4 Best Sights in Capitol Hill and the Arboretum, Seattle

The imposing art deco building that’s the centerpiece of Volunteer Park was built in 1933 to house the Seattle Art Museum, and that’s what it was until the museum expanded into its current primary location Downtown. The original building was dedicated to the museum’s Asian collection, and the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) was born. The permanent collection includes works from China, Japan, India, Korea, and Southeast Asian. It fills 13 galleries with rooms dedicated to pottery, images of nature, illustrated scrolls, and clothing. Six of the galleries focus on aspects of spirituality, including sacred texts, divine bodies, and sacred journeys. All in all, SAAM strikes a balance that makes it an especially enjoyable museum going experience: there’s a wide range of beautiful, engaging art, yet it’s small enough to keep you from feeling overwhelmed or getting bored.

In the late 19th century, Madison Park, east of Capitol Hill on the shores of Lake Washington, was the most popular beach in the city, with a promenade, floating bandstands, gambling halls, and ship piers. Now it's a lakefront park with sloping lawns, a swimming area, playgrounds, and tennis courts. The whole area is usually bustling with activity—there are a number of upscale coffee shops, restaurants, and boutiques nearby. As the closest beach to densely populated Capitol Hill, it serves a wide audience. The beach has picnic tables, restrooms, showers, and lifeguards on duty in summer, and there's a playground across the street. From Downtown, go east on Madison Street; it'll take you straight down to the lake.

Several beach parks and green spaces front the lake along Lake Washington Boulevard; Madrona Park is one of the largest. Lifeguards are on duty in the summer, and young swimmers have their own roped-in area, while teens and adults can swim out to a floating raft with a diving board. The trail along the shore is a great jogging spot. Grassy areas encourage picnicking; there are grills, picnic tables, phones, restrooms, and showers. From Downtown, go east on Yesler Way about two miles to 32nd Avenue. Turn left onto Lake Dell Avenue and then right; go to Lake Washington Boulevard and take a left.

This formal garden occupies a 3.5-acre plot within the Washington Park Arboretum, but it’s its own entity, managed by the city (with much help from dedicated volunteers). It was designed in the late 1950s by landscape architects from the Tokyo Parks Division as a traditional “walking garden”: visitors follow a set path that takes them past a pagoda, a koi pond, a waterfall, and a teahouse, interspersed among the trees, shrubs, flowers, and rocks. Tuesday through Friday, volunteers lead tours twice a day. Most weeks, usually on weekends, you can take part in a 40-minute tea ceremony in the teahouse. Reservations are required; the $15-dollar charge (separate from admission) includes tea and snacks.