This is of course the featured attraction and the first thing people think of when they visit Seattle. You can ride the needle all the way to the viewing deck on top.... 520 twenty feet up!  From here you can view all of the cities famous natural landmarks such as Mt. Rainier to the south, the Cascade Mountains to the east and the majestic Olympic range to the west. Complimentary telescopes add to the experiences.

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium:

This attraction is south of Seattle in the city of Tacoma. (Less than an hour away) It's an oceanfront zoo which features various animals such as tigers, penguins, polar bears and gibbons. The aquarium half is the best part, here you can view Beluga whales and various sharks such as Nurse sharks. There's also smaller aquariums with various local oceanic fish and seahorses. Some of the habitats were a little on the small side (such as the Beluga tank) but overall it's a good way to spend 1.5-3 hours. If you are looking for just a great Zoo than you should visit the Woodland Park Zoo.

Museum of Flight:

We expected an average Airplane museum, but the reality is much different. There's something here for everyone. There's 3 huge sections, and each alone could have made a worthwhile museum visit. One section is on nasa and the space program. You can learn about astronauts, cosmonauts, and the race to the moon, and the future of the space program with the international space shuttle and the race to Mars. There's real artifacts from the space program including the gear and technology they used.

Section 2 and 3 are on World War I & II. There's a huge assortment of war planes, and the stories of the people who flew them. Learn about the planes themselves and the struggles to build them.

There's also other interesting stories and planes throughout the museum, such as the first people who delivered mail via planes, first passenger planes, etc.

Science Fiction Museum & Experience Music Project:

This museum is divided in two but you can see both with 1 ticket.

Science Fiction Museum:  The only museum in the world that we know of which is dedicated to writers and producers of yesterdays and todays science fiction. Learn about legendary writers such as Ray Bradbury, Octavia Butler, Harlan Ellison, Sir Arthur C. Clark. This is great for anyone who is a scifi fan. You can also view props such as costumes, ray guns, helmets, and other movie and TV show artifacts. They have something from Star Trek, Star Wars, Blade Runner, Coneheads, and other movie classics.

Experience Music Project: View a detailed history of all the different genres such as Blues, Grunge, Rock & Roll, and more. Each music category has a detailed timeline. What we found to be fun, is there's an area of the museum where you can jam on different instruments. If you are a fan of music this is a great experience.

Pacific Science Center:

One of the most popular science centers in the world, it has over 300 hands on exhibits, a planetarium, and an Imax. There's 5 buildings in total! You can also visit a tropical butterfly house, educational programs, and laser light shows.

Woodland Park Zoo:

This is a world class Zoo and is huge. It's considered the largest Zoo in the west Coast.There's over 1000 individual animals representing over 300 species. Some of the animals they have include the African and Asian elephant, Giraffes, Crocodiles, Komodo dragons, Brown bears, Arctic Foxes, Leopards, & Colobus monkeys. Well worth spending a day at.

Seattle Aquarium:

Located downtown on the harbor, it's well worth visiting the surrounding area. There you can stroll and visit different shops or eat at different restaurants. This Aquarium is on the smaller side but well worth a visit. If you take your time you can easily see everything in less than 90 minutes. They have tropical and local oceanic fish, as well as sea otters and fur seals.