Seattle Multi-Sport Road Trips for 2026-2027

The Emerald City is one of the best multi-sport road trip cities in North America. With the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field in the SoDo district and the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center, fans can experience two of the most rapidly growing fan bases in professional sports across a single weekend from a downtown Seattle hotel base. Whether you're planning an NFL and NHL weekend, a Chiefs-Seahawks Sunday Night Football broadcast trip, a Cowboys-Seahawks Monday Night Football weekend, or the same-day Chargers-Seahawks and Kraken Home Opener doubleheader on October 4, Seattle offers one of the strongest combinations on the 2026-2027 sports calendar.

The 2026-2027 schedule produces five standout multi-sport weekends. The headline weekend is October 4, when the Los Angeles Chargers visit Lumen Field for a Sunday-afternoon Seahawks game and the Calgary Flames visit Climate Pledge Arena for the Kraken Home Opener on the same Sunday night, one of the rarest same-day NFL and NHL combinations in professional sports and the season debut of the 2026-2027 Kraken campaign. Additional standout weekends include the Chiefs-Seahawks Sunday Night Football October 25 broadcast (one of the marquee Chiefs-Seahawks matchups of the fall), the Rangers-Kraken and Cardinals-Seahawks November 7-8 pairing, the Cowboys-Seahawks Monday Night Football December 6-7 weekend, and the season-closing Predators-Kraken and Giants-Seahawks December 12-13 combination.

Downtown Seattle is the natural base for every itinerary in this guide. The downtown hotel cluster (from Pike Place Market north to Belltown and south to Pioneer Square) sits within a Sound Transit Link light-rail ride to Stadium Station (Lumen Field) in about 5 minutes and a Seattle Center Monorail ride to Climate Pledge Arena in about 2 minutes. This is one of the most fan-friendly transit setups in North America: fans can reach both venues from the same downtown hotel base without needing a rental car; the 1962 World's Fair monorail from Westlake Center to Seattle Center is one of the great American game-day transit rides. Throughout this guide, we'll highlight the best multi-sport weekends, recommended downtown Seattle hotels, transportation options, and planning tips to help you make the most of the trip.

Why Seattle Is One of the Best Multi-Sport Road Trip Destinations

The multi-sport case for Seattle starts with the venue accessibility from downtown. Lumen Field (the Seahawks and Sounders home stadium, opened in 2002 as Seahawks Stadium, renamed CenturyLink Field in 2011, and rebranded Lumen Field in 2020 after CenturyLink became Lumen Technologies) sits in the SoDo district just south of downtown, walkable from Pioneer Square hotels in about 10 minutes and served directly by the Sound Transit Link light rail at Stadium Station. Climate Pledge Arena (the Kraken home, opened in October 2021 after a $1.15 billion renovation of the historic 1962 World's Fair Washington State Coliseum) sits at Seattle Center directly next to the Space Needle, served by the Seattle Center Monorail from Westlake Center downtown in about 2 minutes. The two-venue combination gives fans an NFL stadium and an NHL arena at two different iconic destinations, both accessible from a single downtown hotel base.

The 2026-2027 Seattle Seahawks home schedule includes some of the most compelling NFL matchups of the season. Home games at Lumen Field include the Chargers October 4 opener, the Chiefs Sunday Night Football national broadcast on October 25 (a marquee Patrick Mahomes primetime visit and one of the biggest tickets on the Seahawks home schedule), the Cardinals, the Cowboys Monday Night Football national broadcast on December 7, and the Giants Sunday afternoon on December 13. Lumen Field is the loudest stadium in the NFL according to a 2013 Guinness World Record measurement of 137.6 decibels during a Seahawks game against the Saints, and the 12s crowd atmosphere at every home game is one of the definitive American football-fan experiences.

