To be completely honest, I booked a flight to Seattle because I found a very good deal on FareDrop for some flights in November. Seattle is a city I’ve thought about visiting before but haven’t fully committed to putting it at the top of my list. Even after I first landed in good old Seattle, it was a very gray and rainy day, with so few people out on the streets. I was skeptical at first if I’d made the right choice to visit Seattle. However, I’m glad I did and had a good time traveling solo to this little area in Washington state.

Of course, this was going to be a solo trip. My first and only true solo trip since my solo trip to London last year in 2022! Once I found a deal for round trip, direct flights to and from Philly, I purchased them on an impulse. I then found a little hostel in the downtown area of Seattle, which had really good reviews, and booked my stay. A couple months later, I fully committed to planning a rough outline of my budget and things I wanted to see and do while in Seattle.

My solo trip to Seattle a complete success! It was such a cool experience where I did a lot of exploring, tours, walking, and hiking. If you’re looking to visit Seattle and only have about 4 days to visit, keep on reading to see the type of itinerary I followed for my 4 day solo trip.

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Why visit for 4 days?

When I saw the low prices for round trip, direct flight tickets to Seattle from Philly, I immediately clicked on the links and checked to see when these deals would be good. Meaning, I checked to see if the low prices were for specific dates, months, or days of the week.

Upon further research, I saw that FareDrop had really good deals for October and November. Mind you, I saw the notification for these deals back in August of 2023. I compared the dates of the cheapest flights with my 2 work schedules. Since I have a 2nd job that’s newer than my day job, I don’t have the ability to take off for longer periods of time because I don’t accrue enough PTO with each paycheck.

Due to those constraints with my 2nd job, I was only able to truly travel to Seattle for 4 days. If I didn’t have my 2nd job, I would’ve loved to have visited Washington for about 8 days, spending about 3-4 days in Seattle before exploring the rest of the state. Since that’s not the case, a little 4 day solo vacation would suffice.

What time of year did I visited Seattle?

I visited Seattle from November 1st to November 4th in 2023. In the USA, this is our fall season. This made not only for beautiful fall foliage in the state of Washington but finding very cheap plane ticket deals, because it’s the shoulder season.

Thankfully, the time of year I visited, it wasn’t too cold or windy. It was definitely rainy and gray for most of the time, it wasn’t terribly cold. There were moments where it was sunny when I was in Mt. Rainier National Park and I got very hot hiking. On average, the temperature was very mild.

How much were the flight tickets?

I paid $167.81 for round trip, direct flights to and from Philly with Alaska Airline. Traveling from the east coast to the west coast of the USA, round trip tickets, PLUS having them as direct flights, this was such a steal! You can see why I HAD to get these plane tickets and visit Seattle.

Shoutout to FareDrop for notifying me about this amazing deal!!!

How much was the accommodation?

Accommodation can be very expensive when traveling to a city. It doesn’t always have to be though. There are cheaper alternatives for accommodations, as long as you’re willing and comfortable with these options. One of them being a hostel.

The hostel I found on Hostelworld is the Green Tortoise Seattle Hostel. Altogether, I paid $153.45 for 3 nights in a 8 bed mixed dorm. I paid a $24.21 deposit once I found the hostel, then I paid the rest once I arrived. I had up until about 24 hrs in advance to cancel my reservation for free. And I’d rather cancel or, worse case scenario, lose about $25 than over $100. Hence why I typically pay only the down payment, so to speak, for hostels.

Don’t worry, a future post will be created about my budget and how much I spent for this solo trip.

Day 1: First exploration of Seattle

Day one of my little trip to Seattle was all about killing time until check-in, then heading to the Space Needle. I landed around 10am and had until 2pm to check-in. This meant, wandering around by myself throughout the downtown area until 2pm. Then, after 2pm check-in, it was off to the Space Needle. Here’s what that looked like:

• Walked throughout Pike Place Market (20 second walk from my hostel)
• Walked down towards the water front to see the water and Ferris Wheel
• Walked towards Pioneer Square but changed direction and walked throughout the Downtown area (walked up and down many streets and avenues)
• Got hungry and walked to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch
• Check-in at The Seattle Green Tortoise Hostel at 2pm
• Walked from the Downtown area to the Space Needle (in-between is Belltown and Uptown)
• Attempted to go to the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum but they were closed (they close an hour earlier than what’s stated on the website)
• Walked back from the Space Needle to my hostel in Downtown Seattle

Let me tell you, I wasted no time going right to sleep. I was so tired! Not only did I arrive in Seattle around 10am but the 3 hour time difference from the east coast, plus all the walking throughout different neighborhoods, and being up since 2am (east coast time), made it hard to stay awake.

Overall, it was  a very good day and I was super happy I had the chance to walk around, explore the side streets and avenues, and get to see Seattle during the day. Even if it was a very gray day, it just gave the city that extra edge but also that classic Seattle/Washington weather style to it.

Day 2: Tours, Walking, and Exploring

Day two was all about doing tours all day long, solo. That’s right, I had tours booked for most of the day. Not one, not two, but THREE tours booked for the day. Am I a little crazy? Maybe. But since I only had 4 days in Seattle, I wanted to make the most of my time here. What better way to do that than to do three different types of tours that take me to different parts of Seattle? PLUS, going on tours is such a great way to meet other people, if you’re traveling solo. It was a win-win for me either way.

