Date ideas in Seattle: 19 ideas for rain, sun and ferry days

• Budgetfree to low
• Best forfirst date
• Time1 to 2 hours
• WherePike Place Market, downtown

Pike Place Market has been running since 1907, and it's still a working market with fish stalls, flower sellers, bakeries and small shops on several levels below the main arcade. Sharing a few snacks as you walk takes the pressure off a first date, and there is always something to point at, from flying fish to the colorful (and slightly gross) Gum Wall in Post Alley.

Tip: Go early on a weekday, before the crowds arrive. Buy a bunch of flowers together at the end, it's a sweet souvenir and costs little.

• Budgetfree
• Best forfirst date, cheap
• Time1 hour
• WhereBelltown, Elliott Bay

The Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park is a free outdoor park that zigzags down from Belltown to the water. Large sculptures stand against a backdrop of Elliott Bay and, when it's clear, the Olympic Mountains. From the bottom, you can keep walking along the waterfront toward the market.

Tip: Arrive in the late afternoon for the best light over the water. It's open and windy, so bring a jacket.

• Budgetfree to low
• Best forfirst date, rainy day
• Time1 hour
• Where10th Avenue, Capitol Hill

Elliott Bay Book Company has been one of Seattle's best-loved independent bookstores since 1973. Its cedar shelves, creaky floors and café make it a warm place to linger. Browsing books together tells you a lot about a person, faster than any list of questions.

Tip: Pick a book for each other under a small budget, then swap them over coffee. Cal Anderson Park across the street is nice for a short walk afterwards.

• Budgetfree
• Best forrainy day, architecture
• Time1 hour
• WhereFourth Avenue, downtown

Seattle's Central Library, designed by Rem Koolhaas and opened in 2004, looks like a stack of glass boxes and is one of the most striking buildings in the city. Take the escalators up on the bright chartreuse escalators to the 10th-floor reading room, where rain streams down the glass walls above the city. Watching a storm from up there is oddly romantic.

Tip: The library sometimes runs free public tours. Stop by the red fourth floor too, with its winding, all-red hallways.

• Budgetlow
• Best forrainy day, winter
• Time1 hour
• WhereVolunteer Park, Capitol Hill

This Victorian-style glass greenhouse is filled with palms, orchids, cacti and seasonal flower displays. Stepping inside on a cold, wet day feels like a short trip somewhere warm. Volunteer Park around it has a water tower you can climb for a view and the Asian Art Museum.

Tip: The conservatory usually has free admission on the first Thursday of the month. Check the Seattle Parks website before you go.

• Budgetmedium
• Best forrainy day, second date
• Time1 to 2 hours
• WhereSeattle Center

Chihuly Garden and Glass shows the work of glass artist Dale Chihuly, with rooms of huge, glowing sculptures, a glass house with a giant red and orange piece hanging from the ceiling and a garden where the glass grows between real plants. It's right next to the Space Needle, so you can easily combine the two.

Tip: Visit in the late afternoon so you see the garden both in daylight and when it lights up in the evening.

• Budgetmedium
• Best forrainy day, curious couples
• Timeabout 75 minutes
• WherePioneer Square

After the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, the city rebuilt its streets one story higher, leaving old sidewalks and storefronts underneath. Bill Speidel's Underground Tour takes you through those passages, with guides who tell the story with plenty of humor. It's a good date if you both like odd history and a little dust.

Tip: Book ahead on weekends. Afterwards, walk around Pioneer Square, the city's oldest neighborhood, and look for the iron and glass pergola.

• Budgetfree
• Best foractive, nature lovers
• Time2 to 3 hours
• WhereMagnolia

Discovery Park is Seattle's largest park, with forest trails, meadows, sea cliffs and beaches. The Loop Trail is easy, and a side trail leads down to West Point Lighthouse on the beach, with views across Puget Sound to the mountains. It feels much farther from downtown than it is.

Tip: The path down to the beach is steep on the way back. Bring water and a snack to share at the lighthouse.

• Budgetfree to medium
• Best forsummer, playful
• Timehalf a day
• WhereWallingford, Lake Union

Gas Works Park is built around the rusty towers of an old gas plant, and its grassy hill looks straight across Lake Union to the downtown skyline. Seaplanes take off and land on the lake, and houseboats line the shore. Rent a kayak or paddleboard nearby and you can paddle past them for a closer look.

Tip: Go up the little hill with the sundial for the best view. A sunset picnic here is one of the classic Seattle summer dates.

• Budgetfree to low
• Best forrelaxed, spring or fall
• Time2 hours
• WhereMontlake, Madison Park

The Washington Park Arboretum is a free, gently hilly park full of trees and trails, especially lovely in spring blossom season and in fall. Its southern end holds the Seattle Japanese Garden, with a pond, koi, stone lanterns and a teahouse. Azalea Way is the classic walk through the middle.