Climate Pledge Arena is one of the great new NHL venues. The 17,151-seat building opened in October 2021 as the world's first certified net-zero-carbon arena, preserving the historic 1962 World's Fair Coliseum roof (a distinctive tent-like curved structure) while completely rebuilding the interior underneath it. Amazon owns the naming rights and named the arena after the company's climate pledge. The Kraken home schedule for 2026-2027 includes the Flames Home Opener October 4, the Wild, the Rangers, the Sabres, and the Predators across the featured weekends, plus divisional rivals throughout the year. The Kraken (an NHL expansion franchise that debuted in October 2021) has established one of the fastest-growing fan bases in the NHL, with the tentacle-and-anchor Kraken merchandise becoming one of the top-selling identities in professional sports.

The city itself is one of the great Pacific Northwest travel destinations. Pike Place Market (the 1907 farmers market with the flying-fish tradition, the first Starbucks store, and dozens of independent food vendors), the Space Needle (the 605-foot 1962 World's Fair observation tower), Chihuly Garden and Glass (the Dale Chihuly glass-art installation next to the Space Needle), the Museum of Pop Culture (the Frank Gehry-designed music-and-pop-culture museum at Seattle Center), Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill (the classic Space Needle-and-Mount-Rainier skyline photograph), the Ballard neighborhood (breweries, the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, and the Fremont Troll sculpture under the Aurora Bridge), and the Puget Sound waterfront (Elliott Bay ferry terminals, the Great Wheel, and Waterfront Park) all give visitors an Emerald City experience that no other American sports city can replicate.

Best Seattle Multi-Sport Weekends for 2026-2027

The 2026-2027 schedule features five standout weekends where fans can combine a Seattle Seahawks home game at Lumen Field with a Seattle Kraken home game at Climate Pledge Arena. These are the easiest and most rewarding Seahawks and Kraken combinations, Kraken and Seahawks pairings, and football and hockey trips for visitors planning a Seattle sports weekend from a downtown Seattle hotel base.

All five itineraries work as a two, three, or four-night stay at a downtown hotel, with light-rail and monorail access to both venues and no rental car needed for the trip itself.

October 4, 2026 (The Same-Day Doubleheader and Kraken Home Opener Weekend)

Los Angeles Chargers at Seattle Seahawks + Calgary Flames at Seattle Kraken (Home Opener)

The standout weekend of the entire 2026-2027 Seattle multi-sport calendar and one of the rarest scheduling combinations we book at Elite Sports Tours. A same-day NFL and NHL doubleheader on Sunday, October 4, with the Chargers visiting Lumen Field in the late afternoon and the Flames visiting Climate Pledge Arena for the Kraken Home Opener the same night. Two professional sporting events in one calendar day at two venues accessible from the same downtown hotel base, plus the season-debut atmosphere of the Kraken opening night.

Weekend Schedule

• Sunday, October 4 (Same-Day Doubleheader)
  • Los Angeles Chargers at Seattle Seahawks
  • Lumen Field, SoDo
  • Late-afternoon game (Sound Transit Link light rail from downtown)
• Sunday, October 4 (Kraken Home Opener)
  • Calgary Flames at Seattle Kraken
  • Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle Center
  • Evening game (Seattle Center Monorail from downtown)

Why This Weekend Is Worth the Trip

A same-day NFL and NHL doubleheader in a single American city is one of the rarest scheduling experiences on the professional sports calendar. The city produces it because the transit connections between Lumen Field and Climate Pledge Arena are among the most efficient in the country. The Chargers afternoon game at Lumen Field ends by early evening, giving fans two to three hours to take the Link light rail one stop north to Westlake Center, transfer to the Seattle Center Monorail for the 2-minute ride to the Seattle Center campus, and take their seats at Climate Pledge Arena for the Flames-Kraken puck drop. The historic 1962 World's Fair monorail approach with the Space Needle rising overhead is one of the great American game-day arrivals.

