Up the steps from Seattle’s exciting waterfront, Pike Place Market’s cobbled streets are always bursting with energy and life. Whether it’s the street performers who dazzle the crowds here by night or the vendors selling their wares by day, there is always something going on.
The market itself is home to around 200 stalls and shops, some of which are local institutions and family-run businesses. Here down the market’s wide aisles you will chance upon flavours and smells that will transport you around the world and back. Whether they’re looking for seasonal fruits, fresh flowers, or even jewellery and art, locals and tourists alike come here both to buy the produce on offer and to savour the heady atmosphere.
Famous for its fresh fish, you will find everything and anything caught straight out of the waters surrounding Seattle, from Dungeness crab to Northwest salmon and so much more. Alongside all this you’ll find bars and cafes, cheese counters, fruit stands, oriental health stalls, as well as bookstores, antique shops, clothiers and speciality shops on the lower floor beneath the market.
The atmosphere is always lively, and the stallholders have plenty of fun whilst making their money. The fishmongers especially are up for a laugh, displaying their fish-throwing prowess while they sell you an oyster or two. Sometimes they might even try to prank you by hurling a fish out into the aisles at the end of a long piece of string!
Pike Place Market is an institution in Seattle, part of the rich life of the entire city. Here you can enjoy the atmosphere, chat with the friendly stallholders, and open your wallet to purchase anything from eastern potions to local produce. If all the hubbub gets too much, simply head for the ground floor where you’ll find a public library offering some space for quiet thought. When the sun sets and the evening comes, so too do countless live singers and musicians who perform at the Can Can bar.
Situated in downtown Seattle and open every day of the week, Pike Place Market is a much loved destination on any visitor’s itinerary. You should find parking as long as you arrive early, but the market is easily reached by taxi or bus too.
