Free Things to Do on Vacation in Seattle

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Find free things to do on vacation in Seattle. The following information is excerpted from National Geographic Traveler.
Art/Music

Seattle Art Museum
The Seattle Art Museam in downtown Seattle is free each first Thursday. It has a collection of contemporary and modernist works and Native American, African, Asian, and Australian indigenous art.

Volunteer Park
In Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, the Seattle Asian Art Museum opens its doors free of charge each first Thursday and Saturday. Its collection features thousands of paintings, pottery, sculptures, and textiles from China, Japan, India, Korea, and more.

Frye Art Museum
Explore the Frye Art Museum's rotating selection of its large collection of 19th and 20th century German, French, and American paintings and sculptures, including a collection of paintings by Munich-based artists acquired by Charles Frye in the late 19th century. Admission is always free and complimentary tours are available Wednesday through Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Experience Music Project
Science Fiction Museum
Hall of Fame
The Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame offer free admission from 5 to 8 p.m. each first Thursday.

Bellevue Arts Museum
Bellevue Arts Museum is free first Fridays, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Olympic Sculpture Park
The Seattle Art Museum's new waterfront Olympic Sculpture Park is a nine-acre (3.6-hectare) industrial-site-turned-green space. Dotted with contemporary works of art by artists such as Richard Serra, Alexander Calder, and Mark di Suvero, the park is set against a spectacular backdrop of Puget Sound and the Cascade Range with a 2,200-foot (671-meter) pedestrian path that leads to a beach. Open daily, free of charge.

Seattle Symphony
Immerse yourself in the huge sound of the Seattle Symphony's 26-foot (eight-meter) tall, 4,490-pipe Watjen concert organ in Benaroya Hall at one of the symphony's free recitals, held Mondays at 12:30 p.m. on a bimonthly basis. Or take a public tour of Benaroya Hall every Tuesday and Friday (and following Watjen concert organ recitals) at noon and 1 p.m.

Seattle Asian Art Museum
On the first Thursday and Saturday of each month, the Seattle Asian Art Museum opens its doors for free. Its collection features thousands of paintings, pottery, and textiles from Southeast Asia.

Lunchtime Concert
Catch a lunchtime concert at City Hall every first and third Thursday. The series' Seattle-area performers range in genre from world music to big bands, folk, and jazz.

In July and August over the noon hour, join the downtown office lunch crowd for free public concerts—from classical to rock and jazz—in area parks and plazas.


Attractions

Pike Place Market
Visit Pike Place Market. Join the crowd gathered in front of rowdy fishmongers at 100-year-old Pike Place Market.

All photos are copyrighted by C. Lee - all rights reserved. Contact bargainhunterhotline@gmail.com for permission to reproduce.

Hiram M. Chittenden Locks
Visit the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks' public viewing window, cheer for salmon as they climb up the fish ladder and watch pleasure boats pass through the locks. Join a free, guided tour March through November.

Seattle Center
Visit Seattle Center, site of the 1962 World's Fair and now home to the city's top attractions, including the Space Needle, Seattle Opera, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, Children's Museum, Children's Theater, Fun Forest Amusement Park, Pacific Science Center, and Experience Music Project.

Museum of Flight
Visit Seattle's Museum of Flight, free from 5 to 9 p.m. the first Thursday of the month.

One-Eyed Stone Troll
Check out the one-eyed stone troll who lurks beneath the George Washington Memorial Bridge (known by locals as the Aurora Bridge) at N. 36th Street in Fremont.

Waterfall Garden Park
Visit Waterfall Garden Park in historic Pioneer Square at S. Main St. and Second Ave. S,


Culture

University of Washington
Explore the University of Washington with free 90-minute campus tours led by UW undergrads or on a self-guided tour. See Husky Stadium, Gothic buildings, the Drumheller Fountain, and come springtime, cherry trees blooming around campus.

All photos are copyrighted by C. Lee - all rights reserved. Contact bargainhunterhotline@gmail.com for permission to reproduce.

