Adventure & Wellness Trips
If you want to turn a trip to Seattle into an adventure, book a multiday kayak tour with Northwest Outdoor Center, 2100 Westlake Ave. N, Ste. 1 (tel. 800/683-0637 or 206/281-9694; www.nwoc.com), which offers a variety of sea-kayak tours.
For a very different sort of hiking tour, contact Deli Llama (tel. 360/757-4212; www.delillama.com), which offers llama trekking tours in Olympic National Park.
With its biodiesel vans and Jeeps, EverGreen Escapes (tel. 866/203-7603 or 206/650-5795; www.evergreenescapes.com) is an environmentally conscious tour company specializing in adventurous getaways. Hiking, rafting, kayaking, and bicycling are all options on this company's tours.
Food & Wine Trips/Cooking Classes
Seattle is the sort of city that foodies and wine lovers dream about -- great restaurants with access to superb local ingredients and dozens of wineries within 30 minutes of the city. If you'd like to focus on food or wine on your vacation, check out some of the offerings from these cooking schools and wine-tour companies.
One of my favorite Seattle chefs, Tom Douglas, offers 5-day summer culinary camps ($2,500). To learn more, visit www.tomdouglas.com. Another local chef, Christine Keff, offers cooking classes through her restaurant, Flying Fish, 300 Westlake Ave. N. (tel. 206/728-8595; www.flyingfishseattle.com). The lunchtime classes cost $55.
If you want to add a cooking class to a day spent ogling all the great produce at Pike Place Market, check the calendar at Diane's Market Kitchen, 1101 Post Alley (tel. 877/624-6114 or 206/624-6114; www.dianesmarketkitchen.com), a cooking school just a few blocks away from the market. Local cooking store Dish it up! (http://dish-it-up.com) with two locations -- in the Magnolia neighborhood at 2425 33rd Ave. W, Ste. B (tel. 888/322-2665 or 206/281-7800), and in the Ballard neighborhood at 5320 Ballard Ave. NW (tel. 206/971-0400) -- offers a wide range of classes, many of which feature local chefs. At Auberge Edge of Seattle Cooking School, 16400 216th Ave. NE, Woodinville, WA 98077 (tel. 425/844-4102; www.edgeof-seattle-cooking.com), you can stay in wine country and spend a couple of days learning new cooking techniques.
For a tour of the nearby Woodinville wine country, get in touch with Bon Vivant Wine Tours (tel. 206/524-8687; www.bonvivanttours.com), which offers day tours of the area and also does full-day tours to eastern Washington's wine country.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
