Avoiding the Crowds at Pike Place Market

Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market is one of its busiest tourist attractions, with more than 10 million people packing into its narrow spaces and crowding its small shops and restaurants.

Luckily, the market sprawls a 17-acre historic district, so with some finesse and advanced planning, you can avoid the crowds and still see the best of the market’s many crafts, hidden alleys, viewpoints and historic aspects.

The best way to avoid the crowds here is to come early, preferably during the week, and in the off-season. Pike Place Market — and much of the rest of downtown Seattle — is very crowded on summer weekends, when long days and pleasant weather bring big crowds of visitors.

If you visit Pike Place before noon, you’ll pretty much have the place to yourself. You can watch vendors setting up, be serenaded by a busker and watch the commuters unload from the ferry terminals below. You can grab breakfast and coffee at just about any restaurant and have it all to yourself. Even better, if you can come on a weekday or any time other than summer.

Another way to avoid the crowds is to simply take a random turn or descend a set of stairs in the market. Most visitors gather around the top level, near the famous fish-throwing guys at Pike Place Fish Market. Below that first arcade level sits five more levels of shops and restaurants; generally, there are few people exploring these areas. Take a random turn, get lost and discover the market most people miss.