Tip: The Japanese Garden has its own entry fee and usually closes from December through February. The rest of the arboretum is open all year.

• Budgetfree
• Best forquiet, cheap
• Time1 to 2 hours
• WhereRainier Beach, South Seattle

Kubota Garden is a free Japanese-style garden in the south of the city, started by a gardener named Fujitaro Kubota in the 1920s. It has ponds, waterfalls, red bridges and stone paths that wind through the trees. It's much quieter than the city's better-known gardens, which is exactly why it's good for a date.

Tip: Pack a thermos of tea. Find the steepest of the red bridges and cross it together, slowly.

• Budgetlow
• Best forromantic, any season
• Timehalf a day
• WhereColman Dock to Bainbridge Island

The Washington State Ferries leave from the downtown terminal at Colman Dock, and the crossing to Bainbridge Island takes about 35 minutes. From the outer deck you see the skyline shrink behind you, with the Olympic Mountains ahead and Mount Rainier to the south on clear days. On the island, a short walk takes you into the little town of Winslow.

Tip: Time your return for sunset and stand on the back deck. If it's raining, the inside seats have big windows and the view is still lovely.

• Budgetfree
• Best forromantic, evening
• Time30 minutes
• WhereQueen Anne Hill

This small park on the south slope of Queen Anne Hill has the classic Seattle view: the Space Needle in front of the downtown towers, Elliott Bay to the side and, on a clear day, Mount Rainier floating in the background. At dusk, the city lights come on one by one. It's short, free and always impressive.

Tip: It gets busy at sunset, so stay a little longer once the crowd leaves. Then walk along the residential streets of Queen Anne, which have more views.

• Budgetmedium
• Best forromantic, rainy evening
• WherePioneer Square

When it opened in 1914, Smith Tower was the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Today, its 35th floor holds an observatory with an open-air deck and a bar styled like the 1920s. The view is less famous than from the Space Needle, but it's more intimate and you can sit down with a drink.

Tip: Ride up in one of the old elevators. Combine it with the Underground Tour for a full Pioneer Square evening.

• Budgetfree
• Best forplayful, cheap
• Time1 to 2 hours
• WhereFremont

Fremont calls itself the center of the universe, and it has the art to prove it: a giant concrete troll under the Aurora Bridge crushing a real Volkswagen Beetle, a statue of Lenin and the "Waiting for the Interurban" sculpture that locals dress up for holidays. A walk from the troll down to the ship canal is cheap, silly and a great way to laugh together.

Tip: Take a goofy photo with the troll, then follow the canal path toward Gas Works Park for a longer walk.

• Budgetfree
• Best forspring, romantic
• WhereLiberal Arts Quad, University District

Every spring, the cherry trees in the University of Washington's Quad bloom at once and turn the old brick campus pink. The peak usually falls somewhere between late March and early April and only lasts a few days. Walking under the blossoms with someone is exactly as nice as it sounds.

Tip: Go early on a weekday morning. The university often shares bloom updates online, so you can time your visit.

• Budgetfree to low
• Best forsummer, evening
• WhereGolden Gardens Park, Ballard

Golden Gardens is a sandy beach in Ballard looking west over Puget Sound to the Olympic Mountains. In summer, the park has fire pits that are first come, first served, so a sunset with a small fire, blankets and something to grill is possible right in the city. Alki Beach in West Seattle has fire pits too.

Tip: Follow the city's beach fire rules: only clean firewood, no alcohol and the fire must be out before the park closes. Arrive early to get a pit.

• Budgetfree
• Best forfall, curious couples
• Time1 hour
• WhereHiram M. Chittenden Locks, Ballard

The Ballard Locks lift boats between Lake Washington and Puget Sound, and watching them pass through is surprisingly fun. Next to them is a fish ladder with an underwater viewing room where you can watch salmon fight their way upstream, mostly from summer into early fall. The gardens beside the locks are perfect for a walk afterwards.

Tip: Late summer and September are usually the best weeks for salmon. Continue to Golden Gardens or to the bars and cafés of Ballard Avenue.

• Budgetfree to medium
• Best forwinter, festive
• WhereSeattle waterfront parks

In December, a boat covered in lights sails around Puget Sound and the lakes, with a choir on board singing carols at different waterfront stops. You can watch from the shore for free, often with a bonfire at the park, or book a ride on one of the boats that follow it. It's a very Seattle way to start the holiday season.

Tip: Check the official schedule for the stop nearest you and bring a thermos of cocoa. Dress warmly, standing by the water in December gets cold fast.