TRAVEL: How To Enjoy Beautiful Seattle On A Budget

Seattle is a fantastic city to visit for people from Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington itself. There's so much to do as a tourist, but it can get expensive VERY quickly. When you know a few insider tricks and secrets about the best things to do around Seattle, you'll have more fun and avoid spending money on things that aren't worth the price.

Like most big cities, Seattle offers food and fun at all price points - you just need to know where to look. Bargains really can be found, and at the very least you can easily spend LESS money on pricey things like hockey tickets. Not all of our suggestions are 'cheap', but they're cheaper options.

Seattle is an incredibly photogenic city. There's beauty almost everywhere you look. Urban nation can be found all over the place because there are parks of all sizes scattered throughout the city. Architecture of all kinds mix together in downtown. However, Seattle certainly has it's flaws and we'll get to that.

Be honest with yourself about what things you really like to do. For instance, we love food, museums, cars, and sports. Our last trip to Seattle was specifically for the freshest seafood in the middle of winter, and hockey games. (There happened to be 3 home games the week we were there.)

My point is, spending money on fresh Dungeness crab and oysters is WORTH IT, while the (highly rated) Pacific Science Center absolutely bored me to tears - and it was a pricey entry ticket of about $30 before any add-ons like their IMAX shows. The only reason it wasn't worth it TO ME was because it was very geared towards children. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be...and that's my fault.

According to CrimeGrade.org, "The rate of crime in Seattle is much higher than the average US city. Seattle is in the 8th percentile for safety, meaning 92% of cities are safer and 8% of cities are more dangerous." Just be smart, aware of your surroundings, and don't do stupid stuff to make yourself a target of theft.

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Things like Happy Hours in Seattle can be your best friend. I was pleasantly surprised to find genuine deals at several nice restaurants if you eat there early. It drives me nuts when places have 'Happy Hours' that offer measly savings.10% off ain't enough to be considered a 'bargain'.