Solo Travel in Seattle: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning a Personalized Itinerary
With an opportunity for 4 days away - a city break for this small-town girl - I pressed “book” on solo travel in Seattle, Washington. Funny enough, the hardest part of the whole process was the initial leap from desire and inspiration to commitment and action.
What helped was crafting an itinerary that set me up for success! Creating an itinerary for a trip is like developing the outline for a great essay. If you’re a planning nut like me, it doesn’t feel like a dreaded school assignment but an invitation to dream in detail! But even for someone who likes travel planning and itinerary creation, it can honestly be a combination of emotions: daunting, exciting, overwhelming and constant second-guessing.
Creating an itinerary is a bit of upfront work, but just as an outline helps to organize thoughts and structure the writing process, a trip itinerary serves as your customized guidebook: places to visit, activities to participate in, and the overall schedule.
It’s also the BEST opportunity to design a trip to match your travel style and personality.
What is the Trip Purpose?
My travel itineraries start with identifying the purpose of the trip and my intentions. While I’m a fun-loving, adventure-seeking person, I’ve learned that I enjoy experiences more when they are connected to something meaningful. The reason for travel is always personal and may just be to let loose and have some fun or to escape a routine that seems to be sucking my soul. More often though, my wanderlust is induced by my motivation to challenge myself to live more intensely, seek more connections, or learn something about myself or the world that astonishes me.
Yes, it is very similar to coming up with an essay thesis statement (are you groaning yet?) but it’s not as dry as it sounds. Instead, I approach figuring out my travel purpose and intentions as an invitation for travel bliss.
Let me share my method as an example. Be warned, you can’t force yourself into someone else’s itinerary whether it's downloaded, purchased, or a pre-organized package. The magic happens when you do this work yourself (or with someone guiding you) and there is evidence backing this up!
Solo Travel in Seattle: Purpose and Intentions
Solo travel has been on my mind. Since I turned 50, I committed to myself that I would go solo at least once a year. My reasons are many (I wrote about some of them here) and I’m still evolving as a solo traveller. This “city-break” would not be my first solo trip but it would be my first international solo travel experience. I knew the itinerary would make me feel adventurous and a little nervous, but I also wanted to feel safe and unpressured.
I was after an experience where I felt competently independent stepping out of my comfort zone. I specifically chose Seattle as the destination for a few reasons:
to go “international” but not have to take an airplane or drive a car
to spend time in a big city to contrast my first solo journey in the wilderness
to choose activities that opened me up for connection with others, since I’m a huge introvert. I had reached out to a fellow travel coach online who lives in Seattle to see if I could meet her in person.
In addition to the solo and comfort zone variables, it’s really important to me to spend my travel time and dollars doing things that wildly capture my curiosity and interest. In my initial research, Seattle has a couple of activities that resonate with my fascination with quirky history and unconventional art.
How to Plan a Travel Itinerary.
A trip itinerary creates a logical sequence for your travels, much like the structure for that essay! By organizing your trip sequentially, you can design experiences that flow smoothly and efficiently, allowing you to make the most of your time.
Well, in theory anyways.
The thing about travel is that you can kill travel bliss with too much structure and not enough flexibility; too much planning and not enough serendipity; too much expectation and not enough open-hearted exploration.
How I plan a travel itinerary for myself and my clients, is to first focus on the big pieces - getting there, where to sleep, and getting home. There are so many tools at your disposal to do this. My planning always starts with Rome to Rio, and accommodation booking sites like (but not limited to) Booking.com, Airbnb, and Hotels.com. I also spend time on Pinterest to learn from other travel writers. I want to make sure the loose itinerary is geographically and technically possible, makes logistical sense, and supports the trip's purpose and intentions.
Solo Travel in Seattle: Getting There and Getting Home
In 2022 Amtrak launched a train route connecting Vancouver, Seattle, and (in 2023) Portland. I LOVE trains in Europe and have been eager to try this Pacific Northwest route. A round-trip train ticket between Vancouver and Seattle is easy and affordable but I’m not a fan of backtracking and love variety, so I remained on the lookout for getting to or from Seattle differently.
I’d never ridden the Victoria Clipper (a fast catamaran ferry) that goes between downtown Seattle and downtown Victoria. I also LOVE boats, so the idea of travelling by rail and water was exciting. My route was taking shape using different modes of transportation, each of which was new to me.
I live in the centre of Vancouver Island, about 3 hour's drive to Victoria, and a drive and ferry away from Vancouver. I decided to get a ride to Victoria to hop on the Victoria Clipper for the 3-hour boat ride to Seattle. I then gave myself 3 nights (2 full days) to explore Seattle before riding the Amtrak train back to Canada. To round it out, a fairly new passenger ferry called the Hullo now operates between downtown Vancouver and downtown Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. The sailing times were compatible with the train…so I booked a one-way fare. To get back to my house from Nanaimo my wonderful husband offered to pick me up!
Solo Travel in Seattle: Where to Sleep
The final element of my loose itinerary was securing accommodation. I enjoy walking and wanted to stay within walking distance of the Clipper, the downtown core, and the train station. Rome to Rio alongside a map of available accommodations (and costs) helped me choose my neighbourhood.
