20 Free Museums in Seattle to Visit in Your Lifetime

inside an exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, one of the best free museums in Seattle

Few people know this, but there are a lot of free museums in Seattle. Museum visits usually come with hefty admission fees which, if you’re traveling with family, can get expensive quickly.

Thankfully many of Seattle’s 40+ museums offer free entry. Some are always free, while others are free the first Thursday of the month (known as “first Thursdays”) as a way to attract tourists and locals on their off days.

So, whether you’re looking to stroll around Japanese gardens or want a unique look at local history, this list will break down the best museums in Seattle with free admission!

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Free Museums in Seattle

Save this to Pinterest for later, as I’ll add more of the best Seattle museums with free days as they become available!

If you visit a museum that’s always free, please consider donating so that they can continue to provide free opportunities for cultural immersion.

Olympic Sculpture Park

website | neighborhood: Belltown (get directions) | when it’s free: everyday | best for: waterfront sculptures

The Olympic Sculpture Park is one of the best parks in Seattle and my favorite of all the free museums in Seattle. It’s a part of the Seattle Art Museum and offers nine acres of green space, the most of any park in downtown Seattle. It’s open every day, rain or shine, and the museum often hosts free-to-the-public events like community meetups, fitness classes, and Summer at SAM, a kid-friendly event with live music, art, and food trucks.

The “museum” is more of a collection of sculptures, which you can explore and take pictures with, especially the iconic Red Sculpture. They also offer free hour-long tours if you want to know more about the space.

woman walking in the Olympic Sculpture Park, one of the free museums in Seattle

Frye Art Museum

website | neighborhood: First Hill (get directions) | when it’s free: everyday | best for: contemporary art

The Frye is one of Seattle’s few free art museums. It’s named after its founders Charles and Emma Frye, who gifted the founding collection of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century European art back in 1952. These pieces are still on view in the Frye Salon, along with the growing collection of donated pieces from fellow contemporary art collectors.

Frye Museum, one of the best free museums in Seattle — *Image courtesy of Joe Wolf*

Center for Wooden Boats

website | neighborhood: South Lake Union (get directions) | when it’s free: everyday | best for: Northwest maritime history

The Center for Wooden Boats is part museum, part experience. Their mission is to create a thriving community centered through shared maritime experiences, and they do this through education, exhibits, and hands-on experiences in building small crafts.

When you go, you can reserve a free one-hour rental of their peapod rowboats to explore Lake Union, take sailing lessons, or embark on a guided charter cruise. As for the museum, it’s a small but interesting collection of mixed media highlighting the sea as a metaphorical realm of human expression. There’s also a small collection of boats, many of which are from our active fleet.

Center for Wooden Boats, free museum in Seattle — *Image courtesy of Steven Pavlov*

The Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center

website | neighborhood: West Seattle (get directions) | when it’s free: everyday | best for: Indigenous history

The Duwamish people have been in the greater Seattle area since time immemorial, and anyone looking to learn more about the native people would benefit from visiting the Longhouse. In it, you’ll find the Spirits Returns Exhibit 2.0, an exhibit celebrating two decades of growth and progress between the tribe and settlers.

The Spirits Returns Exhibit reexamines non-native settlers’ accounts of relations with the Duwamish, including never-before-seen letters from early settlers and authentic artifacts of time past.

Duwamish Longhouse Center, one of Seattle's best free museums — *Image courtesy of Joe Mabel*

Klondike Gold Rush Museum

website | neighborhood: Pioneer Square (get directions) | when it’s free: everyday | best for: gold rush history

The Klondike Gold Rush began in the late 1800s when miners struck gold in Canada’s Yukon territory. Over 100,000 miners raced to the area, and in the process, Seattle merchants made a lot of money supplying people passing through on their way to Yukon. The museum explains the changes that overtook the city via multiple short films and two floors of interactive, self-guided exhibits.

Center on Contemporary Art

website | neighborhood: Pioneer Square (get directions) | when it’s free: everyday | best for: unconventional contemporary art

The CoCA is a contemporary art museum that, unlike other museums, does not accept the “standard definition” of contemporary art. Rather than exhibiting solely living artists, the CoCA seeks to showcase any artist who may have been considered contemporary in their time, living or not. They do this through small, ever-rotating collections of thought-provoking art across all mediums.

Gates Discovery Center

website | neighborhood: Downtown (get directions) | when it’s free: everyday | best for: global issues

The Gates Discovery Center is adjacent to the global headquarters of the Gates Foundation in Seattle and seeks to educate on the impact of global charity work. Issues like poverty, disease, and inequity are addressed through exhibits, live tours, and chats with experts in these fields.