Here’s what the day looked like:

• Walked from the Green Tortoise Hostel to Bacco Cafe, which took about 5 minutes – breakfast is the most important meal of the day!
• Some random homeless lady called me some unsavory things (there’s a lot of homeless people and those with mental health issues. Just try your best not to engage with them)
• Walked about 12 minutes from the cafe to my first tour: the Seattle Underground Walking Tour
• Afterward, I walked 25 to 30 minutes to Capitol Hill (I chilled for about an hour before my next tour started)
• Tour #2 was a Coffee and Culture Tour: taste different types of coffee, learn about its history in Seattle, and Capitol Hill’s culture (I was the only one there, so it was more of a private tour)
• Walked back to my hostel to relax for a little bit until my last tour at 8pm
• Walked to Belltown to meet up with another travel content creator for some drinks at the Navy Strength
• Ran to my Terrors and Ghosts Walking Tour, because I was late. Made it to the tour though!
• Went to Target to get frozen food for dinner. I went back to my hostel, ate, and crashed

There was a lot of walking and I loved it! Though my feet were noticeable sore, it was fun to do different types of tours which took me to different areas of Seattle. I even got out of my comfort zone and had a solo/private tour, which is something I wouldn’t normally do. But it was a fun time and I recommend these tours if you’re visiting Seattle.

Day 3: Hiking in Mt. Rainier National Park

This was the big day I’d been waiting for. My 4th and final tour was actually a day trip to Mt. Rainier National Park! I was super excited to visit this iconic park in Washington and see Mt. Rainier. This is a MUST when you’re in Seattle and don’t have a lot of time to out there on your own.

This day trip consisted of a couple hikes with a few pit stops in other areas in the park. The biggest hike being the one to see Mt. Rainier but the other hikes were just as beautiful! What does an itinerary like that look like? It looks like this:

• Attempted to visit one of the two Moor Coffee Shops but it was closed due to water damage
• Ate breakfast at Ludi’s Restaurant
• Walked about 5 minutes to the meetup point for the day trip
• Visited multiple locations in Mt. Rainier National Park:
  • The Skyline Trail (hiked for awesome views of Mt. Rainier and the surrounding area)
  • Glacier Vista (optional additional trail – I hiked it to get closer to Mt. Rainier)
  • Narada Falls (beautiful waterfall nestled within the forest)
  • A randon stop along a closed trail somewhere (I didn’t see or get a name, sorry!)
  • Pristine Waterfall (another beautiful waterfall!)
  • Forest walk (we walked along a short but beautiful trail in a dense, old forest with huge trees)
• Went to target to get dinner and dessert

As you can see, the whole day was pretty much spent hiking on trails, driving to and from the park, and eating. The scenery, landscape, and views were just out of this world! I don’t get to see landscapes or mountains like that here on the east coast of the USA. So every time I’m on the west coast and I visit a national park with epic scenery, I take full advantage of it!

I even met another solo traveler and started talking to him. His name is Dan and we had a fun time on that tour! Meeting fellow solo travelers and building those connections, even if it’s only for the day, is fun and rewarding.

This was such a fun but tiring day. Definitely worth it if you’re visiting Seattle and are looking for a day trip.

Day 4: Last day in Seattle

This was my last full day in Seattle. I couldn’t believe it was my last day and how time flew. It seemed like it was just yesterday when I was arriving in this Washington city. Anyways, my flight wasn’t until about 11pm that evening, so I literally had all the time in the world to do some last minute exploring.

With a full day ahead of me, here’s what my itinerary looked like:

• Finally go to Moore coffee shop where I got Nutella waffle and an Mexican mocha iced coffee
• Visit Chihuly Glass and Garden Museum (it was a stretch but I managed to use my ticket from 3 days earlier to get it)
• Walked back to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch
• Walked to Pike Place Market and saw Chris Anderson play drums #pikestreetdrummer (it was a cool performance)
• Walked around the Downtown and Pioneer Square area
• Chilled in my hostel for about 3 hours (I was very tired from the hike and walking )
• Bought a $3 one way ticket to airport (no one checked the ticket on the trail)
• Went to airport (caught my flight on time and had a smooth flight)

My last day doesn’t look too amazing or surprising. Besides finally being able to visit the Glass and Garden museum, I was just winging it at that point. I was very tired from all the hiking I did. I thought I’d be up for more exploring but I really just wanted to rest. After I was done walking around, that’s exactly what I did until it was time to catch the train to the airport for my flight home.

Regardless of how lack luster my last day was, it was still a cool day and wonderful trip overall. I didn’t have a lot of high expectations for Seattle but after spending a few days here, I grew to love it and was a bit sad I had to leave. I felt like I was finally starting to scratch the surface of what it’s truly like to be here and the amount of things I could see and do. Not to mention, I only explored a tiny portion of Seattle, as it’s an expansive city with a lot more sections and neighborhoods.

That’s alright though. It just gives me even more of a reason to visit in the future!