Start here
Answers to the question you actually have.
Water
You are looking for a Charles River. There are three, and they are all better.
Green Lake Park · Lake Union Park · Gas Works Park · +5 more
Runs and trails
Flat loops, wooded ravines, and 27 paved miles that cross the whole city.
Burke-Gilman Trail · Discovery Park · Green Lake Park · +5 more
Coffee to sit in
Not coffee to take away. Coffee to stay three hours over.
Analog Coffee · Victrola Coffee Roasters · Cafe Allegro · +5 more
Third places
Somewhere that is not work and not home, where nobody asks you to leave.
Seattle Central Library · Elliott Bay Book Company · Volunteer Park · +5 more
Views
Where the city finally makes sense as a shape. Go at dusk.
Kerry Park · Gas Works Park · Sky View Observatory · +5 more
From my own maps
Saved and reviewed over a few years of living here. Honest, not comprehensive.
Been there
Places actually visited and reviewed, with the ratings left as they were written.
A Ma Chicken Rice · The Flour Box · Jakob Two Trees · +20 more
Want to go
Saved, bookmarked, not yet been. The running shortlist.
Piedmont Café · Espresso Vivace Capitol Hill · K-Cafe, Da Bang · +10 more