The Kraken Home Opener adds another layer to the weekend. The season-opening night at Climate Pledge Arena produces the loudest home crowd of the entire regular season, and the pre-game ceremony (banner raising, roster introductions, team-history video montage on the arena scoreboard) is one of the definitive NHL fan experiences. Flames-Kraken is a Pacific Division rivalry, and Calgary brings a strong away-fan contingent on every visit south of the border. Chargers-Seahawks is one of the more competitive AFC-NFC crossover games, and Justin Herbert versus the 12s crowd at Lumen Field is one of the marquee early-season NFL matchups.

Recommended Package

Our Kraken Home Opener Same-Day Doubleheader Seattle Multi-Sport Road Trip Package includes Los Angeles Chargers at Seattle Seahawks Sunday-afternoon tickets, Calgary Flames at Seattle Kraken Sunday-evening Home Opener tickets, a downtown hotel for three nights, and pre-arranged Sound Transit Link and Seattle Center Monorail transit passes. This is one of the highest-demand weekends of the entire 2026-2027 season; book three to four months in advance. Book your Kraken Home Opener Same-Day Doubleheader Package.

October 24-25, 2026 (The Chiefs Sunday Night Football Weekend)

Minnesota Wild at Seattle Kraken + Kansas City Chiefs at Seattle Seahawks (Sunday Night Football)

The second marquee weekend of the 2026-2027 calendar and one of the biggest single tickets on the entire Seahawks home schedule. On Saturday, October 24, the Minnesota Wild travel to Climate Pledge Arena for a Kraken home game. On Sunday, October 25, the Kansas City Chiefs travel to Lumen Field for a Sunday Night Football national broadcast against the Seahawks, one of the marquee NFL games of the fall.

Weekend Schedule

• Saturday, October 24
  • Minnesota Wild at Seattle Kraken
  • Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle Center
  • Evening game (Seattle Center Monorail from downtown)
• Sunday, October 25 (Sunday Night Football)
  • Kansas City Chiefs at Seattle Seahawks
  • Lumen Field, SoDo
  • Primetime national broadcast (Sound Transit Link light rail from downtown)

Why This Weekend Is Worth the Trip

Chiefs-Seahawks on Sunday Night Football is one of the highest-demand tickets on the entire 2026 NFL calendar. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have appeared in five of the last seven Super Bowls, winning three championships in that span, and every away game draws a national television audience. The Sunday Night Football primetime window turns Lumen Field into one of the loudest environments in the NFL, with the 12s crowd amplified by the national-broadcast spotlight. Kansas City has become the marquee opponent on any NFL home schedule, and the Chiefs visit is the game every 12s fan books first when the schedule releases.

Wild-Kraken on Saturday adds a Western Conference matchup to the weekend. Minnesota and the Kraken have played in the Western Conference regular-season format since the Kraken 2021 debut, and the Wild forward group of Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy produces one of the more entertaining visits to Climate Pledge Arena on any given night. The Saturday-evening format opens Sunday morning for a Pike Place Market breakfast, a Space Needle observation-deck visit, or a Kerry Park skyline-view stop before the Sunday-night primetime broadcast.

Recommended Package

Our Chiefs Sunday Night Football Seattle Multi-Sport Road Trip Package includes Minnesota Wild at Seattle Kraken Saturday tickets, Kansas City Chiefs at Seattle Seahawks Sunday Night Football tickets, a downtown hotel for three nights, and pre-arranged Sound Transit Link and Seattle Center Monorail transit passes. Book your Chiefs Sunday Night Football Weekend Package.

November 7-8, 2026 (Rangers-Kraken and Cardinals-Seahawks Weekend)

New York Rangers at Seattle Kraken + Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks

The mid-November multi-sport weekend on the calendar and the strongest Original Six visit of the 2026-2027 Kraken home schedule. On Saturday, November 7, the New York Rangers travel to Climate Pledge Arena for a Kraken home game. On Sunday, November 8, the Arizona Cardinals travel to Lumen Field for the Seahawks home game.

