11 Tourist Traps in Washington That Are Actually Worth the Hype

Washington’s Best “Touristy” Things to Do

Don’t let anyone shame you from being the most cliche Washington tourist ever. These activities may be uber-popular, but they’re also legitimately awesome.

Pike Place Market

Sure, watching dudes chuck salmon across a counter loses its charm after you’ve seen it 37 times. But Pike Place remains an absolute banger of a public market and the beating heart of Seattle.

Skip the Starbucks line (that’s not even the original location anyway, don’t @ us) and dive into the market’s lower levels where you’ll find absolute treasures: the occult bookshop, that Korean place with the life-changing dumplings, and bartenders at the Alibi Room who’ll actually remember you.

Mount Rainier

The mountain is out’ is Seattle-speak for ‘drop everything you’re doing immediately.’ This 14,410-foot volcanic beast dominates the landscape with such magnificent presence that it creates its own weather systems.

Yes, Paradise gets overrun in summer, but drive an extra 12 minutes to the Bench and Snow Lakes trailhead and suddenly you’ve got those ridiculous alpine views practically to yourself.

The wildflower game here in August is absolutely obscene—think hillsides exploding with color that’ll make your phone camera have a nervous breakdown trying to capture it all.

Olympic National Park

Olympic is nature showing off in the most obnoxious way possible: ‘Hey, want a rainforest? How about wild beaches? Alpine meadows? Ancient forests? ALL IN ONE PARK?’ It’s almost unfair.

Yes, Ruby Beach gets mobbed, but literally any other beach in the park offers the same driftwood, sea stacks, and moody vibes with a fraction of the people.

Space Needle

Look, you’re going to end up here eventually, so embrace it. The recent glow-up with all that terrifying glass flooring has turned what could have been a dated ’60s relic into something that’ll actually quicken your pulse.

Is it expensive? God yes. But sometimes you need to see Elliott Bay, the Cascades, and the Olympics all while standing on transparent glass wondering if you’ll plummet to your death.

San Juan Islands

The moment that Washington State Ferry pulls away from Anacortes, you can physically feel your blood pressure dropping.

These islands are what people who’ve never been to the Pacific Northwest imagine it’s all like—evergreen-covered rocks jutting from a sea that can’t decide if it’s teal or slate.

Yes, the ice cream line in Friday Harbor in July is criminally long, but watching orcas surf your ferry wake while bald eagles circle overhead makes you realize maybe tourists had the right idea after all.

Leavenworth

Yes, it’s kitschy. Yes, you’ll hear oompah music. But the surrounding Cascade peaks, actually decent German food (the pretzels at München Haus are legitimately magnificent), and the fact that the entire town goes absolutely berserk with Christmas lights in winter makes it impossible to hate.

Snoqualmie Falls

Just 30 minutes from Seattle, this 268-foot cascade of whitewater has been photobombing family portraits since long before social media existed.

The upper viewing platform will be packed with people taking the exact same photo, but hike down to the lower observation deck and you’ll cut the crowd by 75% while getting close enough to feel the spray on your face.

The falls absolutely roar during spring snowmelt. Grab a drink at The Attic at Salish Lodge afterward and look smugly down upon the waterfall like you own it.

Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP)

Housed in what looks like a building designed by aliens on acid, MoPOP is where high culture and nerdy obsessions collide in the best possible way.

Where else can you see Nirvana’s instruments, Captain Kirk’s command chair, and horror movie props all under one psychedelic roof? The interactive exhibits let you actually play instruments and create your own music, meaning it’s basically an expensive indoor playground for adults.

The horror film section will make you sleep with the lights on, and any museum with a full-scale fantasy dragon deserves your time and money.

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Art museums can be pretentious snooze-fests, but Dale Chihuly’s glass wonderland is like walking through an alien landscape where everything looks simultaneously organic and impossible.

Massive tentacle-like sculptures in impossible colors twist toward the ceiling while outdoor installations make you question reality as glass and plants merge into fever-dream landscaping. The gift shop is a trap though, but you already knew that.

Mount St. Helens

This is the site of the most violent temper tantrum in modern American history, and it’s still pissed off about it.

Standing at Johnston Ridge Observatory looking directly into the crater where half a mountain used to be is a sobering reminder that nature can and will mess you up.

The blast zone—still recovering over 40 years later—looks like a post-apocalyptic movie set, but watching life slowly return is strangely hopeful.

Washington State Ferries

Name another city where regular public transportation offers world-class views of orcas, islands, and snow-capped mountains.

For the price of a fancy coffee, you can cruise through the San Juans or across Puget Sound like you’re in a nature documentary.

The Seattle to Bainbridge route delivers the money shot of the Seattle skyline that makes you forgive the city for its traffic and housing prices. Grab a local beer from the galley, head to the outdoor deck, and pretend you’re on an actual cruise while commuters around you angrily refresh their work emails.