No. If anything Pio Square has deteriorated a bit in recent years. It's worse at night, when it's a sketchy clubbing / wilding zone with occasional gunfire (though the same can now be said of Belltown, a mile north).

Office space in Pio Square is less expensive because it's difficult to persuade workers to walk to their cars after dark.

I used to go clubbing down there a lot before I got old and boring.

There is definitely quite the homeless contingent down there... but lots of history too. If you haven't done so... take the Seattle Underground Tour.

There are some cool art galleries, and I love Waterfall Park.

great thread with some really useful info. we were trying to decide where to spend a few days after skiing in Whistler next year (we have a few days in Vancouver before) and it was either Seattle or Calgary. Having read this thread it looks like there is tons to do in Seattle, so currently that's winning.

We had hoped though to visit a winery on the way into town, but looking at earlier comments from a couple of years ago that doesn't seem seem to be recommended at all. Can anyone give me an update if this has changed at all ? many thanks..

The Boeing tour is a must. It was great.

Here's another vote for the Underground Tour. And yep, the Boeing factory tour is nice. A few other ideas/notes:

While you are down in Pioneer Square for the Underground Tour, consider eating lunch at Salumi. Salumi is run by the family of Mario Batali, and the sandwiches are pretty amazing. But go early and expect to wait on line a while. If you get there too late everything will be sold out. I recommend ordering your sandwich for takeout, then enjoy it while sitting in Waterfall Garden Park, which is 1 block to the north west. My favorite is Agrumi (citrus salami, which is way better than it sounds) with mozzarella.

If you are feeling like something low-impact, consider an Argosy Cruise.

Every visitor to downtown should learn how to work the underground bus transit tunnel, it's super-easy, and then you can go almost anywhere in downtown for free. In short, the tunnel only goes north-south. Every bus in the tunnel stops at every tunnel station, so you don't need to worry about the bus number. Just get on any bus going the direction you want to go. As long as you get off in the ride free zone (the entire tunnel is in the ride free zone) there is no charge.

Westlake Station is the tunnel stop closest to most of the tourist stuff (Pike Place Market, Monorail, street trolley, etc).

Take the underground bus tunnel down south to the International District. My favorite Chinese restaurant is Shanghai Garden, which is about 2 blocks from the bus tunnel. There is also very good dim sum near there (Jade Garden) but if you are going on a weekend, go early.

Enjoy some video games at GameWorks Seattle. Surprisingly, they have pretty good burgers and fries there if you want something to eat.

Do you have a motorcycle license? Think about renting a motorcycle or signing up for a motorcycle tour if you have the time.

I don't recommend the Space Needle myself, but if you DO decide to go there, consider having brunch at the restaurant. The price of the brunch includes a free elevator trip up to the top, and access to the observation deck. Currently elevator passes are $18 and the brunch is $46 for adults, Sat/Sun only. During the week you can have lunch instead, but note the restaurant has a minimum $25 per person charge. Having a restaurant reservation also allows you to skip the line of tourists waiting for tickets and/or waiting for the elevator, which can get very long on weekends.

That's all I can think of at the moment...

Woodinville has many nice wineries. Most are open for tastings. It is about 30 minutes from DT Seattle by car.
If you are not from the NW I suggest you look into a one night dining adventure at a place like Willows Inn on Lummi Island (near Bellingham) or the Sooke Harbor House west of Victoria.
http://www.willows-inn.com/
http://www.sookeharbourhouse.com/
Send a PM if you want some more specifics about the area.

"Visiting a winery" and "going wine tasting" are two very different things.

Are you looking to do an actual tour where they take you through the process of making wine? As JPat says, there are some nice ones in Woodinville, but keep in mind that the majority of places out there are just tasting rooms, and the operations are located elsewhere.

For tours, I'd recommend Chateau Ste. Michelle (wine) and Red Hook (beer).

