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Key Attractions

Experience Music Project
The recently opened Experience Music Project (EMP) celebrates American popular music, for which Seattle is famous, beginning with the 1970s and Jimi Hendrix right up to the 90s grunge scene. It combines technologically advanced interactive and interpretive exhibits and more than 80,000 music artefacts, including the world's largest collection of Hendrix memorabilia, an extensive recorded sound archive, film, photographs and stage costumes. The Guitar Gallery's Quest for Volume exhibit explores the origins of amplified instruments and the Sound Lab contains the latest in musical gear and audio technology. The unique architecture by Frank O Gehry has been described as 'the Jacket of the Space Needle dropped on the ground' with an unmistakable purple and red metallic exterior.

325 Fifth Avenue North, Seattle Center
Tel: (206) 367 5483.
E-mail: experience@emplive.com
Website: www.emplive.com
Transport: Bus 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 24 or 33; or monorail.
Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 1000-1800, Fri and Sat 1000-2300.
Admission: US$19.95, may vary according to event (concessions available).

Seattle Center
Built for the 'Century 21' exhibition at the 1962 World's Fair, the 30-hectare (74-acre) Seattle Center is home to the city's most recognisable landmark: the 185m-tall (605ft) Space Needle. The Needle was designed by architect Edward E Carlson as a tribute to the vision of spaceship culture during the Cold War era. The underground foundation was so huge - at 91m (30ft) deep and 366m (120ft) wide - that it required 467 cement trucks and an entire day to fill the whole, the largest continuous concrete 'pour' in the West. Once completed, the foundation weighed as much as the Needle itself. The steel construction followed, using massive spiky legs to hold the spaceship observation deck and revolving restaurant on top. It takes 45 seconds in a glass elevator to reach the pinnacle.

The Seattle Center is also home to the Pacific Science Center, which offers hands-on exhibits of lasers and holograms and includes the Boeing IMAX Theater and the Children's Museum, designed for the energy and imagination of younger visitors. Numerous civic festivals, such as Bumbershoot, Folklife and Bite of Seattle, take place here.

Seattle Center
305 Harrison Street
Tel: (800) 964 7695, toll free in the USA and Canada, or 443 9800 or 684 8582 (events information).
Website: www.seattlecenter.com

Pacific Science Center
200 Second Avenue North
Tel: (206) 443 2880.
Website: www.pacsci.org
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1700, Sat and Sun 1000-1800.
Admission: US$8 (exhibit or IMAX only); US$8 (IMAX only); from US$12.50 (exhibit and IMAX).

Space Needle
Tel: (206) 443 2111.
Website: www.spaceneedle.com
Opening hours: Daily 0800-2400.
Admission: US$11 (concessions available; free for restaurant patrons).

The Children's Museum
305 Harrison Street
Tel: (206) 441 1768.
Website: www.thechildrensmuseum.org
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1700, Sat and Sun 1000-1800.
Admission: US$5.
Transport: Bus 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 24 or 33; or monorail.

Seattle Art Museum
'Hammering Man', a massive sculpture of a manual worker, stands at the entrance to the Seattle Art Museum (or SAM), a striking postmodern building designed by Robert Venturi. Upstairs are noteworthy permanent exhibits of art from Africa and Native American Northwest, as well as touring international exhibitions.

100 University Street
Tel: (206) 654 3100.
Website: www.seattleartmuseum.org
Transport: Bus tunnel stop University Street; bus 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 13, 14 and 16 to University Street.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1700 (until 2100 Thurs).
Admission: US$7 (concessions available); special exhibitions may cost more.

Pike Place Market
The Pike Place Market is the oldest continually operating Farmers' Market in America. Situated just above the Waterfront, it features abundant fresh seafood and produce, as well as local handcrafted items. There are marvellous views of ferries and freighters passing on the bay below, street performances, and a variety of unique pubs and restaurants. The original Starbucks, which brought the words espresso and latte into the American lexicon, is located here, as well as several small Mexican and other speciality groceries.

First Avenue and Pike Street
Transport: Waterfront Streetcar or bus 15, 18, 22, 23 along First Avenue to Westlake Mall.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1800.
Admission: Free.

Waterfront
Centred on Waterfront Park (below Pike Place Market), the promenade and piers that line Elliot Bay are in constant action, with maritime industries, shops and restaurants jostled together, ferries and freighters docking and the occasional seaplane flying overhead. Harbour tours, island cruises and fishing excursions are easily available from here. On Pier 59, the Seattle Aquarium has sea otters, a Pacific coral reef and other marine life on display. Right next door, the Seattle IMAX Dome provides numerous big-screen experiences, the most popular being the ongoing film of the 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens shot from a helicopter. Pier 66 is home to the new Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal, where world-class cruise liners dock, amid other attractions, such as a state-of-the-art international conference centre, restaurants and a marina. Also at Pier 66 is Odyssey, The Maritime Discovery Center, with hands-on exhibits where visitors can pilot a virtual container ship through Puget Sound or haul in plastic fish on a fake factory trawler. Nearby, the bare wood deck of Pier 62/63 becomes a concert venue every summer, where artists perform amid an expansive setting of skyscrapers, boats and sunsets.

