07/03/2026
If you only have one morning in Seattle… spend it at Pike Place Market ✨
This is the heartbeat of the city. Fish flying through the air. Flower stands overflowing with tulips. Street musicians echoing through the stalls.
And if you’re visiting Seattle during cherry blossom season, it’s one of the most beautiful times to explore the city, with blooms popping up around downtown and nearby parks.
Just below the market, tucked down the stairs into Post Alley, you’ll find one of Seattle’s most iconic (and slightly weird) sights like the Seattle Gum Wall.
If you’re planning a trip, here are 5 things most visitors don’t know about Pike Place Market:
1. Pike Place Market opened in 1907, making it one of the oldest continuously operating public markets in the U.S.
2. The famous fish tossing started in the 1980s when workers began throwing fish across the counter instead of walking them over.
3. The Starbucks inside Pike Place Market is often called the first Starbucks, but the original actually opened a block away in 1971.
4. The market’s famous flower stalls sell huge bouquets (often under $20) brought down from farms in Washington’s Skagit Valley.
5. Walk down to Post Alley and you’ll find the legendary Seattle Gum Wall, where visitors have been sticking gum on the bricks for decades.
Seattle tip:
Go early in the morning before the crowds arrive, the market feels completely different.
Save this for your Seattle itinerary and send it to someone you’d explore Pike Place with!
