Seattle, Washington is a beautiful city that has changed quite a bit in the last 10 years since the last time we visited.We traveled to Seattle with our 3 children for my cousin’s wedding in May 2023. We stayed downtown, traveled by public transportation, and visited the big touristy stops – looking at you, space needle!
Here are my thoughts on the logistics and safety of traveling to Seattle with young kids.
Hotel
We stayed at the Inn at the WAC (Washington Athletic Club) on 6th Ave between Union and University. The wedding ceremony and reception we were attending were both inside the building. It made logistics more streamlined to stay at the WAC too, plus it’s where all our family from out of town were staying. The Inn at the WAC is a historic building that has been recently renovated. The arrangement of the rooms is interesting and makes it feel like a boutique hotel.
We reserved two rooms for our family of 5. There was one door from the floor hallway that opened into a smaller private hallway that we used as a mudroom of sorts for shoes and our umbrella stroller. Both of our rooms were off of this smaller hallway, one king with a living room area and the other with 2 queens and enough space for a crib that we reserved with the hotel. Honestly, one of the best things about the room was the spa-like shower!
The Inn at the WAC offers guests access to all the athletic club amenities (think: gym, pool, hot tub, sauna, etc). There is childcare available at an hourly rate during the time the athletic club is open. We used DestinationSitters for a babysitter that came two nights in a row and had a great experience with it, more on that in a bit! There are also multiple restaurants and a coffee shop in the building. We enjoyed catered food from the hotel at the wedding cocktail hour and reception which were both top-notch. You can order room service or takeout from any of the onsite restaurants as well. There are many restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. We took the kids just across the street to Mod Pizza (the original) and it hit the spot for a quick dinner with 6 cousins under 6 years old!
Seattle Attractions
Space Needle
We spent our first day in Seattle exploring the Seattle Center and Space Needle.
From our hotel, it was a quick walk over to the Seattle Center Monorail Westlake Center Station at 5th and Pine. There were a LOT of unhoused people on the couple blocks walk there but not inside the station. We purchased tickets on a kiosk then boarded the monorail. It was a very quick ride with incredible views from the windows that extend all the way to the ceiling. Pro Tip: Sit facing forward to for the first views of the space needle!
Seattle Center had lots of cool things other than the Space Needle. There was a nice park with gardens we walked around with the kiddos outside the science museum. There is also the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit. You can see a bit of it from outside but it’s worth the trip inside if you’ve never seen his work. We saw a traveling exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum several years ago and it was stunning. We opted to not go to a priceless glass collection with all our little kids in tow. For those of you wondering, we did not see any homeless people during our day at Seattle Center and felt very safe exploring it with our kids.
We entered the Space Needle line at our reserved time. Strollers are not permitted in the needle, there is a stroller parking area at the base of the needle. The first thing you do is join a line that wraps around the interior of the space needle leading up to the elevator. There are pictures and plaques showing the history of the space needle and the construction progress that were pretty interesting. You also (conveniently) are walking around the outside of the gift shop so the kids enjoyed looking at the toys!
An elevator carries about 15 people up to the top at a time. It moves really fast, get ready for your ears to pop! Once at the top, the doors open and you’re on the top floor of the observation deck. There is an interior section and exterior section with 360 degree views of Seattle and the Sound. We got very lucky with the weather and it was an absolutely crystal clear day when we went – I know, right?? There are a couple of areas with feet on the ground, if you stand there, face the building and look up and you can have a picture taken of you with a picture-perfect backdrop!
After exploring the exterior of the top to the needle, we walked down a small set of stairs (you can also take an elevator) to the lower observation deck. This is the one with the rotating glass floor. This part was a bit overwhelming and disorienting for my youngest kiddos and, who am I kidding, me! But it’s definitely a unique way to see another view from the top of the Space Needle! From there, you board the elevator back down and exit through the gift shop!
