Beneath the Streets · Pioneer Square
A guide leads you down the stairs at 102 Cherry Street into the buried storefronts of old Pioneer Square, then back up into today's streets, in about an hour. Pick it as the cheap, short add-on to a bus tour: the bus tours drive past Pioneer Square, and this one goes under it.
After the Great Seattle Fire of June 6, 1889, Seattle rebuilt in brick and raised its streets, so many old ground floors ended up below the new sidewalks. Beneath the Streets takes you into some of those spaces and fills in the history between them: the stampede to the Klondike gold fields, Skid Row, and the Coast Salish peoples who lived here first.
It's a walk, not a crawl. The listing gives about half a mile over four blocks at an easy pace, with three flights of stairs up and down. You check in at the desk below the black awning at 102 Cherry St and finish at the Union Trust Building, 119 S Main St, by Occidental Square. Groups go up to 25, and a tour needs at least two people to run.
Set expectations on the underground part. A good share of the hour is in today's Pioneer Square, and the spaces are plain: one guest called them musty basements, then praised the guide anyway. The guide makes or breaks it. For a longer walk that covers more of the city, the Welcome to Seattle walk goes 2.5 miles and ends with the monorail.
Walk down the stairs under the black awning to the check-in desk.
The first underground section, with the story of the fire and why the streets went up.
Four blocks of today's Pioneer Square, in and out of the old spaces, with the Gold Rush and Skid Row stories.
Finish at 119 S Main St by Occidental Square, a short walk from the free Klondike Gold Rush park.
★★★★★Our tour guide, Richard, was a natural who brought the underground history of Seattle to life. [...] The tour was well paced, very informative, and very interesting. We enjoyed learning about the early history of the Seattle waterfront area.
★★★★★Great history lesson on Seattle fire and reconstruction w/ first hand look at the original city which is now one story below ground.
★★★★★Eowyn was our guide, and she did a fantastic job of explaining the history of Seattle and the areas we viewed, in a very entertaining way! [...] We only had one full day in Seattle to explore, and starting our day with Eowyn was a great choice!
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About an hour, covering about half a mile at an easy pace.
It starts at 102 Cherry St in Pioneer Square, down the stairs under the black awning, and ends at the Union Trust Building, 119 S Main St.
Yes. The listing has youth (13 to 18), child (7 to 12) and infant (2 to 6) prices, and the company's site says all ages. Its evening tours for adults are separate products.
No. There are three flights of stairs, up and down, and uneven floors.
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An hour in and under Pioneer Square's streets, from $32 per person.
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