Don’t throw away the morning before embarking your cruise! This tour makes the most of the uncrowded morning hours before you board the ship. From the top of a downtown tower or one of the Seattle’s characteristic hilltops, these bird’s-eye-view locations acquaint the traveler with the city and its surroundings.
An independent light breakfast – donuts or fresh baked pastries – on the hilltop Queen Anne neighborhood starts the morning. Sips of delicious organic coffee punctuate views of neighborhood mansions and jaw-dropping vistas on a short, leisurely stroll between Kerry Park and Betty Bowen Viewpoint.
Back in the van, up and down steep hills and over and around man-made and natural waterways, we wind our way to Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park. In this idyllic Olmsted Brothers setting, we’ll climb 106 steel steps to the top of the Volunteer Park Water Tower, on the hill’s 422.5-foot high point, or simply browse the park’s other attractions – the Seattle Asian Art Museum and the Volunteer Park Conservatory.
If by now you’re in need of another pick-me-up, you’ll find it downtown at the 40th floor Starbucks in Seattle’s tallest building. But just wait for the conclusion of your Vistas Tour another 33 stories up! From the windows of Columbia Tower’s 73rd Floor Observation Deck, visitors marvel at Seattle’s unique urbanism—life among arterial highways and railways, industry cranes, office towers, and hilly, arboreal neighborhoods in stunning natural landscapes.
Cruise passengers can avail our cruise terminal service at the end of the tour.
Sample morning itinerary
7:30-8:00am | Hotel lobby pick up
8:00-8:30am | Queen Anne Bakery, Donuts, or Coffee
8:30-9:00am | Betty Bowen Viewpoint to Kerry Park stroll
9:00-9:30am | Lake Union and Cascade Mountains Viewpoint/Drive to Volunteer Park
9:30-11:00am | Volunteer Park self-guided walks
11:00-11:45am | Columbia Tower/40th Floor Starbucks
11:45-12:30pm | Return to hotel lobby/Cruise terminal (Golden Princess, Norwegian Star, Sapphire Princess, Norwegian Pearl, Royal Princess, or Rhapsody of the Seas)
Sample per person costs during this tour
$8 | Independent breakfast
$5-$7.50 | Observation deck admission
$3 | Coffee
$6-$8 | Cruise terminal or airport hotel transportation
Reserve a tour
Your Host
- Schraepfer
- Seattle, WA, United States
- Schraepfer is an independent travel guide and copy editor. He’s the editor of travel and tourism guide books, including Boston’s Gardens and Green Spaces, and has edited travel catalogs and itineraries for Overseas Adventure Travel, Grand Circle Travel, EF Tours, and Paul Gauguin Cruises. From Ireland, Jamaica, and Australia to Europe and the United States, he’s found exceptional hospitality to be the norm around the world. Delaware, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Boston – Schraepfer now lives in Seattle, where he delights in sharing the area’s quintessential locales and hosting musicians from around the world during the Earshot Jazz Festival each October.