Weekend Schedule

• Saturday, November 7
  • New York Rangers at Seattle Kraken
  • Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle Center
  • Evening game (Seattle Center Monorail from downtown)
• Sunday, November 8
  • Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks
  • Lumen Field, SoDo
  • Late-afternoon game (Sound Transit Link light rail from downtown)

Why This Weekend Is Worth the Trip

Rangers-Kraken draws one of the largest Original Six visiting contingents of the entire Kraken home schedule. The New York Rangers rank as one of the great historic NHL franchises (four Stanley Cups since 1926) and the road-crowd contingent that follows the Rangers to any Western Conference city produces one of the more balanced-crowd atmospheres of the year at Climate Pledge Arena. The Saturday-evening format opens Sunday morning for a Fremont Troll photo stop, a Ballard brewery-crawl morning, or a Pike Place Market breakfast before the Sunday afternoon Cardinals-Seahawks game.

Cardinals-Seahawks is an NFC West divisional matchup that always carries playoff-race weight. Arizona and the Seahawks have played twice a season in the NFC West since 2002, and the divisional-rivalry atmosphere at Lumen Field on any Cardinals visit is one of the loudest games of the entire home schedule. Base yourself at a downtown hotel Friday through Monday morning, ride the Seattle Center Monorail to Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday evening, and take the Sound Transit Link light rail to Stadium Station on Sunday afternoon for the Cardinals game.

Recommended Package

Our Rangers-Kraken and Cardinals-Seahawks Seattle Multi-Sport Road Trip Package includes New York Rangers at Seattle Kraken Saturday tickets, Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks Sunday-afternoon tickets, a downtown hotel for three nights, and pre-arranged Sound Transit Link and Seattle Center Monorail transit passes. Book your Rangers-Kraken and Cardinals-Seahawks Package.

December 6-7, 2026 (The Cowboys Monday Night Football Weekend)

Buffalo Sabres at Seattle Kraken + Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks (Monday Night Football)

The December headline of the 2026-2027 multi-sport calendar and the second marquee Monday Night Football broadcast of the fall. On Sunday, December 6, the Buffalo Sabres travel to Climate Pledge Arena for a Kraken home game. On Monday, December 7, the Dallas Cowboys travel to Lumen Field for a Monday Night Football national broadcast against the Seahawks.

Weekend Schedule

• Sunday, December 6
  • Buffalo Sabres at Seattle Kraken
  • Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle Center
  • Evening game (Seattle Center Monorail from downtown)
• Monday, December 7 (Monday Night Football)
  • Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks
  • Lumen Field, SoDo
  • Primetime national broadcast (Sound Transit Link light rail from downtown)

Why This Weekend Is Worth the Trip

Cowboys-Seahawks on Monday Night Football is one of the marquee national broadcasts of the entire 2026 NFL season. Dallas travels to the Emerald City in enormous numbers for every meeting, and the Cowboys fan-base carries one of the strongest away-fan contingents of any NFL road game. The Monday-night primetime window turns Lumen Field into one of the loudest environments in the NFL, and the 12s crowd amplified by the national-broadcast spotlight produces one of the great modern American football atmospheres. The Seahawks-Cowboys rivalry has produced multiple playoff meetings and regular-season classics, and the December-window primetime broadcast typically carries playoff-seeding weight for both teams.

Sabres-Kraken on Sunday adds a cross-conference matchup that gives fans a Sunday-night arrival option and opens Monday morning for a Pike Place Market breakfast, a Chihuly Garden and Glass museum visit, or a Space Needle observation-deck stop before the Monday-night primetime broadcast. Base yourself at a downtown hotel Friday or Saturday through Tuesday morning, and treat the weekend as a full four-night trip built around the Monday Night Football finale.

Recommended Package

Our Cowboys Monday Night Football Seattle Multi-Sport Road Trip Package includes Buffalo Sabres at Seattle Kraken Sunday tickets, Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks Monday Night Football tickets, a downtown hotel for four nights, and pre-arranged Sound Transit Link and Seattle Center Monorail transit passes. This is one of the highest-demand weekends of the entire 2026 season; book three to four months in advance. Book your Cowboys Monday Night Football Weekend Package.

