Harmonious oil paintings, screaming Hendrix riffs, delicate silk weavings and hot glass-blowing – Seattle’s museum experience is as diverse as its residents. Explore the city’s best from your Seattle hotel base.The Seattle Art Museum transports its most dramatic sculptures to the waterfront Olympic Sculpture Park, where visitors enjoy the works for free. A sunlit sky and the blue sparkle of the Puget Sound render the oversized sculptures even more spectacular.
2901 Western Ave., Seattle, 98121
Just try to resist touching the nubby, rubbery flesh of starfish or the slippery smooth rays in the Seattle Aquarium’s touch tank. The waterfront museum also exhibits fragile corals, shore birds, marine mammals and lots of fish.
Pier 59, 1483 Alaskan Way, Seattle, 98101
Delicate vases contrast with towering abstract sculptures at the Museum of Glass, dedicated to 20th- and 21st-century works. Check out the Hot Shop where glassblowers create new works in molten glass every time the museum’s doors open.
1801 Dock St., Tacoma, 98402
The Museum of Flight highlights all forms of mechanical flight in Seattle, hometown of plane-making giant Boeing. Visitors test their physical and analytical prowess in the flight simulator, designed to showcase the demands of space travel.
9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, 98108
Hammering Man’s black silhouette towers 50 feet outside the Seattle Art Museum. Stand beneath his shadow and watch him hammer silently, then head inside for the museum’s renowned Northwest Coast Indian artworks.
1300 First Ave., Seattle, 98101
At the Experience Music project, a rock ‘n’ roll museum spanning music from Ray Charles to grunge, Jimi Hendrix isn’t the only attraction but he is the star. Absorb Hendrix’s creative energy through a headset while swooning over his psychedelic costumes.
325 Fifth Ave. N., Seattle, 98109
Woodland Park’s brown bears reveal nature’s power and beauty as they fish for salmon in their own stream. The bears are just part of the zoo’s 1,100-animal collection, representing 300 individual species over the 92-acre site near Green Lake.
750 N. 50th St., Seattle, 98103
Asian artworks from the Neolithic period to the present bring east to west at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. The collection of jades, ceramics and snuff bottles is especially rich.
1400 E. Prospect St., Seattle, 98112
A dozen alien spacecraft come to life with the click of a mouse in the Science Fiction Museum, their histories and literary or film origins revealed in multimedia displays. The museum also displays clothing, books and memorabilia from literary, television and film sci-fi.
325 Fifth Ave. N., Seattle, 98109
A revolving collection fills the halls of the Burke Museum, highlighting the natural and cultural history of the American Pacific Northwest. The museum boasts a collection of colorful Northwest totems and fleshes out local history with archaeology, dinosaur and animal displays.
17th Avenue NE at NE 45th St., University of Washington, Seattle, 98195
