The Seattle sightseeing map shows all tourist places and points of interest of Seattle. This tourist attractions map of Seattle will allow you to easily plan your visits of landmarks of Seattle in Washington - USA. The Seattle tourist map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

The sector received a boost in the late 1990s with the Port of Seattle decision to expand its cruise-ship activity; this led to an enormous increase in the number of passengers passing through the city in the early 21st century at the same time that Seattle tourism in general was growing (see Seattle tourist map). The largest proportion of visitors, some four-fifths, come from within the United States; about another one-tenth are from Canada. Among Seattle prominent annual fairs and festivals are the 24-day Seattle International Film Festival, Northwest Folklife over the Memorial Day weekend, numerous Seafair events throughout July and August (ranging from a Bon Odori celebration to the Seafair Cup hydroplane races), the Bite of Seattle, one of the largest Gay Pride festivals in the United States, and the art and music festival Bumbershoot, which programs music as well as other art and entertainment over the Labor Day weekend. All are typically attended by 100,000 people annually, as are the Seattle Hempfest and two separate Independence Day celebrations.

Tourism abounds in Seattle throughout the year. Apart from having its own attractions, including the Space Needle and the Seattle Aquarium, the city serves as a gateway to the San Juan Islands, Mount Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, and Olympic National Park and is close to several state parks and national wildlife refuges. Whale watching is a popular tourist activity; a park that has facilities for whale watching is located in the San Juan Islands, accessible by ferry boat. Other outdoor activities in and around Seattle include hiking, rock climbing, skiing, snowboarding, boating, and fishing. Seattle is also the site of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, conveniently located on I-5, the major artery that passes through the city as its shown in Seattle tourist map. The Battelle Conference Center on the University of Washington campus is often used to host meetings, and the Kingdome sports stadium is a popular venue for trade shows.

Seattle relatively recent transformation into a trend-setting, high-profile city has brought an increase in tourism and tourist facilities. In addition to the city mild climate and picturesque location amid water, forestland, and mountains, visitors are drawn by its bustling cultural and commercial life, the recreational opportunities that are available, and Seattle growing reputation as a mecca for contemporary youth culture. Today the metropolitan area boasts 17,500 hotel and motel rooms as you can see in Seattle tourist map. The Seattle Center, the city main conference and convention facility, offers 3,995 square meters (43,000 square feet) of exhibition space, eight large conference rooms, and banquet seating for 1,500 people. Tourism continues to be a vital part of the city economy.

The Seattle attractions map shows the main monuments, museums and parks of Seattle. This tourist places map of Seattle will allow you to easily plan your visits of tourist attractions of Seattle in Washington - USA. The Seattle attractions map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

Many attractions are located in the pedestrian-scale downtown area or within easy access by bus and monorail. Tourists can choose from several diversions, including historical sites, internationally acclaimed cultural events, and outdoor activities in the spectacular mountains, forests, and waters surrounding the city as you can see in Seattle attractions map. A popular Seattle landmark is the Space Needle, focal point of the Seattle Center, the 74-acre park and building complex constructed for the 1962 World Fair. The 605-foot Space Needle features an observation deck for viewing the city, Puget Sound, and adjacent Cascade and Olympic mountains. At its base is the $100 million Experience Music Project, a nonprofit interactive museum tracing the history of American music, which was funded entirely by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

Seattle offers an abundance of attractions related to the maritime industry. Harbor traffic on Elliott Bay can be observed from Waterfront Park, located in the pier area just off Alaskan Way as its mentioned in Seattle attractions map. South of the park at Pier 53, the Seattle Fire Department boats, Alki and Chief Seattle, are berthed; a favorite local event is practice day, when the fireboats shoot high water arcs into the bay. At Fishermen Terminal, a working commercial fishing port, residents and visitors enjoy watching fishermen mend nets and tend their boats. The Seattle Aquarium on the downtown waterfront links the waterfront to First Avenue, which lies just above. For those wanting to go out onto the water, ferries provide rides along the coast and across the sound; tour boats offer longer cruises and excursions to points of interest in the area.

Seattle is known for the Woodland Park Zoo, which contains about 1,000 animals in their natural habitats with minimal fencing and barriers; special features are 50 endangered species and the world largest group of liontail macaques as you can see in Seattle attractions map. Washington Park on the University of Washington campus is the setting for the Arboretum, 200 acres of public gardens, including a Japanese tea garden, with especially striking displays of blossoms and foliage during spring and fall. Seattle premier shopping attraction is the Pike Place Market, which features dozens of stalls selling every kind of locally available produce and food item, as well as a wing devoted mostly to crafts by local artisans and a lower-level area featuring an eclectic variety of small specialty shops.

The Seattle zoo map shows recommended tours of the Seattle Zoological Park. This zoo map of Seattle will allow you to easily find out where each animal is and where to picnic in the Zoological Park of Seattle in Washington - USA. The Seattle zoo map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

Woodland Park Zoo is a wildlife conservation organization and zoological garden located in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States as its shown in Seattle zoo map. It is the recipient of over 65 awards across multiple categories, and has served approximately 1.4 million domestic & international visitors in 2019. Occupying the western half of Woodland Park, the zoo began as a small menagerie on the estate of Guy C. Phinney, a Canadian-born lumber mill owner and real estate developer. Six years after Phinney death, on December 28, 1899, Phinney wife sold the 188-acre (76 ha) Woodland Park to the city for $5,000 in cash and the assumption of a $95,000 mortgage. The sum was so large that then-mayor W. D. Wood vetoed the acquisition, only to be later overruled by the city council. In 1902, the Olmsted Brothers firm of Boston was hired to design the city parks, including Woodland Park, and the next year the collection of the private Leschi Park menagerie was moved to Phinney Ridge.

Woodland Park Zoo is a recipient of several Best National Exhibit awards from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and ranks second after the Bronx Zoo in New York City for the number received as its mentioned in Seattle zoo map. Woodland Park Zoo created what is generally considered the world first immersion exhibit, a gorilla habitat, which opened in the late 1970s under the direction of zoo architect David Hancocks. Other exhibits include: Tropical Asia is the zoo largest section, focusing on Asian jungle and grassland animals, and is split into three areas. The first is Assam Rhino Reserve and is mostly composed of a large exhibit containing the zoo first male Indian rhinoceroses. Nearby are smaller enclosures for Asian forest tortoise, demoiselle crane, and Visayan warty pig. The second area is Bayan Wilds and is home to Malayan tigers, sloth bears, Asian small-clawed otters, and a small aviary. The third section is The Trail of Vines and houses orangutans, siamangs, pythons, Malayan tapir, and François langur. The Rhino Reserve was previously the Elephant Forest but was rethemed following the phasing out of the zoo elephant program in April 2015.

Woodland Park Zoo has been an active member of environmental and ecological conservation efforts across the U.S. Besides operating its own educational programs for school children, the park also cooperates with many of the higher education institutions in state, such as the University of Washington. On January 5, 2010, the zoo announced that due to the "difficult economy," it would be closing its Night Exhibit. From 1953 to 1968, Woodland Park Zoo was home to Bobo, a western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla, the same species as the gorillas currently living at the zoo) as you can see in Seattle zoo map. Bobo was acquired from the Lowman family of Anacortes, Washington, who had purchased the gorilla as an infant from a hunter in Columbus, Ohio in 1951 and had raised him in their family home in Anacortes. Bobo drew many visitors to the zoo and was one of Seattle main attractions in the years preceding the construction of Seattle Center and the expansion of major-league professional sports into the city.