Seattle Aquarium and Seattle IMAX Dome
Pier 59
Tel: (206) 386 4320 (Aquarium) or 622 1869 (IMAX).
Website: www.seattleaquarium.org or www.seattleimaxdome.com
Aquarium opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (winter); daily 1000-1900 (summer).
Admission: US$8.50 (Aquarium); US$7 (IMAX); US$14 (combined ticket); concessions available.

Bell Street Cruise Terminal
Pier 66
Tel: (206) 615 3900.
Website: www.portseattle.org

Odyssey, The Maritime Discovery Center
Pier 66
Tel: (206) 374 4000.
Website: www.ody.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1000-1700, Sun 1200-1700.
Admission: US$6.50 (concessions available).
Transport: Pedestrian bridge from downtown Seattle and all major bus routes to the Waterfront; the Waterfront Streetcar runs from Pioneer Square.

Pioneer Square
Pioneer Square is south of the main downtown area, a 17-square-block National Historic District, which showcases Seattle's early history with the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and the unique Underground Tour of the sunken storefronts. This was the home of the original 'Skid Road', a term born when timber was slid down Yesler Way to a steam-powered mill on the Waterfront. Seattle's oldest neighbourhood, Pioneer Square is full of restored redbrick buildings containing numerous shops with everything from antiques to handmade toys, as well as bookstores and art galleries. Smith Tower, which overlooks the square, was the tallest building west of the Mississippi when it was completed in 1914 - at 42 storeys (159m/522ft). By night, especially on weekends or after a baseball game at Safeco Field, crowds jam the many restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
117 South Main Street
Tel: (206) 553 7220.
Website: www.nps.gov/klgo
Transport: Bus or Waterfront Streetcar to Pioneer Square.
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1800.
Admission: Free.

Chinatown/International District
Across Fourth Avenue, uphill from Pioneer Square, this neighbourhood has been settled by Asian immigrants for decades, all leaving their imprint in the form of arts, crafts and cuisine. Hing Hay (the 'park for pleasurable gatherings') has a bright pagoda donated by the City of Taipei and Kobe Terrace (named for Seattle's sister city in Japan) boasts an 3600kg (8000lb) stone lantern. Built in 1909, the Nippon Kan Theatre was the cultural heart of Seattle's Japanese community until the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II. The building was 'rediscovered' in 1978 and is now designated as a historic landmark, offering an eclectic mix of events. The Uwajimaya Market is the largest Asian store in the Northwest, with services including a cooking school, a bookstore and a sushi bar. The Wing Luke Asian Museum is the USA's only museum devoted to Asian-American history.

Nippon Kan Theatre
628 South Washington Street
Tel: (206) 224 0181.
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1100-1700
Admission: Free except for special events.

Uwajimaya Market
Sixth Avenue South and South King Street
Tel: (206) 624 6248.
Website: www.uwajimaya.com
Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 0900-2000, Fri and Sat 0900-2100.

Wing Luke Asian Museum
407 Seventh Avenue South
Tel: (206) 623 5124. Fax: (206) 623 4559.
Website: www.wingluke.org
Opening hours: Tues-Fri 1100-1630, Sat and Sun 1200-1600.
Admission: US$2.50 (free on Thurs).
Transport: Bus to International District stop.

Museum of Flight
South of downtown, towards the airport, the Museum of Flight is beside the runway at Boeing Field. One of Boeing's original buildings, the Red Barn, is part of the museum, its Great Gallery home to a huge collection of aircraft hanging from the glass ceiling. This permanent exhibition is unquestionably a tribute to the airlines giant but nonetheless covers the entire history of flight from Leonardo da Vinci's drawings to the NASA space program.

9404 East Marginal Way South
Tel: (206) 764 5700 or 5720, recorded information.
Website: www.museumofflight.org
Transport: Bus 174 south from downtown.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (until 2100 Thurs).
Admission: US$8 (concessions available).

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
This museum has a special focus on the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Rim, featuring exhibits on the geology and biology of Washington State, dinosaur skeletons and cultural exhibits. It is located on the University of Washington campus in the University District.

17th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 45th Street
Tel: (206) 543 5590.
Website: www.washington.edu/burkemuseum
Transport: Bus 70, 71, 72 or 73 north from downtown Seattle to the U-District.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (until 2000 Thurs).
Admission: US$5.50 (concessions available).

Woodland Park Zoo
The 36.8-hectare (92-acre) Woodland Park Zoo, considered among the top ten zoos in America, is a world leader in freeing animals from cages and letting them roam free in natural settings. Among new habitats are a butterfly exhibit, the 'Trail of Vines', 'Northern Trail', a tropical rainforest, the African savannah and an elephant habitat reminiscent of Thailand.

5500 Phinney Avenue North
Tel: (206) 684 4800.
Website: www.zoo.org
Transport: Bus 5 north from Third Avenue and Pine Street (downtown) to Westgate.
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1600 (winter); daily 0930-1700 (summer; until 1800 May-mid-Sep).
Admission US$9 (concessions available).



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