The Stranger Guide to Seattle: The City's Smartest, Pickiest, Most Obsessive Urban Manual

This is a totally unique look at a city, not from the frame of a large international tourguide company, but from point of view of THE BEST local weekly newspaper for Seattle (a shining star amoung weeklies for the whole nation, in fact). The Stranger paper has the job of pointing you in the direction of happening haunts, good eats, nightlife, shopping, etc, and they've been doing it for years, so who better to write the ultimate guide on the city of Seattle? This is a great book if you are a brief visitor, if you are relocating, or if you have lived in Seattle and want a terrific reference guide for new things to do out and about. I like the way the restaurants are broken up: ethnic, quick-fix, splurge, cafes, etc. Bars are done similarly: rock clubs, all ages, taverns, swanks bars, cool places to be seen, dives, dj & hiphop, etc. This makes it easy to find your scene and head on out. The only drawback is that this was published in 2001 and no updated version is out yet. There might be some things that have changed in the interim, but this is still a good baseline for your visit to Seattle. Pick up this week's copy of The Stranger when you get there!

With an impending trip to Seattle on the horizon, I ordered this book and some others -- but this one is by far my favorite! Not only is it thorough, scathingly honest in its critiques, and well-organized, but it is an absolute riot to read!!! Seriously, once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down... It is always good to find a travel guide that offers up actual opinions of landmarks, restaurants, hotels, etc., rather than just what seems like a tagline from a brochure -- and this book does not hold back, whether it be to compliment or to criticize...I HIGHLY recommend this book if you are traveling to Seattle, moving there, etc... You will be entertained from cover to cover!!!

This book is especially great for new residents of the Seattle area. The descriptions on the hot-spots are dead on. Once in town, be sure to pick up a free copy of "The Stranger" weekly newspaper.Advice: Be careful with some of the listings in the book as they are not around any longer. You may want to consult with citysearch (or call) before making plans.

After growing up in the Puget Sound Area in the pre_1960`s before the changes took place,I saw the Seattle waterfront as one of the coolest spots on the earth,comparable to the waterfront in Hong Kong.Just a seamy world of offbeat characters & some of the best seafood you could possibly imagine.Paula has disovered all those haunts & more.This is the quintessential guide to the best of the best & I recommened it to locals & non_locals to get the most for your $$ & to rediscover the way Seattle as it really was.