Family travel in Seattle

Seattle isn’t the kind of place where people will coo over your baby or strangers will make faces to entertain your toddler, but when it comes to having the facilities and features that make traveling with kids in a new place easy, it’s got everything you need. The city is full of kid-friendly parks, breweries that welcome rambunctious toddlers, and museums that captivate little attention spans. The public transportation is free for kids, and the streets are stroller friendly. In other words, the city itself is designed to be kid-friendly, just don’t expect the locals to always be thrilled to see children.

All of Seattle’s most popular sites are at least as exciting for children as they are for parents: the Pike Place Market is filled with doughnut machines, candy stores, and fish flying through the air; the Space Needle is practically an amusement park ride; and getting on a ferry boat makes everyone smile. But there are also a few attractions around town that appeal that much more to children and families.

At Seattle Center, just steps from the exciting colors of the Chihuly Gardens and Glass and from the fun of the Space Needle, sits one of the city’s best playgrounds. The free, enormous playground fills up much of the 50-acre plaza with an artistic-minded playground, designed to incorporate sound and motion. Along with tons of musical instruments and sound swings, there is a ladybug-shaped labyrinth, upright xylophone fence, human-powered carousel, and 30-foot climbing tower with a sky bridge and two slides.

Kids love trains, and even kids not already fascinated by trains fall in love with the monorail. Built for the 1962 World’s Fair, like the Space Needle, the monorail runs on an elevated track from Seattle Center (the Space Needle) to Westlake Mall (near the heart of Downtown and just a few blocks from Pike Place Market). Because it’s not technically part of the public transportation system, kids ages 6-18 do pay ($1.75), but it’s worth it, especially if you already have to get between the two places. Even if you don’t, the big windows at the front and back make for great viewing, and the quick ride fits a toddler attention span perfectly.

More than a dozen microbreweries pepper the neighborhood of Ballard, and almost all of them welcome kids. While their focus is on making and serving beer, the big, open spaces become a kind of informal playground for children. Most keep small snacks and a non-alcoholic option, such as rootbeer or lemonade, on hand, some have a stash of board games for rainy days, too. Food trucks park in front of the breweries and around the neighborhood to keep drinkers well-fed.

At least as much arcade as it is a museum, this labor of love by local collectors puts about 50 different pinball machines out at a time, and each entrance fee includes unlimited games on all of them. The collection includes consoles dating back to 1934, brand-new ultra-modern versions, old favorites, and obscure treasures. (Note: this is great for kids, but not young kids, as they require players to be at least seven years old.)

Perched on the edge of Seattle’s waterfront, just a few feet from the natural habitat of many of the animals under its care, the Seattle Aquarium introduces the marine life of the Pacific Northwest to kids in a variety of ways. Kids can touch the tidepool displays, watch sea lions and marine mammals get fed, and stand in the center of the underwater dome, surrounded by water and sea life.

Airplanes helped build Seattle into the successful city it is today, thanks in large part to Boeing, so it’s only appropriate that houses the world’s largest independent non-profit air and space museum. Almost 200 flying machines, from early airplanes to snazzy spacecraft, fill the exhibits. Climb into the simulator and soar over Seattle while the kids serve as flight attendants in the play area.

Simultaneously one of the grossest and most fun sculptures in existence, this giant troll lives under the Aurora Bridge in the Fremont Neighborhood, eternally gripping a VW Bug it once seized. The statue is endlessly entertaining to climb on and slide down, and it makes for memorable pictures, but be warned: it is located underneath a major freeway, which makes it (and anyone who plays on it) very dirty.

Soar above the city on this 175-foot Ferris wheel on the waterfront. The 42 enclosed gondola cars take 10-20 minutes to make the full circle, depending on the season, and the views from the top are spectacular. The 500,000 LED lights on the outside often change color in support of local sports teams or to celebrate holidays, which makes any wait to board a little more exciting.

Like the neighboring Space Needle, the Science Center came out of the 1962 World’s Fair, and it has a similarly intriguing no-longer-futuristic building. But the exhibits inside keep up with the times, including saltwater tidepools, a butterfly house, and plenty of dinosaurs. A special toddler area keeps the youngest ones occupied, while older kids will enjoy the planetarium, IMAX Theater, and Laser Dome, which includes shows like “Laser Taylor Swift.”

Climbing the mountain inside the Seattle Children’s requires far less gear (and driving) than visiting the real Mt. Rainier. Geared toward the smallest set, this Seattle Center stalwart puts Seattle’s culture, nature, and landmarks into play-sized versions. Kids can climb into the mouth of the beast in Orca Cove, tell their own Tribal Tales with puppets, or be the conductor of their own Sound Transit train.

Seattle’s public transportation is completely free to anyone under the age of 18, with no ticket or card needed, so it tends to be the best way to get around Seattle with kids. There are almost always seats available and people will stand up to allow a child or parent with a child to sit down when the bus does get crowded.

Small children are required by law to be in car seats in Seattle, which makes taking taxis or ride shares more cumbersome – you either have to bring the car seat with you, or hope the driver doesn’t care (some will, most won’t).