December 12-13, 2026 (Predators-Kraken and Giants-Seahawks Season Closer)

Nashville Predators at Seattle Kraken + New York Giants at Seattle Seahawks

The season-closing multi-sport weekend of 2026-2027 and the last regular-season Seahawks home game for many trip planners. On Saturday, December 12, the Nashville Predators travel to Climate Pledge Arena for a Kraken home game. On Sunday, December 13, the New York Giants travel to Lumen Field for the Seahawks home game.

Weekend Schedule

• Saturday, December 12
  • Nashville Predators at Seattle Kraken
  • Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle Center
  • Evening game (Seattle Center Monorail from downtown)
• Sunday, December 13
  • New York Giants at Seattle Seahawks
  • Lumen Field, SoDo
  • Late-afternoon game (Sound Transit Link light rail from downtown)

Why This Weekend Is Worth the Trip

The mid-December Saturday-Sunday format is one of the most useful travel structures on the entire multi-sport calendar. Fans arrive Friday, catch the Predators-Kraken Saturday-night game at Climate Pledge Arena, spend Sunday morning at Pike Place Market or on a Ballard brewery walk, catch the Giants-Seahawks Sunday-afternoon game at Lumen Field, and depart Monday morning. Predators-Kraken is a cross-conference matchup that produces one of the more entertaining hockey nights of December, with Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi leading the Nashville roster.

Giants-Seahawks is an NFC crossover matchup with playoff-race implications in the December window. New York and the Seahawks have produced multiple recent close games, and the late-afternoon window opens Sunday evening for a Canlis fine-dining reservation (the classic 1950 institution on Queen Anne Hill) or a Pike Place Market Elliott's Oyster House dinner. Base yourself at a downtown hotel Friday through Monday morning.

Recommended Package

Our Predators-Kraken and Giants-Seahawks Seattle Multi-Sport Road Trip Package includes Nashville Predators at Seattle Kraken Saturday tickets, New York Giants at Seattle Seahawks Sunday-afternoon tickets, a downtown hotel for three nights, and pre-arranged Sound Transit Link and Seattle Center Monorail transit passes. Book your Predators-Kraken and Giants-Seahawks Package.

Where to Stay in Seattle

Downtown Seattle is the best base for a multi-sport road trip. Most visitors should look for hotels in the downtown core (from Pike Place Market north to Belltown and south to Pioneer Square), which puts you within walking distance of the Sound Transit Link light rail stations for Lumen Field and the Westlake Center monorail terminal for Climate Pledge Arena.

Belltown and South Lake Union both work as alternate bases for fans who want a different neighborhood experience, and Capitol Hill (east of downtown) is a legitimate mid-tier option for fans who want a more residential-neighborhood feel and the Capitol Hill nightlife scene. Queen Anne (walking distance from Climate Pledge Arena) works particularly well for fans who prioritize the Kraken games over the Seahawks games.

Our recommended Lumen Field hotels and Climate Pledge Arena hotels for a multi-sport trip in downtown Seattle include the Fairmont Olympic (the 1924 historic luxury flagship on University Street), the Four Seasons Downtown (waterfront luxury with Elliott Bay views), the Alexis Royal Sonesta (Kimpton historic in Pioneer Square), the Edgewater Hotel (the waterfront hotel where the Beatles stayed in 1964, over the pier at the north end of the waterfront), the Kimpton Palladian Hotel (Belltown boutique), Motif (5th Avenue), the Renaissance Hotel, the W, the Grand Hyatt, the Hyatt Regency, the Sheraton Grand, the Westin (twin cylindrical towers at 5th and Virginia), Loews Hotel 1000 (waterfront boutique), the State Hotel, Thompson, and the Palihotel. For fans on a value budget, the Moore Hotel (historic Belltown), the Green Tortoise Hostel (Pike Place adjacent), and the Kimpton Vintage offer more reasonable rates within walking distance of both transit connections.

Looking for hotel recommendations? Explore our complete guide to the Best Hotels Near Lumen Field.

