5 Best Sights in Seattle, Washington

Of Seattle’s large parks, the Arboretum, east of Capitol Hill, is the most carefully curated. Its 230 acres, stretching roughly in a rectangle south from Union Bay, are divided into themed spaces, following designs by the renowned Olmsted Brothers firm and maintained by the University of Washington. You can easily spend half a day or more here exploring and relaxing. There’s something to see in every season.

A good place to start is the Graham Visitors Center, near the park's north end, where you can pick up a map and discuss your plans with volunteers. Highlights include the ¾-mile Azalea Way path, the Rhododendron Glen, the Pacific Connections Garden, the Joseph A. Witt Winter Garden (with brilliant winter blooms), the colorful Woodland Garden, and, on the shores of Union Bay, Foster Island (with wetlands populated by herons, ducks, turtles, and beavers).

Nearly everything is accessible on an easy 2-mile loop trail, and two roads running the park’s length are  beautiful drives, each with several parking areas along the way. Free 90-minute walking tours depart from the visitors center on the first Thursday of each month at 11:30 am, and there are regular classes for kids, adults, and families.

This beautiful 53-acre public area just a short drive from downtown Bellevue is encircled by spectacular perennial borders, brilliant rhododendron displays, and patches of alpine and rock gardens. The Ravine Experience encompasses a 5-acre area in the heavily forested southwest corner of the gardens with a ⅓-mile nature trail. A 150-foot suspension bridge crosses a deep ravine in one of the most pristine spaces, allowing visitors to observe unique topography and soaring conifers without disturbing the forest floor. Docents lead tours of the gardens Saturdays and Sundays (April–October), beginning at the visitor center at noon. During the holiday season, the gardens are lit up nightly for Garden d'Lights, one of the area's most popular seasonal attractions.

About 20 minutes south of the International District by car, sit 20 serene acres of streams, waterfalls, ponds, and rock outcroppings created by Fujitaro Kubota, a 1907 emigrant from Japan. (Other examples of his work show up in the gardens on the Seattle University campus, and the Japanese Garden at the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.) The designated historical landmark of the city of Seattle is free to visitors, and tours are self-guided, though you can go on a docent-led tour on the fourth Saturday of every month, April through October, at 10 am (reservations required).

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.

A tranquil spot to take a break in the middle of the city or eat a takeout snack, this small garden with a few cafe tables surrounds a 22-foot artificial waterfall that cascades over large granite stones.