If you're just looking for tastings, there are dozens of tasting rooms. Head out, park your car, and there will be a couple dozen options within short staggering distance.

http://woodinvillewinecountry.com/Wineries.cfm

There are also distilleries/tasting rooms cropping up out there if the harder stuff is more to your liking.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...tillery16.html

thanks for all of the info, I shall have a look at their websites,

We have hoped to see where / how the wine was made, taste & dine all in one place (and hopefully stay there too!) but perhaps I'm asking a little too much.

Any recommendations for places to see in Ballard and West Seattle?

been to Seattle a few times, and don't want to revisit Space Needle, Pike Place, etc next trip

Not really related to PotomacApproach's post just above, but I thought I'd mention it while I was thinking about it--

I (finally!) did the Space Needle a couple years ago. As far as views from tall buildings go, it's OK (it's really not all that tall, but the beautiful setting of the Puget Sound area certainly makes it a nice view.

But other than that, it's wildly overpriced.

A far better deal is to head to the other side of downtown and visit Columbia Center, the tallest tower in Seattle. Hours are a bit more limited (8:30-5:00, or something like that), but the view is way better, there's absolutely no wait, the sky deck is not crowded, and the price can't be beat: $5 ($3 for students, and the guy at the security desk said, "Everyone's a student of life, right?" ;))

Here's a panorama I shot from my iPhone while I was at the top: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=...&p=0:0&t=False

The Seattle Central Library is pretty amazing, too: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=...&p=0:0&t=False

Like most locals we've always poo-poohed the Space Needle as overpriced, overhyped, and a source of bad food. But then a year or so ago a nephew got a job working there, which came with a discount (not that much) for meals, so for somebody's birthday we went up for dinner.

Amazingly, the food was very, very good, the service excellent, and the price - minimum charge of $35 per person, really wasn't that bad given the quality of food and portion sizes, and if you subtract the value of the elevator ($0 for restaurant patrons, $16 for others) the food was actually a great bargain. It's even cheaper (lower minimum, better light outside) at lunch.

As for the view from the Columbia Center, it is indeed great. However, a somewhat lesser known, and (to me) way, way more appealing visit is to the Chinese Room in the Smith Tower, Seattle's landmark "skyscraper" built by LC Smith (rifles, typewriters) which will turn 100 in a couple of years. The room has furnishings contributed by the Empress of China, and there's an outdoor deck with which you can circumnavigate the building in actual fresh air. (The Chinese Room is just below the "pyramid" at the top of the Smith Tower - the actual pyramid is a private apartment, one of the coolest residences in the USA for my money.)

Oh, and the elevators that take you up are manned, with accordion gates and operators in uniforms.

http://www.chineseroom.com/index.html

(PS look at the ceilings in the panoramic views of the Chinese Room.)

Nothing much in Ballard.
They have Market Street, which is a street that just has restaurants and shops.
Nothing extraordinary.

West Seattle has Alki Beach.
There is a section directly across from downtown Seattle where u can view downtown.

The other end of Alki beach has a lighthouse(open only during the summer), a sandy beach, restaurants and a nice view of the Olympic mountains.

You can take the West Seattle ferry, a small boat that goes across Puget Sound to West Seattle.
It's a nice water ride.

It's been awhile but I have now updated my restaurant list, new places we have tried as well as deleting some closures:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14312238-post190.html

Hope you enjoy!

Some things to add....

Starting tonight in downtown a new ferris wheel is set to open.

SEATAC now has a rental parking garage with dedicated shuttle from the airport.

The Boeing Museum this week had space shuttle equipment flown in for display. Its my understanding this was a training modular/simulator they used so its a replica of the shuttle but doesnt fly. In July is when it will be open for display by visitors.

Tolls are going to increase on the 520 bridge and the tacoma narrows bridge.

Alki beach...

In ballard you have some shoppin districts that include some decent restaurants and wine tasting places.

If you are a fan of deadliest catch at the harbor in ballard they have staioned a retired ship from the early years of the show for tours. Many of the crews are based out of seattle.

Un der the Aurora bridge (HWY 99) is the Troll...a sculpture under the north end of the bridge.