Bill and Melinda Gates Discovery Center — *Image courtesy of Jacklee*

Seattle Chinese Garden

website | neighborhood: West Seattle (get directions) | when it’s free: daily with donations encouraged | best for: Chinese gardens

The Seattle Chinese Garden is a hidden gem in Seattle a lot of people don’t talk about. But it’s worth seeking out for beautifully manicured garden scapes and meandering paths.

Spanning 4.6 acres, the Seattle Chinese Gardens is one of the largest Chinese gardens outside of China. It showcases the four traditional elements of Chinese gardens: plants, stone, architecture, and water. Given its prime location in South Seattle College, a visit will also give you commanding views of downtown Seattle and the Cascade Mountains.

Pro tip: If you visit November through January, the Seattle Chinese Garden hosts Astra Lumina, a stunning nighttime light show.

woman holding a child standing in front of a huge light installation — *Image courtesy of Astra Lumina*

Kubota Gardens

website | neighborhood: Rainier Beach (get directions) | when it’s free: daily, with donations encouraged | best for: Japanese gardens

Kubota Gardens is tucked in a quaint area of south Seattle, so it feels like a hidden gem. There are 20 acres of Japanese gardens, first developed by the Kubota family and later purchased by the City of Seattle. The core garden is a historic landmark thanks to its pruned pines, use of stone, waterfalls, ponds, and mature plants. It’s beautiful year round, but it’s an especially great place to see fall foliage in Seattle.

They offer free public tours year round on the fourth Saturday of the month at 10 AM. You don’t need a reservation. Just meet the volunteer tour guide at the entry plaza.

Kubota Gardens in Seattle — *Image courtesy of Seattle Municipal’s Archives*

Seattle Art Museum

website | neighborhood: Downtown (get directions) | when it’s free: 1st Thursday of the month | best for: fine art

Of all the free museum days in Seattle, the Seattle Art Museum is the one you should most take advantage of. That’s because it’s a massive space, with over 300,000 square feet, making it the largest fine art museum in the Pacific Northwest.

With four floors, you’ll find a proper mix of historical and emerging artists across all mediums. There are a number of permanent exhibits, including Black Art, a collection of works that explore the impact of the color black and its social-historical significance, and Deities & Demons: Supernatural In Japanese Art.

Pro tip: This museum fills up fast, so reserve your spots in advance.

the lobby of the Seattle art museum, one of the best free art museums in Seattle

Seattle Asian Art Museum

website | neighborhood: Capitol Hill (get directions) | when it’s free: 1st Thursday of the month, suggested admission other days | best for: Asian art

While under the umbrella of the SAM, the Seattle Asian Art Museum is worth visiting in its own right. Its located in the Volunteer Park Conservatory in an art deco building that was the original home of the SAM.

The museum spans 150,000 square feet, with contemporary artworks from China, Japan, India, and many Southeast Asian countries. There are thirteen galleries with permanent collections, each grouped by themes like spirituality, celebration, and the power of birth and death. Many of the permanent exhibits include sculptures and robes dating back to the 10th century.

National Nordic Museum

website | neighborhood: Ballard (get directions) | when it’s free: 1st Thursday of the month | best for: Ballard’s Nordic history

Ballard was founded by Nordic migrants and has retained much of its Scandinavian charm, most notably with the Nordic Museum. In it, you’ll find a permanent collection of Viking artifacts, original photography, and a 20-foot wall of light evoking the Aurora Borealis. It’s also one of only six sites home to Danish artist and activist Thomas Dambo’s iconic wooden trolls.

Pro tip: Reservations must be reserved in advance on the museum’s free day.

Museum of History and Industry

website | neighborhood: South Lake Union (get directions) | when it’s free: 1st Thursday of the month from 5-8 PM | best for: Puget Sound history

The MOHAI is Washington’s largest private heritage organization site, with nearly four million artifacts, photographs, and archival materials focused solely on the history of Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region.

It’s home to Boeing’s first commercial plane, the original neon “R” sign from Rainier Brewing Company, and the Petticoat Flag, a U.S. flag sewn by women during the 1856 Battle of Seattle. There’s even a research library, including photos, manuscripts, and more than 600 oral histories.

MOHAI, one of the best free museums in Seattle once a month — *Image courtesy of Alexandra A. Ryan*

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

website | neighborhood: University District (get directions) | when it’s free: 1st Thursday of the month | best for: natural history

The Burke Museum is located on the University of Washington campus and is the oldest museum in Washington state. It was founded in 1885 by a group of teenage boys and remains the only major natural history museum in the Pacific Northwest.

