4 HOURS IN SEATTLE

WORDS RAMSEY QUBEIN

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Seattle

The urban buzz is palpable, yet lush greenery, towering mountains and Puget Sound make for a peaceful easy stopover

1 Space Needle  e best deal if you plan a quick visit to multiple sites is a CityPASS ticket (priced $99 for adults), which can shave nearly half the cost o admission plus o ers expedited access to many attractions including the Space Needle, the Seattle Aquarium, Museum of Pop Culture, Chihuly Garden & Glass, Paci c Science Center or the Woodland Park Zoo.  e passes are valid for nine consecutive days if you plan to stay for a little longer.

CityPASS in hand, your  rst stop probably should be the iconic Space Needle. Visible from all corners of the city, the landmark was built for the 1962 World’s Fair.

Fresh from a $100 million renovation, the Space Needle has unveiled a new revolving glass  oor and glass walls giving visitors a jaw-dropping peak at the city below their feet. Open daily 10am – 8pm, admission $32.50 until 6pm; $37.50 6pm to 8pm. 400 Broad St. spaceneedle.com 2 The Museum of Pop Culture Museum lovers can decide between the Museum of Pop Culture close to the Space Needle or the Seattle Art Museum with its Olympic Sculpture Park near Pike Place Market. But if time permits, why not choose to visit both? Inside its undulating, steel-skinned Frank Gehry-designed building, the Museum of Pop Culture, or MoPOP, is  lled with carefully-curated, hands-on exhibits from science  ction and rock music; among them, In nite Worlds of Science Fiction, an entire exhibition

on Minecra , and the most extensive collection of Nirvana memorabilia anywhere. Open daily 10am – 5pm, admission $34. 325 5th Avenue N. Tel 206-770-2700. mopop.org 3 Chihuly Garden & Glass Only steps away is Chihuly Garden & Glass, which showcases many of Dale Chihuly’s colourful blown glass masterpieces as well as other works of art along with the story of his career. Tacoma native Chihuly has seen his works featured in museums in the US and around the world, and he opened the Garden and Glass exhibition in 2012. You can easily spend an hour strolling through the galleries and gardens, but if you can, plan your visit for dusk when the lighted art is even more spectacular. Open Mon –  urs 11am – 6pm, Fri

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– Sun 10am– 6pm, admission $32. 305 Harrison St. Tel. 206 753-4940. chihulygardenandglass.com 4 Olympic Sculpture Park A brief walk down Western Avenue brings you to the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park overlooking Elliott Bay. Here, you’ll  nd a collection of huge sculptures in a lush green setting. You’ll recognise Claes Oldenburg’s gargantuan Typewriter Eraser, Scale X.  e Eagle, a sort of red origami-in-steel six-tonne creation by sculptor Alexander Calder, is perched on the water’s edge, seemingly ready take  ight.  e Olympic Sculpture Park is free to the public and open every day from one half-hour a er sunrise to one halfhour before sunset. seattleartmuseum.org

5 Pike Place Market While the museums have great gi shops, there’s nothing like “Made in Washington” products, souvenirs and signature foods found at worldfamous Pike Place Market.

You’ll  nd regional gi s like smoked salmon, local beverages and handicra s as well as hundreds of vendors selling books and maps, souvenirs, homemade products and food galore.  is is some of the best peoplewatching in town, and you are sure to buy a few gi s along the way. Just a short walk away is the world’s  rst Starbucks at 1912 Pike Place.

While not the city’s largest (you’ll  nd Starbucks on almost every other block), it is one of the most famous. Open daily. 1st Ave and Pike St. pikeplacemarket.org

6 Waterfront Seattle Take a stroll to the waterfront and look at the City of Seattle’s project to reinvigorate the area. Once demolition of the Alaskan Way Viaduct is complete, the city will construct a park promenade along the water, adding walkways, bike lanes, and parks, plus new surface streets and more downtown attractions. water ontseattle.org

Catch a birds-eye view of the progress below from the Seattle Great Wheel.  is gigantic newcommer almost rivals the Space Needle as the de ning symbol of the Seattle skyline. Hours Mon –  urs 11am – 10pm, Fri 11am – 12am, Sat 10am – 12am, Sun 10am – 10pm, admission $15. 1301 Alaskan Way. Tel: 206 623-8607. seattlegreatwheel.com

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