I usually prefer interesting or offbeat accommodation but to ease my solo nerves on this trip I looked for a predictable chain hotel that served breakfast and was located close to the train station as my outbound train left early in the morning. I ended up booking the Best Western in Pioneer Square. Would I stay there again? It was a wonderfully historic building, the staff was friendly, and the breakfast was convenient but I’d probably not stay again, however for this trip, it worked well.
Creating a Hyper- Personalized Itinerary
I don’t plan or book every minute of the day and usually only have one or two things that I try to arrange my time around. This preserves flexibility and keeps the days open to serendipity, a new idea, or just to slow down and lose myself in a place longer than I had expected. It took me years to accept that not only do I not want to “do it all” but that travel is BETTER slower. It ends up being a deeper experience…and if I ever get restless, I have complete control and flexibility to add more things to do!
The juicy bits of the itinerary are like the beautiful sentences that make the essay come alive. A hyper- personalized itinerary is a list of priority activities and options that make you feel full of anticipatory joy.
Try this…
The following list covers some of the big attractions that might make up your solo travel in Seattle. Read the list, explore, and pay attention to your reactions. Are there items you just pass over? Items that make your stomach tie itself in knots? Items that make you pause and get curious? Items that make you smile?
Space Needle
Pike Place Market
Chihuly Garden and Glass
Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP)
Seattle Aquarium
Woodland Park Zoo
Seattle Great Wheel
Seattle Art Museum
Ballard Locks
Gas Works Park
Pioneer Square
Discovery Park Lighthouse
Fremont Public Sculptures
Seattle Center
Klondike Gold Rush Museum
Seattle Central Library
Seattle Ghost Tours
Seattle Children’s Museum
West Seattle and Alki Beach
Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Tour
Seattle Japanese Garden
Starbucks Roastery
Shopping - eg. Nordstroms Rack
Seattle Waterfront Boardwalk
Ballard Farmers Market
T-Mobile Park (formerly Safeco Field)
CenturyLink Field (Lumen Field)
Mount Rainier
Seattle Underground Tour
Seattle Barista Academy
Whale Watching
Bainbridge Island
Olympic Sculpture Park
Bellevue Botanical Garden
Washington Park Arboretum
The Pink Door restaurant & cabaret
A view and cocktail up Smith Tower
Solo Travel in Seattle: Activities
Let’s start by thinking about those things to do in Seattle. I identified three, yes just three, high-priority activities. The ones that hit my pre-travel bliss sweet spot! I visited Seattle many years ago with a tween - so tween-friendly activities were either done or no longer of interest! The more I researched, the more I was sure that these were non-negotiables and that my days would centre around them.
The rest of the list is interesting for sure. But the hyper-personalization of my itinerary covering only 3 nights and 2 days means that I can’t possibly do everything!
I was intent on walking EVERYWHERE and to simply follow my curiosity. I also wanted to be flexible when I met up with my travel coaching friend. A good thing too as we enjoyed a full afternoon of eating and chatting overlooking Puget Sound at Pike’s Place Market!
I did end up exploring the entire downtown waterfront, Pike Place Market (and surroundings including the amazing Meskers Map Store 🤩), the entire Pioneer Square neighbourhood, and fit in some shopping at Nordstrom Rack!
Nudge Out of Your Comfort Zone
I’m a big advocate for intentionally nudging yourself out of your comfort zone. Why? Because travel can be a catalyst for personal growth and self-discovery when we challenge ourselves to overcome fears and blow away limitations. Travellers adapt to unfamiliar environments, navigate through uncertainties, and become more resilient in the face of adversity. These experiences help us build confidence, and expand what we are comfortable with and capable of.
Does a great itinerary prevent mishaps and misadventures?
Of course not! I had a few of those but I strongly believe that my loose but well-thought-out and personalized itinerary supported me to adapt on the fly when my mini-misadventures occurred. I had a wonderful time and feel incredibly empowered having enjoyed Seattle in my own way.
Solo Travel in Seattle: Out of My Comfort Zone
Getting out of my comfort zone was the primary reason for taking this international trip! Solo travel in Seattle was my comfort zone nudge! In fact, instead of finding ways to challenge myself more, I had to ensure to put some things in place that didn’t push me too far out of my comfort zone!
For example, I decided not to go out after dark and not to feel guilty about it. For this trip daytime exploration was enough! It gets dark around 530pm in February in the Pacific Northwest, so I had to think ahead about what I’d do for dinner and what to do during the evening in the hotel. Dinner ended up being a bit of a challenge but evenings were divine as I:
Enjoyed a bath (I don’t have a bathtub at home).
Edited my photos.
Wrote in my journal.
Read my book and/or watched chick flicks to my heart’s content!
Creating A Personalized Itinerary - A Recap
If you are planning a trip - solo or not, ask yourself:
What is the purpose? What are my intentions?
How am I going to get there, where will I stay, and how will I get home?
How will I hyper-personalize the itinerary?
How will I nudge out of my comfort zone (but not too far)?
I hope this article helps you to plan your next adventure! Still looking for more?
TRAVEL COACHING: Need a bit of travel coaching to get you started or to fine-tune your travel plans? I’d love to work with you. Check out what travel coaching with me is all about and let’s connect!
GO SOLO & THRIVE: Interested in some extra guidance, and empowerment to go on your first solo trip? This small group experience might be just what you are looking for!
