Experience Seattle Culture On A Budget This February — Here’s How

Worthy travel goals like learning new things, soaking up more culture, and saving money all come together in Seattle in February during a promotion that is sure to keep those 2023 New Year’s resolutions alive.

Seattle Museum Month, a value-packed offer in Washington State’s largest city, brings together a host of downtown Seattle hotels with more than two dozen of the city’s best museums — all intending to give travelers (and locals looking for a staycation) a fun and educational winter getaway while saving a significant amount of money.

As explained by Visit Seattle, Museum Month runs from February 1 to 28, 2023, and allows guests staying in one of nearly 70 downtown hotels to receive a Seattle Museum Month pass for up to four people, granting 50 percent off admission to all participating museums.

It’s A Bargain

Depending on how many museums visitors choose to see, the savings can be substantial. Consider that popular venues like Chihuly Garden and Glass, the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP), and Woodland Park Zoo each offer regular tickets in the $19 to $29 range. They are all on the list of discounted venues during February, so a couple could save upwards of $70 on those three attractions alone.

Visit Seattle notes that visitors who make the most of the Seattle Museum Month offers “can essentially recoup the cost of their hotel stay, making for an affordable, budget-friendly vacation.”

Mind-Blowing Array Of Museums

When it comes to opportunities for learning new things, the diversity is virtually endless. From science to pinball, from airplanes to wooden boats, and from bonsai trees to glass art, Seattle’s museum scene offers astounding variety.

Along with Chihuly, MoPOP, and Woodland Park Zoo, the list of discounted museums also includes popular choices like the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Aquarium, The Museum of Flight, LeMay America’s Car Museum, The Wing Luke Museum, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, and the Pacific Science Center.

Unique venues like the National Nordic Museum, the Seattle Pinball Museum, and the USS Turner Joy Museum Ship are also included. The list of 26 participating museums also includes several venues that have free admission (some with a suggested donation), such as the Olympic Sculpture Park, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center, the Pacific Bonsai Museum, and the Center for Wooden Boats.

For a full list of participating museums, check out this website.

New Exhibits On Display

Visitors in February will be able to take in several new displays and exhibits, such as the Seattle Art Museum’s reinstallation of its American art galleries — the first in 15 years — called American Art: The Stories We Carry, which Visit Seattle says, “reflects on America’s complicated history and explores the multiplicity of American identities.”

Chihuly Garden and Glass also recently debuted a new light and music show, Winter Brilliance, which showcases artist Dale Chihuly’s fantastic take on fire and ice, while the nearby MoPOP offers the chance to take in the fascinating Contact High, an exhibit exploring the evolution of hip-hop music.

Featured Hotels Are Plentiful

The list of participating hotels is sure to offer something for everyone as well. Museum Month choices include the luxurious Fairmont Olympic Hotel and Four Seasons Hotel Seattle, as well as several Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt brand choices in a variety of price ranges and neighborhoods, and well-located boutique choices such as Kimpton’s Vintage Seattle and Monaco Seattle, and Staypineapple’s Maxwell Hotel in the Seattle Center, and downtown’s Staypineapple Hotel Five.

One thing the hotel choices all have in common is that they are relatively close to museums on the list. For instance, citizenM notes that its two hotels — in South Lake Union and Pioneer Square — “are located near some of the best museums in the city, including the Museum of Pop Culture, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center, and Seattle Pinball Museum.”

There’s no doubt that the Museum Month promotion makes February the perfect time for visitors to check off some of those bucket-list Seattle venues — all with the assurance that they are getting some of the best values of the year.