Hellobee Boards

Whidbey Island is beautiful, check out Fort Casey for fun for the kids.

If you are staying near the airport, it'll make more sense to take public transit into the city for your city day (via the Light Link train). Ride it to Westlake station and tbat will get you centrally located to Pike Place/Westlake/the aquarium/the waterfront (via Harbor Steps). You can also take the monorail from Westlake to Seattle Center (Space Needle, Science Center, Children's Museum, EMP).

The San Juan Island ferry ride is about 2 hours (one way) and it's very expensive to bring a car on the ferry. It's a gorgeous ride, just be aware. You can ferry to Whidbey via Everett/Mukilteo and get the same sort of experience, plus check out Fort Casey and the drive over Deception Pass.

For lavender fields, the Olympic Peninsula, and a cute small town, consider Port Townsend.

Rainier is beautiful but day permit prices just skyrocketed. You could always consider driving further south and checking out Mount Saint Helens. I'm a volcano enthusiast so this is one of my favorite day trips.

Seattle Native here! Skip the children’s museum and go to the Pacific Science Center instead, your 6yo will enjoy it more. Don’t miss Pike Place Market, and make sure to baby wear the 1yo. The Olympic Sculpture Park is fun to walk around too. Going up the space needle is fun too.

I’d suggest doing a walk-on day trip to Bainbridge Island. There’s a Kids museum right off the ferry, and lots to explore within walking distance. Don’t expect to see sea life from any ferry trip though.

July would be a great time to check out the Ferris wheel. The aquarium is ok, though not my favorite.

If the conference is downtown, definitely stay around there. It’s a super easy light rail trip from the airport. If you decide to rent a car, Whidbey Island is nice. Take the ferry one way, then Deception Pass the other (you can hike around the bridge for great views).

The weather should be great in July, so you shouldn’t have to worry about indoor stuff!

I wouldn't rent a car Sat-Thur. Downtown Seattle has decent public transportation and it'll get you to all the places you need to go (as long as you keep those days the days you stay in town for the touristy stuff. Even if you take a Ferry to someplace most destinations have good public transport by the ferry terminals to take you places. The few times you can't use public transport you could also use uber or a taxi.

Downtown traffic is a mess almost all the time and often quicker to walk places!

I will admit I've never done touristy stuff with a kid in Seattle but this is what I would do if I were in your situation.

A few other recommendations. Ballard Locks is a cool place with a park and you get to see boat locks in action which some people find really cool and is sort of a Northwest experience.

There are two Zoos there in the area. Woodland Zoo is in Seattle and is a very nice zoo but I prefer Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium for kids. You'll want to go there on a day you have the car though.

And the space Needle is under going a 'space lift' right now so if you're planning on going there it may still be under construction in July.

For whale watching you can take local tours out of Seattle but often you can see Whales while on Ferries and they will occasionally go slightly out of the way to allow people to view whales.

@NorthStar: if you’re staying in Cap Hill, don’t get a car. Parking sucks and it’s really easy to get around with the bus/lightrail/street car. It’s usually not so crowded trust you’ll have trouble with 2 Kids, just avoid rush hour. Also, check out Hello Robin for good cookies

@RKitty: Zipcar would be complicated with car seats!

@Mrs.Someone: I didn't even think of carseats! It probably makes zipcar not feasible.

If the Orca card bills you or you could preload it probably be easier but I've never used it. Also there is - or was- a circle of public transportation downtown that was free so you may not have to pay as much as you think you might.

Also Seattle is very hilly and sometimes something that seems like a short walk isn't because it's up a giant hill... And if your planning to do a lot of walking your littles might get tired quickly.