Things to see in Seattle

Once the residence of Seattle's wealthiest citizens, today Capitol Hill is populated by the city's most diverse and youth-oriented population. The Broadway district, just south of St Mark's Cathedral, is where to find the city's gay community, grunge rockers, hip hoppers and people of many cultures, who share the area with long-time residents of the historic mansions, elegant old homes and classic apartment houses. In addition to lively boutiques, restaurants and cafes, you'll find tree-lined streets lined with stately 19th-century mansions. Capitol Hill is also home to the Frye Art Museum.

The enormous Frank Gehry-designed Experience Music Project (EMP), with its unmistakable purple and red metallic exterior, celebrates American popular music - jazz, rock 'n' roll, gospel, blues, funk, punk, country and hip hop. Highlights include the world's largest collection of Jimi Hendrix memorabilia, and the substantial coverage of home-grown grunge. There are more than 80,000 music artefacts, an extensive recorded sound archive, film, photographs and stage costumes.

Aviation junkies should visit this vast arena 50km (31 miles) north of Seattle, which provides an up-close view of Boeing jumbo jets (747, 767, 777 and the Dreamliner 787). Just to see the factory, the world's largest building, is worth the trip. It has an area of nearly 40 hectares (99 acres) and is 27.4m (90ft) high. The tour begins with a short film about Boeing's history. The visitor centre has a museum and, for an extra charge, guests can ride an XJ5 flight simulator, fly at supersonic speeds and do 360 degree rolls.

Pioneer Square is situated south of the main downtown area. It is a national historic district showcasing the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and Seattle’s early development. This was the home of the original ‘Skid Road', a term born when timber was slid down Yesler Way to a steam-powered mill on the Waterfront. Pioneer Square is Seattle's oldest neighbourhood, full of restored redbrick buildings containing shops and galleries. By night, especially on the weekend or after a baseball game at Safeco Field, crowds jam the many restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

The striking post-modern building designed by Robert Venturi houses Seattle's best collection of artwork. Expanded in 2007, the museum has doubled its gallery space and invested more than US$1 billion in new acquisitions. Highlights here include Native American art, an Asian and European porcelain showroom and modern works by Jackson Pollack, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Georgia O'Keefe.

The Needle was designed by architect Edward E Carlson as a tribute to the vision of spaceship culture during the Cold War era. The underground foundation was so huge, at 91m (30ft) deep and 366m (120ft) wide, that it required 467 cement trucks and an entire day to fill the hole, in what became the largest continuous concrete ‘pour' in the west. Once completed, the foundation weighed as much as the Needle itself. The steel construction followed, using massive spiky legs to hold the spaceship observation deck and revolving restaurant on top. It takes 45 seconds in a glass elevator to reach the pinnacle.