Budget Friendly Bets

With countless things to do in Seattle for free or on the cheap, you can explore the city without breaking the bank.

There are parks galore, running the gamut from picture-perfect perches like Kerry Park (211 W Highland Dr; seattle.gov/parks/find/parks/kerry-park) to a 20-acre Japanese landscape filled with native plants at Kubota Garden (9817 55th Ave S; kubotagarden.org). Discovery Park (3801 Discovery Park Blvd; seattle.gov/parks/find/parks/discovery-park), the city’s largest park at 534 acres, never disappoints with miles of trails and a gorgeous shoreline complete with views of the Olympic Mountains.

The Center for Wooden Boats (*1010 Valley St; cwb.org) offers free public sailings every Sunday. Show up at the Lake Union boathouse at 10am to snag a spot on one of the vessels. Volunteer skippers take guests out on all kinds of craft, from steamboats to sailboats.

For artsy pursuits, Frye Art Museum (*704 Terry Ave; fryemuseum.org) in Capitol Hill is always free. The collection includes a variety of lovely paintings from the 19th century and beyond. At the University of Washington, the on-campus Henry Art Gallery (*4100 15th Ave NE; henryart.org) is a steal at $10 for access to a vibrant collection, including James Turrell’s meditative space Light Reign.