Pike Place Market is- perhaps along with the Space Needle- Seattle’s most well-known and beloved tourist attraction. You can’t come to Seattle and not spend a few hours exploring this large, waterfront market. Once you’ve experienced it, you’ll understand why it’s so necessary to visit!
It really embodies everything wonderful about the Pacific Northwest: fresh air, fresh seafood, fresh flowers, fresh everything. There’s something for everyone here, and the market changes with the seasons (different produce, flowers, weather)! So don’t hesitate to come back again and again for a brand-new experience each time.
Avoid these mistakes to pass for a local: NEVER call it Pike’s Place (there’s no ‘S’!) & resist the urge to carry an umbrella around the open-air stalls if it’s misty.
There are endless ways to spend time at this 100+ year old farmer’s market, but I’ve listed just ten here:
1. Try Beecher’s Flagship Cheese
Beecher’s Cheese shop is huge, and right along the main street of the market. You can’t miss it. There are a few things that make this cheese shop very special:
- First, they make their cheese on-site, and you can watch through a glass window! There’s a massive metal tub & workers stirring the milk and turning it into cheese magic.
- Second, you can buy their unique flagship cheese, which has been sold since they opened their shop at Pike Place back in 2003. It’s aged and nutty; almost like a hybrid of parmesan and sharp cheddar.
- Third, they make grilled-cheese and macaroni & cheese on-property and they are both incredible. Come hungry!
2. Witness the famous fish throwing!
You can order a huge variety of fresh seafood here. They’ll wrap it up for you and get it all packaged & ready to go. Before all that, though –while it’s still slimy– they’ll send a gigantic, whole fish flying your way. Hope someone in your group was a baseball catcher back-in-the-day! 😉
You can also overnight-ship your purchased fish anywhere in the USA.
The wild salmon & king crabs are some of the most famous fish to find here. We had some delicious ready-to-eat shrimp (served in a tall cup) as we wandered the market once, too.
3. Buy a Handmade Souvenir
Pike Place is bursting with talented small shops and craftspeople selling their creations. You can find all types of clothes and accessories: leather goods such as handbags and belts, crocheted hats and scarves, hand-painted baby onesies, etc. There is a huge variety of artisan jewelry, canvas bags, wood-carved trinkets, and so much more.
I personally am a huge sucker for paintings sold at markets like this. We bought a small painting of buckets of fresh produce after talking with the artist for awhile at Pike Place one visit. We’ve hung it in our various kitchens as we’ve moved around, and I love it.
4. Taste some Chukar Cherries
As a reminder: Pike Place began as– and still largely functions as– a farmer’s market. Chukar Cherries is a Washington-based company that grows their cherries in Prosser, WA (southern/central part of the state) and ships them into Pike Place for purchase.
There are countless snacks and treats you can buy or sample here. The chocolate-covered dried cherries are a fan-favorite. There’s milk & dark chocolate, several types of cherries (bing, black forest), and nuts (honey pecans, vanilla almonds) available too. The bags to buy make great gifts. The stall is generous with samples, which will help narrow down your favorites.
5. Explore beyond the Main Alleys
Many people stay up on the main hallways and don’t realize that there are multiple levels of stalls and shops to be found at Pike Place. Don’t make the mistake of only staying up top in the main area– explore below & outdoors as well!
You’ll find stores selling hundreds of board games, comic book shops, china and pottery dish selections, Asian bakeries, and more in the underground area.
At some point be sure to step outside for a great view of the Seattle waterfront & piers! Although the air is fresh, the pungent smell of fish is still pretty strong out on the lookout. 😉
6. Experience the legendary Gum Wall
This gum wall has essentially been agreed-on as gross & unsanitary– and that was years before COVID-19 hit. It’s basically what it sounds like: a wall (with a proper, brick, foundation behind) covered in multiple layers of people’s chewed-up gum. It’s a strange phenomenon, but it’s such a classic part of Pike Place that you just have to see it.
Apparently the wall was first “gummed” in 1993 when nearby theatre patrons stuck their chewed gum onto the wall (with coins stuck to it). Six years later, everyone had given up trying to prevent the sticky madness and accepted the Gum Wall as a tourist attraction. Despite a high pressure-cleaning/steaming/scrubbing in 2015, the wall today is as gummy as ever. (Source)
If you forgot to buy and bring gum, fear not. There is a tiny shop nearby that has gum available to purchase. 😉
7. Pappardelle’s Pasta shop
I’d never seen so many flavors of pasta when I first passed Pappardelle’s. Of course you can find garden vegetable, spinach, whole wheat, chickpea and lentil-based varieties in most grocery stores now… but when we first visited in 2012 my mind was blown. Chocolate pasta what??
They sell their dry pasta in a crowded main area of Pike Place. There are large buckets full so you can see all the options to choose from (so many colors, flavors, and shapes!!!).
They even let you sample, which… if you’re into eating dry, hard, pasta…hooray! We did sample the uncooked chocolate linguine and it was surprisingly tasty. They have recipe cards there to spark your imagination on how to properly use chocolate pasta with other ingredients. Hah!
I can personally speak to the garlic chive sea shells; we bought some one time, and I made a homemade macaroni & cheese with them. I thought it was delicious, high-quality pasta!
Read all about their options here on their website.
8. Buy fresh, seasonal produce
The magic of Pike Place market is that everything is SO fresh, and nowhere is this more true than its produce selections. In summer you can find gorgeous bins of massive, brightly-colored raspberries & blackberries. Come back a few months later for large, juicy peaches and apples. At some point in the year there were dried chiles everywhere.
The content is always rotating, but you can count on consistent, high-quality fruits and vegetables any time of year. Often workers stand nearby the stalls, offering sliced fruits to sample and enjoy. You could easily find weekly groceries, or all the ingredients you’d need for a dinner cooked at home. Watch for produce stalls both inside and out!
9. Check out the very first Starbucks
Cool Pacific Northwest mornings call for a warm, cozy drink! Where better to stop than the original Starbucks store? It opened in 1971 and is still fully-functioning today. Prepare to wait in quite a line.
The store has kept the original brown sign rather than replacing it with the current company logo– which is green, with a simpler mermaid– in case you haven’t passed by a Starbucks sign at least 3x a day for the past 15 years of your life.
10. Stop & smell the…peonies?
These large, white-paper-wrapped bouquets are well-known in Seattle. If you carry one around it’s like wearing a neon sign that said, “I was at Pike Place earlier today!”…which is not a bad thing at all!
Dozens of different local farms donate freshly picked flowers daily to Pike Place market to sell.
Depending on the season, you can find tulips, dahlias, daffodils, and peonies. I really love their peonies. Support local farmers & bring a bouquet to a friend– or make your own day and bring some of these fragrant beauties home to enjoy!
That’s it, everybody! 10 Things to do at Seattle’s Pike Place Market.
Oh, and while you’re in the neighborhood…check out our other Seattle posts, too!
Hop on a ferry to Bainbridge Island for Seattle’s Best Day Trip
or grab one of our 5 Favorite Desserts in Seattle
Have you been to Pike Place Market in Seattle?
What are your must-do’s? What would you add to the list??
Let me know in the comments!
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