Pike Place Market is the oldest continuous working public market in the US. Farmers first brought their produce to the market in 1907, lowering food prices by selling straight from the barrow. The market prospered during the Depression, but by the 1960s it was shabby and neglected, and the authorities decided to flatten the area altogether. Following vigorous protests, Seattlites voted overwhelmingly to preserve this as the affordable domain of the elderly and poor. The restoration has been highly successful: the whole place, stretched over several city blocks, bustles with energy, and a real attempt has been made to keep it true to its roots, even though upscale restaurants are beginning to creep in and sanitize away all the former seediness. Still, there's plenty to enjoy, with street entertainers playing to busy crowds, the aroma of coffee drifting from cafés, and stalls offering piles of lobsters, crabs, salmon, vegetables, fruit and flowers. Further into the long market building, handmade jewelry, woodcarvings and silk-screen prints are on sale, while small shops close by stock a massive range of ethnic foods.

Also nearby, the Seattle Art Museum at 100 University Street and First Avenue (Tues-Sun 10am-5pm, Thurs open until 9pm; $7 ticket includes entry to the Seattle Asian Arts Museum on Capitol Hill; free first Thurs of month; ) occupies a Robert Venturi-designed building - noteworthy for its giant engraved letters - and features international touring exhibitions and eclectic collections of African, Pacific and Native American work, with a more limited selection of modern art. Outside the main entrance is the 48ft " Hammering Man ," a kinetic sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky, which has become the museum's enigmatic emblem.

Stairs in the market lead down to the steep staircase of the Pike Place Hillclimb , and to the waterfront below. Almost opposite the Hillclimb, Pier 59 , an old wooden jetty that once served tall ships, now houses the underwater viewing dome of the Seattle Aquarium (daily 10am-5pm; summer closes at 7pm; $9, kids $6.25; ). A combined ticket also admits you to the 3-D Omnidome next door (daily shows starting 10am; $7; combined ticket $13; tel 206/622-1869 for program info; ), where 70mm films on the huge curved screen include the always-popular Eruption of Mount St Helens . On Pier 54 to the south, the most famous of the waterfront's fish-and-chip stands, Ivar's Acres of Clams , has its own special stop ("Clam Central Station") on the restored vintage waterfront streetcar ($1, peak hours $1.75). Colman Dock at Pier 52 is the terminal for Washington State Ferries.

Pike Place Market and the waterfront

• Pike Place Market and the waterfront

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