crowd enjoyed the yelling and throwing so much that it became a regular thing.
CONTACT DETAILS
Pike Place Market
85 Pike Street
Seattle, WA 98101
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://pikeplacemarket.org/
THE GUM WALL The gum wall in Post Alley near Pike Place Market is what it sounds like- a brick wall with
people’s chewed up gum stuck to it. This sticky wall often finds itself on the top of the
grossest tourist attractions in the world lists.
It came about in the 1990s when theater patrons waiting in line for tickets to the Market
Theater started leaving chewed gum on the wall. The Market Theatre staff tried to clear off
the gum, but people kept sticking their gum so they gave up. By 1999, Pike Place Market
named the gum wall an official tourist attraction.
THE SEATTLE SPACE NEEDLE The Space Needle was was built in a record breaking 400 days, to be featured at the
opening of the World’s Fair in 1962. Standing 184 metres high and 42 metres wide, with 848
steps from the bottom of the basement to the top of the observation deck, it was tallest
structure west of the Mississippi.
The Space Needle annually hosts more than 1 million visitors, making it the number one
tourist attraction in the Northwest. Ticket prices start at US$18 for adults and US$11 for
children.
CONTACT DETAILS
400 Broad St,
Seattle, WA, United States.
http://www.spaceneedle.com/
THE CHIHULY GARDEN AND GLASS Found in the Seattle Centre at the foot of The Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass
showcases the studio glass art works of Dale Chihuly. It features paths lined with trees,
plants and flowers. Crimson camellias, scarlet daylilies, dogwoods, hardy fuchsias and
handkerchief trees provide the setting for the Crystal and Icicle Towers and an installation of
Reeds on Logs… all made out of glass!
Glass blowing is so prevalent in Seattle, that only Murano, an island near Venice, Italy has
more glassblowing studios than found in Seattle.
Entry prices start from US$23 for adults, and US$14 for children
CONTACT DETAILS
305 Harrison St,
Seattle, WA 98109, United States
http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/
ROCKY MOUNTAINEER Rocky Mountaineer has been recognised as one of the world’s greatest trips. Operating for
24 years, Rocky Mountaineer has won several World Travel awards and is known as ‘the
most spectacular train trip in world’ and is one of the largest privately owned rail services in
North America. Rocky Mountaineer offers 45 Canadian vacations along five unique rail
routes. The train journeys travel by daylight offering non-stop scenic experiences of Western
Canada. More than half a million guests have travelled on the Rocky Mountaineer, which
offers various levels of service including Gold Leaf Service with a la carte meals on a bi-level
dome carriage. Rocky Mountaineer prides itself on service, not only on the train journey but
also assisting with accommodation bookings and self-drive or sight seeing bus tours.
Rocky Mountaineer’s newest route, the coastal passage, connects Seattle, WA, USA with
Vancouver, BC and the Canadian Rockies. On this tour you will see mountain vistas
including Mount Baker and the Cascade Mountains as well as the shoreline of the Pacific
Northwest.
Packages:
http://www.rockymountaineer.com
WEBLINKS
For further information on the Rocky Mountaineer, Pike Place, The Space Needle, Chihuly
Garden and Glass, Seattle and British Columbia take a look at the following websites:
http://www.rockymountaineer.com/
http://pikeplacemarket.org/
http://www.spaceneedle.com/
http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/
http://www.visitseattle.org/