Seattle in November?

[fastbilly1]

Folks in the upper Northwest, my wife and I are looking at anniversary trips and Seattle keeps popping up and fits most of our requirements. Is it worth it to go to Seattle then?

We would be flying in mid week and doing touristy things during day and hopefully meeting up with a couple friend groups in the evenings. My wife wants to take a daytrip to Vancouver or Victoria (she has never been out of the country). So I have several questions and would rather ask people I trust than random tourism websites.

[Stark]

As long as rainy weather doesn't bother you! November is usually cold and wet.

Victoria has some a great garden, but it also might not be a good time to visit it. If you're skiers, Whistler, which is North of Vancouver, will probably be open by then. We also have a small German-themed village to the East in the Cascades that is fun to visit in the winter time.

[stickem]

^actually the nashville area, where he is at, outranks seattle in average annual rainfall lol.

[Stark]

Oh forgot to mention, I'd love to hang out when you're up here if you guys have time for that!

[MrPopo]

^actually the nashville area, where he is at, outranks seattle in average annual rainfall lol.

A lot of places have more annual rainfall because the region pretty much dries up during the summer months entirely. The precipitation graph bottoms out hard in the summer and has a nice peak in the winter, whereas a place like Chicago has a consistent amount of precipitation all year round (switching between rain and snow depending on the time of year).

I'll second what Stark is saying; November is rainy and on the cold end (where cold is defined as 50 degrees). You could still do Pike's Place Market (it's mostly covered) as a touristy thing, but seeing stuff in nature would probably be less inviting.

[fastbilly1]

As it starts raining here in Nashville...

Popo/Stark, what would be the best area to stay in? Obviously we want to hit the Pikes Place Market, Space Needle, the Great Wheel, and a couple museums or centers. Would it be worthwhile to stay in the Belltown/Downtown area, or stay elsewhere and tram/bus in?

I should mention, no skiing. But seeing Mt Baker Forest/Glacier Peak would be pretty high on my list. So I was eyeballing Bellvue or possibly Renton for basecamp. Cheaper Hotels and easier access to get out of the city proper.

[Stark]

There's the Museum of Flight (http://www.museumofflight.org/) and EMP (http://empmuseum.org/) which are both pretty cool in my book. I don't know that you save all that much staying out of the city, our transit system isn't the greatest. :S

[avrame]

+1 to Stark and Popo's suggestions. Depends, no kids in your group, just you and the wife? If you plan to barhop, Belltown would be a nice experience for a night. As for Seattle attractions, check out CityPass http://www.citypass.com/seattle.

Any chance you and your wife are foodies? Tons of good sushi in the Seattle area, even more variety if you plan to go up to Vancouver for a day or two.

[avrame]

Oh yeah, avoid the 'Ride the Ducks', which used to be hyped on plenty travel sites and Lonely Planet. The got into a whole heap of legal trouble within the last year, and their tours are a shell of their former selves.

[Stark]

Yeah avoid Ride the Ducks and do the Underground Tour (http://www.undergroundtour.com), that one wouldn't matter if it's raining!