Tours Northwest

I preface this review by saying that I lived in the Seattle area for nearly 25 years and know the city very well. (I moved from Seattle to Canada in 2017, just 7 years ago). But I recently met up with a childhood friend for the day in Seattle, and he had never been to Seattle before, so we both thought it would be a great idea for him to get an overview of the city by taking this 3-hour tour, and for me, too, as the city has changed quite a bit in the past 7 years.

As it turned out, it was a GREAT idea to take this tour!

We liked the fact that you could choose one of 3 or 4 different pick-up sites in the city; we chose by the Seattle Public Library downtown. Very convenient.

The tour is in a comfy mini-bus. The seats were plush (I have a bad back so I worried about the accomodations in the tour bus). And our driver was John, and he was incredible: funny, personable and super knowledgeable about the city and its history.

I admit, I didn't really think I'd learn as much about the city as I did, as I've lived here for so long and had been on multiple tours in the past, but as mentioned above, the city had changed a lot, especially in its growth in certain areas (some areas were unrecognizable to me, TBH). And it was cool to see the city through the eyes of a first-time visitor. And even if I was super familiar with the city as it is nowadays, I was relieved not to have the pressure of being a tour guide, and to not deal with the driving and parking everywhere.

We went by all the major sites (including Pike Place Market, the Space Needle and the EMP), through Pioneer Square and the waterfront, through Westlake Center, to the Starbucks Reserve and Theo Chocolate flagship stores, through the Fremont neighborhood, over the I-90 floating bridge, to the Ballard Locks and the Ballard Fishermans Memorial and docks, and to Kerry Park. And John was a wealth of information about the history of all these areas and more.

There were ample stops to stretch our legs, use washrooms and/or get snacks, for those who worry about such things (like myself!).

I recommend this company's tours wholeheartedly.

There is no better tour to take if you are in a big group. We had a large group of 21 with 2 that needed wheelchair assistance. This was a great tour to start our vacation while we were in Seattle a day before our Alaskan cruise. Andres our guide was amazing! He was so personable and great with the adults and 7 kids in our group. He was flexible with the schedule while still kept us on track for our Space Needle ticket time. Was able to see the city while staying dry and not having to walk the steep inclines! Andres was nice enough to drop some of our party off to Pike's Place on our way back to our hotel.
Thank you Andres! You were amazing, our entire group appreciated your kindness, wit and positive vibes.

Took the Mt. Rainier tour on a recent weekday. The weather was in our favor with clear skies and temps in the 70's. We were picked up right on time at the designated spot. The bus holds 24, there were 14 in our group.

John, our guide, provided a great tour. He's funny and knowledgeable and narrated just enough along the way to keep us interested without being overbearing. Lots of great information about the history of the area, of the mountain and some trivia about surrounding towns. Rather than trying to follow a tourbook on my own, it was nice to just be brought to the key attractions. A few of them were just off the road, without signage, so would never would have known to stop unless I had a guide.

The tour timing is right - we spent just enough time at each location to see the sights but not be rushed, or bored. A nice touch is the stop at a supermarket enroute to the mountain so we could pick up lunch and snacks. An even nicer touch is the stop at the ice cream shop on the way back. It's all the about the food, eh? :-)

Great communication from Tours Northwest. Booked online and received a confirmation immediately and a followup to clarify pickup point. Seamless and flawless.

I would recommend the Mt. Rainier tour from Tours Northwest. Next time in Seattle, I'm booking the city tour!

I really have to hurry up and finish up this review as this was one of the most wonderful experiences of my Seattle trip that I took at the early part of May this year.
First, I have to give a huge shout out to Andreas who's in the third picture. He is one of the best regards I've ever had in my life. I absolutely love him and I need to take the tour again so I can double tip him for the tip that I unfortunately was unable to give due to a family and personal emergency. I had to leave the van at the corner Boulevard of my hotel, and did not have time to even do it. But I recommend that anybody who goes on a northwest tour must go on a tour with Andreas as he is truly the best And there's no way to describe his amazing personality. You just have to be in his presence. So I have to be honest about that.

I really like Northwest and I'm hoping they have some other tours because I'm coming back to Seattle. I think anything they do is perfect and I will remember my tour forever and I will remember Seattle because of it. If you go to Seattle, make sure to do a northwest tour and go to Mount Rainier. It's an incredible experience and I'm so glad that I did. Below I have left many photos but it's so hard to describe. You really just have to go. We had special time to go do a little hikes on our own that were safe where we would all meet back at the camp and then get back in the bus and takeoff for the next spot. The beautiful little picturesque mountain towns below Mount Rainier are gorgeous. I already live in a real place, but this was like something special that even smells different than where I live, and if I could manage to live in a small mountain towns, I would, but I'm concerned because I'm older now and maybe I could not but it's a thought.

Again, I highly recommend Northwest tours, and definitely their Mount Rainier tour. Make sure you go with Andreas!

This tour was exceptional! We saw everything Seattle had to offer and more! The guide was very knowledgeable and kind! We learned so much and had some great laughs! This tour is totally worth the money!

It was a pretty good price, very fun ride, and simply beautiful all around. The tour guide was very helpful and funny, and made sure to try and answer all our questions. I had a great time 10/10 will do it again when I come back to Seattle. If you're questioning this tour, don't! Just do it, you will not regret it below are some li fires if the trip.

Prompt, clean and efficient. Did the 3 hour premiere city tour of Seattle last week with a teenager. Gary was fantastic and it was a plus being dropped off anywhere we wanted afterwards. Would highly recommend this tour to first timers to the city to get an awesome overview and insight as to where you want to spend more time. Great for families singles friends kids you know it

We did a bus tour of Mt. Rainier and it was fantastic! Our driver/guide/photographer Mark did a wonderful job! He provided so much information throughout the day and was entertaining as well. We are very happy that we took this tour! Highly recommend it!

My tour was back on 9/18/2022. The Tours Northwest is a great overview of all the different Seattle neighborhoods and history. You ride around different sides of Seattle on a bus and listen to interesting facts from history, news, and culture. For example, Native American historical figures and events, Nirvana and Jeffrey Dahmer were some things mentioned during our tour.

Our tour guide Avery was hilarious with a great personality and made our introduction to Seattle a great experience! Avery loved talking about his dogs, which made us all laugh.

There was an unexpected incident in downtown Seattle that was beyond anyone's control, and Avery handled it like a pro with a great sense of humor and kept it moving.

If I ever bring friends new to Seattle, I would definitely book this tour for them. I recommend Tours Northwest!

Ken was super knowledgeable and well versed in every story and historical relevance of the city. This was perfect for my visit bringing along someone who had never been to the city. Comfortable with an ease of route and itinerary with stops, etc...I couldn't be happier as I had simply quickly purchased the tour on a whim.
Ken does point out various Cannabis stores along the route, which is odd since I don't consider them much of an attraction, but whatever.
We enjoyed it. Oh, and he dropped us off right near our hotel, SO THAT WAS A WIN