Culture
Seattleites have a reputation for being friendly to strangers, but very resistant to building relationships with anyone outside of their inner circle. This is referred to as the "Seattle Freeze." It's true, but people exaggerate the effect. You'll probably find the girls to be a little less friendly and a little less open to being approached, but it's usually not a big deal.
The Seattle area is dominated by high-tech industries: Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing. The effect is that you'll find a higher than usual number of people who live there but grew up somewhere else (especially Asia), a lot of wealthy young people, and usually a very (unfavorably) skewed guy:girl ratio. The good news is that a lot of the guys are awkward techies that don't know how to approach, so don't immediately get discouraged if you notice an excess of guys.
It's the Pacific Northwest so there are a lot of outdoor activities. If you ask a girl about her hobbies, you'll very often hear about hiking. Other outdoorsy stuff like camping, whitewater rafting, biking, or running is also popular.
Timeframe
Seattle's pretty dead Sunday through Wednesday so if you go out to a bar during the week you won't find many people.
Last call is 1:30 AM and bars close at 2 AM. The night scene gets going at around 9:30/10 PM.
Wings
Seattle has an active pickup community. There are two independent lairs. One is theseattlelair.com which is the more active message board and has events every month or so. The other is seattlelair.org which is less active and as far as I know does not have events. If you're looking for wings, you can post to theseattlelair.com and someone will likely come out with you if it's a weekend.
Weather
The first thing anyone says about Seattle is "it rains a lot, right?" And it does. From about October to April, it's always overcast and drizzling and the people are all depressed about it (very similar to London). The rain is usually just a drizzle and is probably just going to get you more annoyed than actually very wet. In the summer, it's beautiful and sunny all the time and everyone's much happier. Pro tip: real Seattleites use raincoats; outsiders carry umbrellas.
Night Venues
Belltown
This is the trendy area of Seattle. Very hip bars and lounges. Has a reputation for having the most beautiful girls, but also the snobbiest. People tend to be dressier here than in other areas of Seattle.
Amber - Very hip bar and attracts a lot of hot women. Favorite of the Seattle pickup community.
There are a ton of bars in the area around Amber on 1st and 2nd Avs that are all decent and worth scoping out if Amber's dead: Twist, Frontier Room, Belltown Billiards, Del Rey, etc.
There are also clubs here too that are not very conducive to pickup because the music is too loud to even hear your friends talking and they charge cover: Copper Cart and See Sound Lounge and are two such examples, but they might work for you if you're big on dancefloor game.
Capitol Hill
This is the hipster part of Seattle. The girls are usually not dressed as sexily as in other parts of the city, but they're generally more laid back. Seattle U is nearby so there's a decent amount of college students, but it's not as common as in the U Dist bars. This is also a strong gay population here so you'll find a lot of gay bars.
Barca - Cool bar that's ideally suited for approaching. Attracts hot girls and most of the people are standing and easy to approach with music that's soft enough that you can easily have a conversation.
Unicorn - Right around the corner from Barca and sometimes draws a decent crowd. Very deliberately weird bar that's decorated as a circus tent with ironic animal heads on the wall. Music's louder than Barca and it's mostly seated sets.
Cha Cha Lounge ("The Cha Cha")- Down the street from Unicorn. It's a basement bar with kind of a grunge / hipster vibe. Some guys love it, but personally I found it kind of shitty for approaching. The music is really loud. The space is cramped and the sets are mostly seated in locations that are awkward to walk to.
Linda's Tavern ("Linda's") - Good bar with a very laid-back attitude. Problem is a lot of the people go there to hang out with their own friends and aren't especially open to meeting people, but there can be a decent number of open girls depending on the night, especially when the beer garden's open in the warmer months.
Knee High Stocking Co. ("Knee High") - This is a bad pickup spot but a cool spot for a D2 or a D1 bounce insta-date. Objectively, it's really nothing special, but it's a speakeasy and it's not labeled so you can only go if you know how to get in, which girls tend to think is cool. It's at the junction of E Olive Pl and E Olive Way. The block forms a triangle and the door is on the point of the long end that points up the hill (across the street is City Market). The door is locked, so you have to ring the doorbell and the host comes and lets you in.
