It’s the end of March, and I feel like Seattleites have been more than lucky to have the Overlook Walk and Waterfront Park pretty much to ourselves this winter. I’ve been feeling especially thankful on the mornings I drop one teen off at school and Scout starts to perk up and whimper as we near the deciding corner on the ride back home “will mom stop for our walk, today?” And my rule has pretty much been if I can get “my spot” (sorry, my lips are sealed on this one but the parking lots here have reasonable parking if you can’t find street parking) and if it’s good weather we take in all the views together from Pike Place Market to the Waterfront and maybe grab a croissant to eat when we get home too. I know cruise season (April-October) happens any day now so I’m so curious how busy it will get here in the mornings in the next little while and I’ll do my best to keep this updated or you can message me on instagram too.
Pufftown Bakehouse is one of the newest bakeries in Pike Place Market
And we’ll know because we’ll inevitably see more early morning lineups at Pufftown Bakehouse. It’s one of the newest and also one of the places that opens the earliest in Pike Place market and it’s easy to pick up pastries here when I have Scout because it’s more like an ordering window than a walk-in cafe. (my other open early morning favorite in Pike Place Market is le Panier where I also grab sandwiches for lunch but this one I go to when I don’t bring Scout) I do recommend that if getting a pastry and maybe even a specific pastry is a make it or break it part of your day, you get here early and even make this the first part of your walk. I follow them on instagram and they’re really good about updating their specials and their opening times. Apparently their focaccia is pretty magical and I’ll try that one day, but also they have pretty fantastic plain croissants too. (I have a list of places Seattle locals visit in the market if you’re looking for more places to go in Pike Place Market too)
And the Overlook Walk is my current favorite place to walk with Scout
I think Scout’s ultimate favorite park is still the beach at Expedia Park but the Overlook Walk is along our commute lately so this one is the one we get to do most and he really loves it too. The Overlook Walk is so scenic and perfect. The views of Seattle’s waterfront are spectacular and even though the walk has a lot of steps if you go all the way to the Waterfront ( I often have to carry Scout back up) you don’t have to go all the way. There are also gorgeous garden spaces all along the walk and even a couple slides for kids in the part nearest to Old Stove Brewing and Honest Biscuits. We are always looking for places to sit with food at the market and I noticed tons of seating all over the route so now if you go to Pike Place Market, it should be easy to grab lunch and find somewhere to sit. There are even some under cover seating areas too. I love how this walkway allows so much access to beautiful outdoor space and I’m proud this is in such a prominent part of our city. (It’s like a WAY bigger version of the secret garden space in the Market)
Two memberships that might be helpful if you spend a lot of time in this area
If you want to make the Overlook Walk and Pike Place Market part of a bigger adventure and maybe especially with younger kids, an aquarium membership would be such a great idea. After a couple times at the aquarium the membership pretty much pays for itself. We always had one when the kids were young and being able to pop in even just for 30 minutes multiple times over trying to make the cost of a one day’s admission “worth it” was something we appreciated with the membership. I also have a Seattle Art Museum membership and the art museum isn’t too far from Pike Place Market so it’s nice to be able to visit that too if we’re already in the area as well.
And what is the best time to go to the Waterfront Park?
I’m a big fan of visiting on weekday mornings, but there is often more to do at Waterfront Park in the afternoons or on weekends. The Overlook walk is open from 7am-10pm so I’ve noticed a lot of visitors with young kids at the mini playground and down on Pier 62 playing soccer on the mini pitch there too where the Overlook walk kind of ends. There is a new playground coming to the Pier 62 area on the waterfront any day now as well and I remember years ago when we helped ask the community for input on what the playground design might be.
Lupines are also really popular in Seattle and I think I spotted a bunch of them in the planters along the Overlook Walk. They tend to bloom mid-May to June so I’ll keep checking back or update me if you know if they really are lupines.
And if you want to make your Overlook walk a longer adventure?
One of these bright spring days, I’m going to grab a friend and walk a loop from Pike Place Market over the Overlook to the Waterfront and all the way to Pioneer Square (maybe even on a First Thursday) and see where the day takes us and note all the shops and eateries we stop and see along the way. I think it’s the kind of route that could be done many times and never turn out exactly the same. This is the kind of adventure that makes me excited about being a tourist in my own city.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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