Seattle tours are a great way to take advantage of the expertise of local guides to enhance your visit to the Emerald City. Various private companies throughout the city offer a plethora of options, so visitors can customize their experience. Whether you wish to explore the city on foot or by boat, taking in delicious foods or just the sights, there is a Seattle tour for you.

The heart of Seattle is compact, so walking tours are popular here. First-time visitors to Seattle will enjoy the basic city walking tours that take visitors to the major city landmarks, including Pike Place Market and the Space Needle. Foodies can take advantage of Seattle's robust restaurant culture on a gourmet food walking tour. Seattle tours wouldn't be complete without a walking tour of coffee houses, and scaling the city’s many hills will justify the extra calories of Seattle's chocolate tours. If you’re interested in architecture, let the Seattle Architectural Foundation submerge you in the fascinating history of the city's buildings on one of their walking tours.

One of the most popular walking tours of Seattle Washington is Bill Speidel's Underground Tour. This historic three-block stroll takes guests on an entertaining, subterranean journey down to the original roadways and passages of early nineteenth-century Seattle. Learn about the Great Fire of 1889, the Yukon Goldrush, the city's seawalls and the restoration of Pioneer Square as a registered Historic District.

Seattle Map

As a city situated between the Puget Sound and Lake Washington, some of the best tours of Seattle Washington are on the water. Reputable maritime companies offer multiple lake, island, sound and harbor tours. Departing from the Seattle waterfront, harbor tours acquaint guests with Elliott Bay, the Seattle skyline, the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, the Lake Washington Ship Canal, Seattle's shipyard, and Lake Union. If you're looking for something more relaxed than a narrated cruise, try a dining cruise, complete with a full meal. Some dinner cruises are themed, such as a murder mystery cruise. Or you can explore the Native American history of the Seattle area with a cruise to Tillicum Village and enjoy an informative show while feasting on fresh Northwest salmon baked on alder wood fires.

Combine land and sea tours of Seattle Washington by taking a Ride the Ducks tour. Beginning across the street from the Experience Music Project in Seattle Center, riders climb aboard an eye-catching amphibious vehicle that merges a bus tour of Seattle with a boat tour of Lake Union. Enjoy a party atmosphere with fun music, jovial narration from your driver, and the distinctive "quacker" noisemakers that characterize the Ducks tour.

Some Seattle tours venture beyond the city center to offer day excursions to Western Washington's many surrounding attractions. Multiple bus tours take visitors to majestic Mount Rainier. This 14,411-foot behemoth beckons outdoor enthusiasts from around the country, and the vistas from the Paradise Visitor's Center are incomparable. Journey into the Cascades to Snoqualmie Falls in the shadow of Mount Si, where visitors can hike to the bottom of the 270-foot waterfall.

Wine-lovers will enjoy a tour to Chateau Ste Michelle and Columbia wineries in Woodinville to indulge in a tasting or two, while aviation enthusiasts can visit the Everett Boeing plant, where many of today's commercial airplanes are assembled. Take a ferry across the Puget Sound to indulge in tours on the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas, including lighthouse and photography-themed tours. Small boat tours also venture out to the San Juan Islands, where whale watching is a favorite activity.