Neighbours - Not a good bar for pickup, but you'll likely hear about it because it's the most popular gay club. Very popular with straight girls who "just wanna go out and dance" especially since it stays open after 2 AM (I believe till 4 AM), so it's common for girls to go there after the other bars close. It is the one place in Seattle where you'll consistently find a good crowd on off nights Sun-Wed.
Fremont
This area is close to the University of Washington and has a big student population, though not as much as the U Dist.
Ballroom - Has a reputation for being really douchey, but is well suited for approaching. Has a cover, which is something like $8. Lots of standing sets and even the sets that are seated are at tables that are elevated so you're basically eye to eye with them if you approach them seated. Has a dance floor that's isolated from the rest of the bar, so the music doesn't impede conversation in the bar area, but is an option for physical escalation if you're a dancer.
Red Door - Good bar that attracts a student and twentysomething crowd. It's a favorite bar of a lot of Seattle PUAs, especially coaches, so you'll likely run into other game guys there.
9 Million in Unmarked Bills ("9 Million") - Around the block from Red Door. Go here if Red Door is dead.
U District
This is the area surrounding the University of Washington and so is populated by mostly college kids. Thursdays are usually good in the U Dist.
Earl's on the Ave ("Earl's") - Most popular college bar. College girls go there to get wasted. Attracts a lot of frat boys who will try hard to AMOG/cockblock you.
Finn MacCool's - Down the street from Earl's and a sort of more toned down version of it. Less binge drinking, less of a frat guy presence, but lots of tables and harder to approach.
Pioneer Square
This is where a lot of the dance clubs are. I'm not a big club guy, so I can't give much insight, but the big clubs are Trinity and Last Supper Club. This is also one of the sketchier areas in Seattle where you're more likely to see a fight or get mugged walking alone at night than in the other neighborhoods I mentioned.
Seattleites have a reputation for being friendly to strangers, but very resistant to building relationships with anyone outside of their inner circle. This is referred to as the "Seattle Freeze." It's true, but people exaggerate the effect. You'll probably find the girls to be a little less friendly and a little less open to being approached, but it's usually not a big deal.
The Seattle area is dominated by high-tech industries: Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing. The effect is that you'll find a higher than usual number of people who live there but grew up somewhere else (especially Asia), a lot of wealthy young people, and usually a very (unfavorably) skewed guy:girl ratio. The good news is that a lot of the guys are awkward techies that don't know how to approach, so don't immediately get discouraged if you notice an excess of guys.
It's the Pacific Northwest so there are a lot of outdoor activities. If you ask a girl about her hobbies, you'll very often hear about hiking. Other outdoorsy stuff like camping, whitewater rafting, biking, or running is also popular.
Timeframe
Seattle's pretty dead Sunday through Wednesday so if you go out to a bar during the week you won't find many people.
Last call is 1:30 AM and bars close at 2 AM. The night scene gets going at around 9:30/10 PM.
Wings
Seattle has an active pickup community. There are two independent lairs. One is theseattlelair.com which is the more active message board and has events every month or so. The other is seattlelair.org which is less active and as far as I know does not have events. If you're looking for wings, you can post to theseattlelair.com and someone will likely come out with you if it's a weekend.
Weather
The first thing anyone says about Seattle is "it rains a lot, right?" And it does. From about October to April, it's always overcast and drizzling and the people are all depressed about it (very similar to London). The rain is usually just a drizzle and is probably just going to get you more annoyed than actually very wet. In the summer, it's beautiful and sunny all the time and everyone's much happier. Pro tip: real Seattleites use raincoats; outsiders carry umbrellas.
Night Venues
Belltown
This is the trendy area of Seattle. Very hip bars and lounges. Has a reputation for having the most beautiful girls, but also the snobbiest. People tend to be dressier here than in other areas of Seattle.
