Seattle

An eccentric city moored by the mighty mountains of the Cascade and Olympic range, Seattle can defy expectations. While a 4000-year old Native American past throbs underneath the modern daze of this seaport city, European settlement did not begin here until the latter half of the 19th Century. After a shaky period of initial settlement that led to small towns popping up around Elliot Bay, the city experienced several periods of boom and bust, first rising to prominence from its timber industry and then from its proximity to the newly discovered Klondike goldfields. Eventually, the mining and logging industries gave way to companies like Boeing, Microsoft, UPS and Amazon, that continue to be economic strongholds in the city. A major part of the city's culture and local spirit stays anchored to Downtown Seattle, the waterfront heart of the city, which is home to retail gems like the Pike Place Market and the iconic Space Needle. At the periphery of this dynamic neighborhood, a host of art galleries, parks, and nightclubs attract and entertain locals and tourists. Today, the city fosters a multicultural atmosphere, garners an ardent love for coffee that brews in locally-owned roasteries, a liberal tolerance for the quirky and a collective adoration for its treasured green spaces.