Space Needle

The Space Needle is the defining landmark of Seattle, Washington, rising from the Seattle Center campus at 400 Broad Street in the Lower Queen Anne area. Built for the 1962 World's Fair, the saucer-topped tower stands about 605 feet tall and remains the most recognised symbol of the Pacific Northwest. Visitors ride glass-walled elevators to the observation level, where an indoor deck with floor-to-ceiling glass and an outdoor open-air deck give 360-degree views over downtown Seattle, Elliott Bay, Puget Sound, Mount Rainier to the southeast and the Olympic Mountains to the west. A rotating glass floor, the Loupe, lets visitors look straight down through the structure to the ground far below, and the open-air ring includes glass benches and slanted glass walls designed for photography. Timed tickets are sold for most days, and the visit typically takes one to two hours including the queue for the elevator and time on both levels. The best conditions come on clear mornings, when Mount Rainier is most often visible, and around sunset, when the city lights switch on; evening slots sell out first in summer. Crowds peak on summer weekends and during holidays, with the longest waits late in the morning and early afternoon. Weekday openings and the first slot of the day are the quietest. The tower sits inside Seattle Center, which also contains the Chihuly Garden and Glass, the Museum of Pop Culture, the Pacific Science Center and the International Fountain, so many visitors combine several attractions in one outing. The Seattle Center Monorail connects the grounds to Westlake Center downtown in about two minutes. Photographers often shoot the Needle itself from Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill or from the lawns of Seattle Center, since the best views of the tower cannot be taken from the tower. Rain and low cloud are common from late autumn through spring, and visitors who arrive in poor visibility can often exchange or reschedule through the venue's policies, which are worth checking before purchase.