3 h

Private

About this activity

You’ll be picked up from your downtown Seattle hotel at your pre-arranged time to start your private sightseeing tour of Seattle. Your friendly, knowledgeable private guide will take you on a comfortable drive by van through the city to the sites of your choosing, offering commentary along the way. You’ll have plenty of time to hop out, walk around and soak up the atmosphere of each place on the tour, which can be tailored to suit your tastes.

If you'd like, cruise through Chinatown-International District and hop off to visit Pioneer Square, a historic neighborhood that was once the heart of the city—Seattle's founders settled there in 1852. Take a leisurely stroll past charming boutiques, quirky shops and great cafes as your guide points out the Renaissance Revival architecture.

Or choose to head to Belltown, the city’s most populated neighborhood, and hop out to explore world-famous Pike Place Market, Seattle's original farmers market home to a ton of vendors offering everything from locally sourced produced and artisan foods to specialty souvenirs and used books. Soak up the buzzing atmosphere as you browse the market and see the famous flying fish. If you like coffee (Seattle’s most famous drink), cross the street to grab a coffee at the original Starbucks! You can also visit some local art galleries.

Just north of Belltown lies that iconic Space Needle, another possible stopping point on your customizable excursion. You'll have time to hop out here, purchase a ticket, and whiz up to the top floor for incredible 360-degree views of the sparkling waters of Puget Sound, towering Mt Rainier, the Cascade and Olympic Mountains and the Seattle skyline.

After soaking up the views, continue your drive to your next desired location, which could be Queen Anne Hill, a neighborhood that sits on the highest hill in the city. Camera in hand, admire beautiful city views from the lookout point. If you'd like, continue to the Ballard Locks (known formally as the Hiram M Chittenden Locks) at the west end of Salmon Bay. Your guide will explain the engineering feats behind this complex of locks, which links Puget Sound with Lake Union and Lake Washington. Here, you’ll also see the famous fish ladder, built to allow salmon to pass between fresh and salt water.

Other possible stops include Fisherman's Terminal, the Elliot Bay Waterfront, Safeco Stadium, Qwest Field and Olympic Sculpture Park before heading back to your hotel. By the end of the day, you’ll know Seattle like a native—its history, its legends, its many fascinating sights and all the best places for food, shopping and entertainment!

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Included

Private tour
Professional guide
Pickup at location of choice in the greater Seattle area

Not included

Gratuities
Admission to Space Needle

Additional

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 7 days of travel. In this case confirmation will be received within 48 hours, subject to availability
Comfortable walking shoes and a jacket are recommended
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Features

Tourism

95%

Cultural

75%

Reviews

4.3

11

D

Deborah H

5 | 2018-07-11

If you only have a few hours and want to cover everything this is the trip for you!! The price was reasonable and we gave a nice tip!

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Paula H

5 | 2017-12-01

We extended our tour to 4 hours to take advantage of a layover. The tour guide was very informative and backed all the experiences up with a history lesson.. I thought we saw a lot of Seattle in 4 hours and decided that from now on, I will want to have a tour of a new city if I'm going to be there a few days, just so I know what sights I want to go back to for a closer look. My only other comment is that I thought the traffic in Seattle was some of the worse I have ever been in and our driver knew all the shortcuts....still really busy. Need to allow plenty of time.

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mgardengate

5 | 2017-05-30

This tour was outstanding. We were able to get an excellent overview of Seattle and our guide was very accommodating to meet our individual requirements. He adjusted the timing of our stops to allow extra time in places we found especially interesting and even changed the end location so that we could have lunch at a special restaurant near the Aquarium. On another day, we re-visited the city with local friends and found that we were indeed well versed in Seattle lore and were very comfortable in our Seattle Highlights knowledge. Highly recommended.

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Doreen M

1 | 2016-11-05

I'm sorry but our tour operator was very rude, He didn't introduce himself and came and spoke to us as though we were kids. We were waiting in our hotel lobby for him for 45 minutes and he came in and said so rudely, I have been waiting for you for so long parked on the main road. We didn't know this as usually they come to the hotel lobby. We only did half the tour and asked to go back to the hotel.

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Dotsy C

3 | 2016-08-01

We were given an overview of Seattle. Our driver was very knowledgeable and friendly. He went out of his way to make us comfortable and to try to show us everything he could in the time allotted. Our problem was that it was a Friday afternoon in Seattle traffic!

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Eileeen D

5 | 2015-10-23

Don picked us up at our hotel with a comfortable Ford Van. He had spent his whole life in Seattle so he was able to share his knowledge and history of the many neighborhoods we visited. We loved our break at the chocolate factory, especially the sampling, which was encouraged. We were even able to stop at the ballet school where our friends grandson had come for advanced training. At the end of a great morning Don dropped us off for lunch at one of his favorite spots within easy walking distance of our hotel. We were so comfortable with the city after our tour that we ventured out in the afternoon to the Chihouly Garden and Exhibit fabulous under the Space Needle and took the monorail to near Pike Place for dinner at Etta's before ending our beautiful day in Seattle. Thank you Don for a great tour experience, Eileen, Bob, Marcia and Jack

Collections This experience is part of these collections

Collections

City Tour 40 Activities

Private Tour: Seattle Highlights

Seattle

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