The museum focuses on dinosaurs, fossils, Northwest Native art, and plant and animal collections. It’s home to over 12 million artifacts and holds the largest collection of spread bird wings. Between the three floors, you’ll find hands-on exhibits, real-life labs, and hands-on kids’ activities.

One of Seattle's best free museums: The Burke Museum — *Image courtesy of Richard N Home*

Henry Art Gallery

website | neighborhood: University District (get directions) | when it’s free: 1st Thursday of the month, pay what you wish other days and always free for the UW community | best for: contemporary art

The Henry Art Gallery has been a U-District landmark since 1927, when it was the first museum in the region to capture historical and emerging contemporary artists. There’s work across all mediums and scales, from intimate photography to fully immersive experiences. Admission is free on first Thursdays, and there is a suggested donation of $1-20 otherwise.

Museum of Flight

website | neighborhood: Georgetown (get directions) | when it’s free: 1st Thursday of the month from 5-9 PM | best for: aviation

The Museum of Flight is the largest independent, non-profit air and space museum in the world. It features over 175 aircraft and spacecraft, thousands of artifacts, and millions of rare archival photos scattered among dozens of exhibits highlighting the advancements in modern aircraft and space travel.

a bunch of planes hanging in the Museum of Flight — *Image courtesy of the Museum of Flight*

Volunteer Park Conservatory

website | neighborhood: Capitol Hill (get directions) | when it’s free: 1st Thursday of the month | best for: botanical gardens

The Volunteer Park Conservatory is one of my favorite places to take pictures in Seattle, namely for its dreamy natural light and flora-filled greenhouse. It’s modeled after London’s Crystal Palace, with 3,426 glass panes in an iron framework. In it are display houses, like the Fern House, the Cacti and Succulent House, the Palm House, and the Seasonal House, with rotating seasonally blooming plants.

Pro tip: First Saturdays of the month are free admission for kids 12 and under with the purchase of adult admission.

Volunteer Park Conservatory, one of the best places to take pictures in Seattle — *Image courtesy of Curtis Cronn*

Washington Park Arboretum

website | neighborhood: Madison Park (get directions) | when it’s free: everyday, plus a free tour on the 1st Thursday of the month from 11:30 AM- 1 PM, except December | best for: arboretum

On the shores of Lake Washington, Washington Park is a 230-acre preserve with rare trees and a Japanese garden. The park is free year-round, though having a guided tour helps get the most out of your experience. During the tour, you’ll learn about the park’s history, its programs, and plant collections.

Keep in mind the tour is geared toward an adult audience. No pre-registration is necessary, and all tours depart from the Graham Visitors Center.

Washington Arboretum, one of the best parks in Seattle — *Image courtesy of Anthonix*

Seattle Japanese Garden

website | neighborhood: Madison Park (get directions) | when it’s free: 1st Thursday of the month | best for: Japanese gardens

The Seattle Japanese Garden has been open to the public since 1960 and remains one of the most highly regarded Japanese-style gardens in North America. In this 3.5-acre garden nestled in the Washington Arboretum, you’ll find a series of winding paths around a central pond and numerous gardens designed to illustrate the varying landscapes of Japan.

Renowned landscape designer Juki Iida designed the garden using a balance of traditional Japanese plants and Pacific Northwest natives, which have since seamlessly joined together. Admission is usually $10/pp, with free tours offered every day. The free tour on first Thursdays is at 1 PM.

Japanese gardens in Seattle — *Image courtesy of Joe Wolf*

Holocaust Center for Humanity

website | neighborhood: Downtown (get directions) | when it’s free: 1st Thursday of the month from 4-7 PM | best for: Holocaust memorial

The Holocaust Center for Humanity opened its doors in 1989 with the mission to share the stories and experiences of local survivors. Each week, the museum hosts a survivor who tells their story of escaping and answers questions. They also feature a permanent exhibit, “Finding Light in the Darkness”, where visitors can witness video testimony and explore artifacts.

Other ways to visit Seattle museums for free or cheap

Get a library card

Each of these museums offers free admission everyday with a valid Seattle or King County library card. Each pass includes at least two adult tickets, and some passes include up to four. For more information on how to obtain a library card, read here.

Use your city’s museum Pass

A lot of museums around the US and Canada offer reciprocity, so if you’re traveling and are a member at your local museum, always ask if there are discounts when visiting Seattle’s museum. For example, my partner’s parents are members of a Toronto museum and were able to get into the Seattle Art Museum for free because of that membership!