Should You Stay Near Lumen Field or Climate Pledge Arena?

No. Both venues sit outside the downtown Seattle hotel-cluster core: Lumen Field in SoDo (walkable from Pioneer Square but not itself a hotel district) and Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center in the Uptown/Lower Queen Anne area. Almost every visitor to a Seahawks and Kraken multi-sport weekend should stay in the downtown core and treat both venues as transit-connected day trips from the downtown hotel base.

The reason is the trip itself. Every featured itinerary combines an NFL game at Lumen Field with an NHL game at Climate Pledge Arena, and every weekend also includes at least one Pike Place Market morning, one Space Needle or Kerry Park photograph stop, one downtown restaurant dinner, and one Elliott Bay waterfront walk. Staying downtown puts you within walking distance of Pike Place Market, the waterfront, Pioneer Square (walkable to Lumen Field), and the Westlake Center monorail terminal (2-minute ride to Climate Pledge Arena). Staying near either venue would cut you off from the downtown experience that the weekend is built around.

For most visitors, the easiest option is a downtown hotel and a combination of the Sound Transit Link light rail (for Lumen Field) and the Seattle Center Monorail (for Climate Pledge Arena). The light rail runs from Westlake Center directly to Stadium Station in about 5 minutes, and the monorail runs from Westlake Center directly to Seattle Center in about 2 minutes. Both are covered by the ORCA transit card, and Elite Sports Tours builds the transit logistics into every one of our Seattle sports travel packages, our most-requested Pacific Northwest format. Rideshare (Uber and Lyft) also works if the weather is bad, running $10 to $20 to either venue from most downtown hotels.

Looking for hotel recommendations? Explore our hotel guide: Best Hotels Near Climate Pledge Arena.

Getting Around During Your Multi-Sport Road Trip

The city is one of the easier multi-sport destinations in North America to get around because of the Sound Transit Link light rail and the Seattle Center Monorail. Fans staying downtown should plan to use the Link for the Lumen Field commute and the monorail for the Climate Pledge Arena commute, and no rental car is needed for the trip itself.

The Sound Transit Link 1 Line light rail runs from Westlake Center in downtown to Stadium Station (Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park) in about 5 minutes. The service runs every 6 to 10 minutes on Seahawks game days, and one-way fares run $2.75 with an ORCA card. The Link continues south to Sea-Tac Airport in about 35 minutes, making it the recommended arrival transit from the airport as well.

The Seattle Center Monorail (a historic 1962 World's Fair legacy that has run continuously for more than 60 years) covers the 1-mile distance from Westlake Center to Seattle Center in about 2 minutes, running every 10 minutes. One-way fares run $3.50 for adults, and the monorail arrives directly at the Seattle Center campus with a 2-minute walk to Climate Pledge Arena, the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, and the Museum of Pop Culture. This is one of the great American game-day transit rides.

If you are flying into Seattle, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is 30 to 40 minutes south of downtown by car via I-5 or 35 minutes on the Sound Transit Link light rail directly to Westlake Center. Rideshare from SEA to downtown runs $35 to $60 depending on traffic and hotel destination. Alternate airports include Paine Field (PAE) in Everett (about 30 minutes north of downtown), which handles some Alaska Airlines regional service.

Related Guides:

• How to Get to Lumen Field
• How to Get to Climate Pledge Arena

Between Games: What to Do on Your Sports Weekend

The reason a Seattle sports weekend works so well is that the trip is not just the games. A weekend here that skips Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, and the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum is a wasted trip. Here is what our team recommends between the Seahawks and Kraken games.

Pike Place Market. The 1907 farmers market at 1st Avenue and Pike Street runs nine acres of vendors, restaurants, and produce stands, all sitting on a hillside with Elliott Bay views. The flying-fish tradition at Pike Place Fish Market, the original 1971 Starbucks store across the street (still operating as the first Starbucks location), the gum wall in Post Alley, and vendors like Piroshky Piroshky, Beecher's Handmade Cheese, and Ellenos Real Greek Yogurt are the standard stops. Weekend mornings are the busiest window, and a two-hour Saturday-morning or Sunday-morning walk of the market pairs particularly well with an afternoon game.

The Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass. The 605-foot Space Needle at Seattle Center (built for the 1962 World's Fair and one of the great American mid-century architecture icons) offers a 360-degree observation deck with rotating floor-glass panels and views of Mount Rainier, Puget Sound, and the downtown skyline. Admission runs $37, and combined tickets with the neighboring Chihuly Garden and Glass museum (the Dale Chihuly glass-art installation with a 1,400-piece hanging sculpture and outdoor sculpture garden) run $60. Both attractions sit directly next to Climate Pledge Arena and work well as a pre-game or between-games stop on any Kraken weekend.

Kerry Park skyline view. The small hillside park at 2nd Avenue West and West Highland Drive on Queen Anne Hill (10 minutes north of Seattle Center by car or 20 minutes uphill by foot) offers the classic Seattle photograph: Space Needle in the foreground, downtown skyline behind, Mount Rainier framed in the distance on clear days. This is the definitive skyline shot and works well at sunset or after dark. Free to visit, and a 30-minute stop pairs well with a Saturday-afternoon Kraken game.

The Museum of Pop Culture. MoPOP (the Frank Gehry-designed 2000 building at Seattle Center funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen) covers rock and roll, science fiction, and Pacific Northwest music history. Permanent exhibits include the Nirvana and Pearl Jam grunge-era collection, a Jimi Hendrix guitar-and-lyrics gallery, a Star Trek retrospective, and rotating installations from the Marvel and DC comics-and-film worlds. Admission runs $32, and a 90-minute visit works well between Saturday and Sunday games.

The coffee scene. The city invented the modern American coffee culture, and the coffee scene defines the city as much as the sports and the salmon do. Storyville Coffee (Post Alley at Pike Place), Victrola Coffee (Capitol Hill), Espresso Vivace (Capitol Hill), the original Starbucks (Pike Place), the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Capitol Hill (the 15,000-square-foot flagship experience store), and Elm Coffee Roasters (Pioneer Square) are the standard picks. A Saturday-morning coffee crawl pairs well with any of the featured multi-sport weekends.

The restaurant scene. Canlis (the classic 1950 fine-dining institution on Queen Anne Hill, one of the great American restaurant experiences), the Pink Door (Pike Place trapeze-and-Italian classic), Etta's (Tom Douglas seafood at Pike Place), Elliott's Oyster House (Puget Sound seafood on the waterfront), Salumi (Mario Batali's father's charcuterie deli in Pioneer Square), Serious Pie (Tom Douglas pizza), Din Tai Fung (multiple locations, one of the great American dumpling experiences), Ivar's Acres of Clams (fish and chips since 1938 on the waterfront), and Paseo (Ballard Cuban sandwich institution) all give the trip a Pacific Northwest food identity.

The Ballard neighborhood and Fremont Troll. Ballard (northwest of downtown) runs one of the great American brewery districts (Reuben's Brews, Stoup Brewing, Populuxe Brewing, Ballard Beer Company) plus the historic Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (the 1917 boat-lift system that connects Puget Sound to Lake Union and Lake Washington). Neighboring Fremont hosts the Fremont Troll (the 1990 sculpture under the Aurora Bridge, one of the great American photo stops) and the annual Solstice Parade. A Saturday-morning drive up to Ballard and Fremont pairs well with an afternoon Kraken matinee or a Sunday Seahawks game.

The Underground Tour in Pioneer Square. The Bill Speidel's Underground Tour of Pioneer Square covers the 1889 Great Fire and the subsequent rebuilding of the city 12 to 30 feet above the original street level. The 75-minute walking tour of the sealed-off Pioneer Square basements and historic buildings is one of the more unusual American historic-city tours. Admission runs $27, and the tour works well as a Sunday-morning stop before an afternoon Seahawks game (Pioneer Square is walkable to Lumen Field).

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