Amber - Very hip bar and attracts a lot of hot women. Favorite of the Seattle pickup community.
There are a ton of bars in the area around Amber on 1st and 2nd Avs that are all decent and worth scoping out if Amber's dead: Twist, Frontier Room, Belltown Billiards, Del Rey, etc.
There are also clubs here too that are not very conducive to pickup because the music is too loud to even hear your friends talking and they charge cover: Copper Cart and See Sound Lounge and are two such examples, but they might work for you if you're big on dancefloor game.
Capitol Hill
This is the hipster part of Seattle. The girls are usually not dressed as sexily as in other parts of the city, but they're generally more laid back. Seattle U is nearby so there's a decent amount of college students, but it's not as common as in the U Dist bars. This is also a strong gay population here so you'll find a lot of gay bars.
Barca - Cool bar that's ideally suited for approaching. Attracts hot girls and most of the people are standing and easy to approach with music that's soft enough that you can easily have a conversation.
Unicorn - Right around the corner from Barca and sometimes draws a decent crowd. Very deliberately weird bar that's decorated as a circus tent with ironic animal heads on the wall. Music's louder than Barca and it's mostly seated sets.
Cha Cha Lounge ("The Cha Cha")- Down the street from Unicorn. It's a basement bar with kind of a grunge / hipster vibe. Some guys love it, but personally I found it kind of shitty for approaching. The music is really loud. The space is cramped and the sets are mostly seated in locations that are awkward to walk to.
Linda's Tavern ("Linda's") - Good bar with a very laid-back attitude. Problem is a lot of the people go there to hang out with their own friends and aren't especially open to meeting people, but there can be a decent number of open girls depending on the night, especially when the beer garden's open in the warmer months.
Knee High Stocking Co. ("Knee High") - This is a bad pickup spot but a cool spot for a D2 or a D1 bounce insta-date. Objectively, it's really nothing special, but it's a speakeasy and it's not labeled so you can only go if you know how to get in, which girls tend to think is cool. It's at the junction of E Olive Pl and E Olive Way. The block forms a triangle and the door is on the point of the long end that points up the hill (across the street is City Market). The door is locked, so you have to ring the doorbell and the host comes and lets you in.
Neighbours - Not a good bar for pickup, but you'll likely hear about it because it's the most popular gay club. Very popular with straight girls who "just wanna go out and dance" especially since it stays open after 2 AM (I believe till 4 AM), so it's common for girls to go there after the other bars close. It is the one place in Seattle where you'll consistently find a good crowd on off nights Sun-Wed.
Fremont
This area is close to the University of Washington and has a big student population, though not as much as the U Dist.
Ballroom - Has a reputation for being really douchey, but is well suited for approaching. Has a cover, which is something like $8. Lots of standing sets and even the sets that are seated are at tables that are elevated so you're basically eye to eye with them if you approach them seated. Has a dance floor that's isolated from the rest of the bar, so the music doesn't impede conversation in the bar area, but is an option for physical escalation if you're a dancer.
Red Door - Good bar that attracts a student and twentysomething crowd. It's a favorite bar of a lot of Seattle PUAs, especially coaches, so you'll likely run into other game guys there.
9 Million in Unmarked Bills ("9 Million") - Around the block from Red Door. Go here if Red Door is dead.
U District
This is the area surrounding the University of Washington and so is populated by mostly college kids. Thursdays are usually good in the U Dist.
Earl's on the Ave ("Earl's") - Most popular college bar. College girls go there to get wasted. Attracts a lot of frat boys who will try hard to AMOG/cockblock you.
Finn MacCool's - Down the street from Earl's and a sort of more toned down version of it. Less binge drinking, less of a frat guy presence, but lots of tables and harder to approach.
Pioneer Square
This is where a lot of the dance clubs are. I'm not a big club guy, so I can't give much insight, but the big clubs are Trinity and Last Supper Club. This is also one of the sketchier areas in Seattle where you're more likely to see a fight or get mugged walking alone at night than in the other neighborhoods I mentioned.
