Since moving from Seattle to Luxembourg for school, I've noticed a few things the European country does better than the US.
09.02.2024 - 15:11 / lonelyplanet.com
Think Seattle, and you might think gray skies and rainy days. Yet the city’s beautiful summers don’t get nearly enough love.
In the longest, warmest months, rainy days are few and far between. You can look forward to clear blue skies and long days that conclude with stunning sunsets as late as 9pm.
Many of Seattle’s multitude of parks are located on the city’s 200 miles (!) of shoreline, and are home to beaches of all kinds. Those looking for a swim, an easy hike or simply a day of relaxation and scenery won’t have any trouble finding a stretch of shoreline that appeals.
From Puget Sound to Lake Washington to Elliott Bay, these are our 12 favorite Seattle beaches.
Best beach for families
Established in 1904 by Harry W Treat, Golden Gardens Park is a lovely 95-acre beach park with sandy beaches north of Shilshole Bay Marina. Here, you’ll find picnic facilities, restrooms, basketball hoops, volleyball nets, gangs of Canadian geese, lots of parking and plenty of space to get away from all the activity.
The Burke-Gilman Trail effectively ends here, not far from the Ballard neighborhood’s Scandi-cool vibe and plentiful restaurants. Grab a bite, then head up to neighboring Sunset Hill Park, a prime perch for dramatic sunsets and long views over the bay and out toward Bainbridge Island.
Best beach for outdoor adventures
A former military installation ingeniously transformed into a wild coastal green space, Discovery Park is a relatively recent addition to the city landscape: it wasn’t officially inaugurated until 1973. The largest green space in Seattle at 534 acres, it offers a compact cornucopia of cliffs, meadows, dunes, forest and beaches: a healthy microcosm of surrounding Pacific Northwest ecosystems.
Discovery Park boasts a kids’ play area, wonderful beachcombing opportunities and several miles of safe trails. You can find a complete map of the in-park network at the Discovery Park Environmental Learning Center near the Government Way entrance – including the route to reach the pretty old lighthouse.
Planning tip: To get there, catch bus 33 from 3rd Ave and Union St downtown.
Best beach to avoid the crowds
After a stroll through Olympic Sculpture Park in downtown Seattle, head to neighboring Myrtle Edwards Park. Pocket Beach, one of the smaller and less crowded beaches in the city, is located in the park – and it’s a peaceful spot to relax on the sand and take in views of the Olympic Mountains, the Space Needle and Seattle’s iconic skyline.
Local tip: Pocket Beach is also a prime spot to see native plants and marine life, including salmon and sea urchins.
Best beach to relax with locals
Slow down a couple of notches on a weekend summer’s afternoon on Alki Beach. Stretching from Duwamish Head to the Alki
Since moving from Seattle to Luxembourg for school, I've noticed a few things the European country does better than the US.
With a plethora of uninhabited islands, chilled Caribbean vibes on one side and monster Pacific swells on the other, Panama sits poised to deliver the very best of beach life.
As someone who has spent decades exploring the coast of Maine, I have stayed in properties up and down the coast. Here are four of my favorites and one new property worth considering for your summer getaway. Summer is a short season in Maine, and these are small boutique hotels, so the time to book is now.
Holland America is going big with its latest around-the-world cruise.
Alaska Airlines is making it easier to see April’s epic solar eclipse with a series of flights heading to destinations along the path of totality — and they're selling out. The specific routes, which fly to places like Mazatlán, Mexico, Texas, and Ohio, have seen a threefold increase in demand compared to previous years, Alaska Airlines shared with Travel + Leisure. And that increased demand has led to increasingly sold-out flights.
The notoriously choppy two-day crossing of the Drake Passage is often described as a rite of passage to visiting Antarctica.
Whether it's crowd-free sandy bays, dramatic cliffscapes or marine life havens, travelers love a day out at the beach. Each year, travel review and advice site Tripadvisor releases a list of the world’s best beaches as part of its Travellers’ Choice Awards. The site analyses the tens of millions of reviews submitted by global travelers over the past 12 months and looks at the quality and quantity of ratings for beach experiences.
Home to epic landscapes, natural wonders, and Māori culture, New Zealand is a magnetic destination just begging for a solo adventure.
Holland America Line is elevating its award-winning Alaska Cruisetours in time for the 2024 season with room upgrades at McKinley Chalet Resort and a new, included tour in Dawson City, Yukon. Alaska Cruisetours combine an Alaska cruise with an overland tour to Denali, and Holland America Line is the only cruise line that extends those tours into the Yukon. Balconies will be added to 28 river-view rooms at McKinley Chalet Resort — Holland America Line’s hotel property at Denali National Park — upgrading them to the Denali Suite category. In addition, a new Deluxe category of non-balcony rooms with suite amenities is being introduced. For the excursions, guests on select Denali and Yukon Cruisetours will have a new “Klondike Gold Tour” that expands on the region’s famed gold rush experience. The tour visits the original discovery claim site that launched the gold rush and Gold Dredge 4.
Could the city of Las Vegas get a basketball franchise?
The Grand Canyon, the Napa Valley, New Orleans — the United States' biggest draws need little in the way of introduction, having long captured imaginations across the globe. But in some ways, big isn't always best, at least where carbon footprints are concerned — and there are ways to take in the country's greatest hits without the correspondingly great environmental cost. From kayaking the Everglades to going electric in Washington, DC, here's how you can tread lightly while still enjoying the very best of the US.
The forecast for private jet flight providers in 2024 is headwinds and turbulence, although expectations are activity will stay double digits above pre-Covid levels.