We then had lunch in the mall food court where there was something for everyone and then went to the absolutely epic play structure! My 6-year-old climbed the spider web and came down the slide with ease, it was too much for my 4-year-old but there were other things around it for him to play with! There’s also a big fountain with a nice grassy lawn to enjoy for some downtime in your day.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by our trip to the Space Needle. The monorail ride, Seattle Center, and the Space Needle all exceeded my expectations!
Bainbridge Island
On our 2nd day in Seattle, we went on a ferry trip to Bainbridge Island. As my Seattle cousin says, there is nothing better than being on the water on a sunny day in Seattle!
We walked to the Bainbridge Ferry Terminal at Pier 52 and purchased tickets to the ferry. An unexpected perk of this ferry terminal is it is right next to Seattle Fire Station 5, an on-water fire station with a great view of the fireboat that my boys (and me) were very excited to see. The Ferry was about 30-45 minutes with an amazing view of the city of Seattle over the water. You will pass West Seattle on the left along your ride and countless spectacular houses on the sound. Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife – we saw seals, dolphins, and a massive starfish when disembarking.
The downtown of Bainbridge is about a 10-15 minute walk from the ferry terminal. It is a quaint street with lush plants and cute cafes and eateries as well as boutiques. We enjoyed a spectacular lunch on the patio at Cafe Hitchcock (um, yum!), shopped in some boutiques, played at a small playground, and then took a walk along the water on our way back to the ferry.
The ferry itself was pretty stable and my sea sickness-prone husband did just fine. We enjoyed the observation decks on the beautiful day we got but it was very windy and chilly. There is a cafeteria/bar area on the boat as well as vending machines and bathrooms.
When exiting the ferry terminal, continue walking straight and the path becomes an elevated sidewalk among the tree tops with interesting art installations. We headed back to the hotel for some swimming that afternoon while baby sister napped. It was a very pleasant, authentically Seattle day!
Public Transportation
We decided to go all-in on public transportation during our Seattle trip to avoid having to lug around and install/uninstall booster and car seats multiple times. We arrived at the SEA-TAC airport and then walked over to the Link Light Rail station. Warning: it was *quite* a walk! We were lucky enough to flag down the golf cart shuttle when we arrived at the airport but made the hike when we were leaving. Whew!
Our tip would be to download the Transit Go and City Rail Map Apps before arriving in Seattle. There are ticket kiosks at the stations or you can purchase your tickets on the app. Be sure to activate your ticket before boarding your train. A conductor comes through to check tickets during the ride.
There were quite a few homeless people in the train stations and outside the stations when we were in downtown. We never felt unsafe but made sure we were aware of our surroundings and planned out our route in detail before traveling.
Child Care
This was our first time needing to hire a babysitter for our 3 kids while on vacation in a new city. We were traveling to Seattle for a family wedding so all the people we would normally have watch the kids were at the wedding with us. We used a babysitting agency called Destination Sitters and had a great experience with them! We had the same sitter two nights in a row while my husband and I attended the Friday night welcome party and the Saturday night wedding. Destination Sitters is a child care agency that specializes in watching kids that are on vacation so they bring a lot of activities and are used to the logistics of watching kids in a hotel room. Our sitter brought slime kits, legos, a traveling basketball hoop, puzzles, and lots of books. Our kids tend to take to babysitters but they especially enjoyed our sitter from Destination Sitter. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again in another city!
So, would I recommend going to Seattle with young kids?
In our opinion, if you have a reason to travel to Seattle and stay downtown, I wouldn’t hesitate to make the trip. However, if you’re just looking for a city to explore as a family, I may choose another city or stay somewhere other than downtown Seattle. That being said, we only felt unsafe on two occasions when traveling through the city blocks with the densest unhoused populations and we were followed for several blocks on two occasions. I would strongly recommend you be very aware of your surroundings and would not recommend walking around by yourself. Seattle is a beautiful city, especially when you get perfect weather like we did!
