Downtown Tours

From its beginnings, Seattle has been a city shaped by waterways. While early developments supported industrial trade rather than leisure and tourism, the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and a new urban design by Field Operations (designers of The High Line, New York City), has transformed the waterfront into a lively public space, bringing together people, industry, infrastructure, and local ecosystems. On this tour, we’ll explore historic and redeveloped sites that blend Seattle’s maritime…

Explore the history of Seattle from settlement to the present as we take a look at some of the finest buildings in Seattle’s oldest neighborhoods. This is a youth-focused tour, suitable for youth in Grades 6-12, that illustrates the economic and demographic changes in Seattle’s history using architecture. Youth who take this tour will learn about the relationship between Seattle’s history and its built environment. This tour was created to complement the Washington State history…

What is it that you simultaneously see and not see in the buildings around you? How does one build in such a way that we can control both temperature and light during different times of the day and seasons of the year? Glass! Join the Seattle Architecture Foundation for a two-hour walking tour of Seattle’s unique relationship with glass. While modern buildings are often fully wrapped entirely in glass, Seattle’s older buildings have smaller scaled…

Take a closer look at the buildings that define Seattle’s skyline from the Post-Modernism of the 1980s to 21st-Century Contemporary, learn about changing styles as well as emerging trends such as green architecture, the adaptive re-use of historic buildings, and the increase in high-rise condominiums downtown. Featured buildings include: U.S. Federal Courthouse, Westin Hotel, Olive 8, Seattle Sheraton Hotel, One & Two Union Square, U.S. Bank Center, IBM Plaza, Rainier Square, Safeco Plaza, Union Bank…

Join us to explore hidden treasures across downtown, such as public parks, plazas and open spaces. Many of these spaces are owned by private developers but are in fact places where you can enjoy beautiful landscapes and private art collections away from the hustle and bustle of city streets. On this tour, we will cover a lot of ground to introduce you to a broad range of hidden gems. Bring comfy shoes and be prepared…

[Formerly known as the “Greatest Hits” tour] Join us as we explore Seattle through the history, context, and culture that shaped our skyline, from the college gone missing on University Street to the newest spires that vie for attention and airspace in our dense downtown core. This tour is not centered on one architectural style, but rather showcases these buildings in their larger context of time, place, and people. On this tour, you’ll see a…