Museum of History and Industry
Visit the Museum of History and Industry. First Thursdays are free and have extended hours (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.).

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
Visit the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, free first Thursdays and with extended hours (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.). The museum is considered the Northwest's premier repository of cultural and natural history artifacts, with highlights like a resident spider expert and a Northwest Coast totem pole at the entrance.

Coast Guard Museum
Visit the free Coast Guard Museum on Pier 36.

Northwest Folklife Festival
Celebrate ethnic and folk traditions with arts, crafts, music, food, and performers at the free annual Northwest Folklife Festival held Memorial Day weekend on the grounds of the Seattle Center.

Children

Freeway Park
Freeway Park, a five-acre (two-hectare) city park that sits in downtown Seattle over Interstate 5, has great views of downtown buildings, a walking loop, free Wi-Fi, and free music and theater performances in the summer.

KidsQuest Children's Museum
The interactive KidsQuest Children's Museum is free from 5 to 8 p.m. Fridays in nearby Bellevue's Factoria Mall. Climb the giant indoor tree house to enjoy a tea party or tinker with tools in the museum's hands-on garage.

University of Washington Botanic Gardens
The University of Washington Botanic Gardens' Elisabeth C. Miller Library offers free family programs Saturday mornings at 10 a.m., geared for children ages 2-8, with stories and activities that celebrate little tykes' green thumbs, from harvest time apples to May flowers.


Outdoor

Discovery Park
Discovery Park, Seattle's largest city park, overlooks Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains with 534 acres (216 hectares) of tidal beaches, open meadows, sea cliffs, forest groves, active sand dunes, thickets, and streams. Check out Native American art and handicrafts at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center.

Volunteer Park
With a prime Capitol Hill locale, climbing the popular water tower at Volunteer Park offers the "best free view in Seattle," as voted by readers of Seattle Weekly.

Center for Wooden Boats
Sunday afternoons, boat rides are free at the Center for Wooden Boats, a free hands-on museum that explains maritime traditions and aims to preserve the art of handcrafted wooden boats, located just north of downtown.

Washington Park Arboretum
Explore Washington Park Arboretum's 230 acres (93 hectares) of 10,000 native plants in this internationally recognized woody plant collection, featuring Sorbus, Maple, Hollies, oaks, conifers, and camellias. Free tours are available every first and third Sunday at 1 p.m. (January-November).
Climb the water tower in Volunteer Park for the "best free view in Seattle," as voted by readers of Seattle Weekly.

Kerry Park
Go to Kerry Park, a small grassy strip on Upper Queen Anne for great views of the Space Needle, downtown Seattle, and Elliott Bay and Mount Rainier.

Myrtle Edwards Park
Go to Myrtle Edwards Park's running and biking trails, which wind 1.25 miles (2 kilometers) north of the waterfront with impressive views of Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains, and the skyline.

Green Lake
Visit Green Lake, an urban park that has two paths for walkers, bicyclers, strollers, and skaters: the 2.75-mile (4.4-kilometer) paved path that circles the lake and a less-crowded, 3.2-mile (2.15-kilometer) unpaved path on the park's perimeter. Or, sunbathe or swim on the two lakefront beaches.

Ultimate Frisbee
The Northwest Ultimate Association hosts free pick-up games of Ultimate Frisbee at parks around Seattle. Check their online listings for details.


Theater/Dance

Theater companies across the region celebrate the local theater scene with backstage tours, free kids workshops, and more than 50 free performances during Seattle's annual "Live Theatre Week," held the third week of October.

Catch lunchtime preview seminars of Pacific Northwest Ballet performances some Tuesdays at the Central Seattle Public Library, or converse with PNB artists at hour-long Sunday afternoon discussions in the Elliott Bay Book Company's reading room.

Wooden O Theatre Productions, a free Shakespeare company, performs modern takes on classics outdoors at various parks around Seattle during the summer.

Let us know about your own experiences visiting these places and/or any other free things that you have found for this destination. Include a comment in the comments section below so that others may learn from your experience.