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The Seattle Underground Tour
The Underground Tour is pretty much what it sounds like – a tour of the former city streets, alleys, signs, and storefronts now buried a level below the existing city.
Tours of Seattle’s “underground” take visitors down beneath Pioneer Square, and through the maze of buried alleys and storefronts that were once Seattle’s surface streets. They’re a great crash course (or refresher) on Seattle history, and kids and adults both find them fascinating. Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour is the original and most famous. Groups are large, and guides are friendly and knowledgeable – but lean heavily on the “schtick.” (You may find this super fun or supremely irritating, depending on your personality.) This popular daytime tour touches briefly on the city’s seedier side, in coded language so that the kids in the crowd are none the wiser. All bets are off, however, for the company’s after-hours Underworld Tour, which positively revels in this town’s bad and bawdy history of drugs, crime, and prostitution. All the same locations are visited as during the day, but the stories are raunchier at night and guests receive a free cocktail upon completion of the tour (Age 21+). You’ll want to buy your tickets in advance, as both tours routinely sell out.
Seattle Underground Tour Hours & Information
The Underground Tour descending to the old city below.
- Tour Length: 75 minutes
- Schedule: Tours start hourly every day; 9am-7pm April to September, 10am-6pm October to March. Additional tours on the half hour June to August (box office only), limited hours December 24, and December 26-31. Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
- Location: Tours depart from Doc Maynard’s Public House in Pioneer Square, 614 First Avenue.
- Website: undergroundtour.com
- Telephone: (206) 682-4646
- Ticket Prices: $22 Adult (18-59 yrs); $20 Senior (60+ yrs) and Student (13-17 yrs or with valid college ID); $10 Youth (7-12 yrs); Kids 6 and under are admitted free, but may find the tour challenging.
- Parking: There are 3 parking garages within a block of the tour (interactive parking map). Limited street parking is also available, but hard to come by.
- Getting There: 3-minute walk from Pioneer Square light rail station, 7-minute walk from King Street Amtrak Station, and a 7-minute walk from the downtown ferry dock. Pioneer Square is served by Metro bus routes 120, 132, 18, 268, 303, 311, 40, 43, 550, and 62 (route planning tool).
- Nearby Restaurants: The surrounding area is one of Seattle’s best for dining and drinking. The best restaurants near the Underground Tour are Halal Guys (falafel & gyros takeaway, 1-minute walk), Damn the Weather (cocktail bar/pub, 2-minute walk), The London Plane (cafe and dining room, 4-minute walk), Salumi (Italian deli, 6-minute walk), and Taylor Shellfish (seafood, 6-minute walk).
Recommended Seattle Tours
The Pike Place Market Chef-Guided Food Tour is our favorite tour in downtown Seattle.
- Pike Place Market Chef-Guided Food Tour – Awesome tour of the specialty shops and top restaurants in Pike Place Market and a few surrounding streets.
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