Labor Day in Seattle? AAA says it’s the top U.S. spot

Seattle is AAA's top domestic destination for Labor Day weekend, with Alaska cruises helping drive travel demand. AAA's booking data ranked Seattle first , ahead of Orlando, Boston, Denver and New York.

Visitors said the city's cooler temperatures were also a welcome break from late-summer heat elsewhere.

"I've been cooking alive in humidity and like 90-degree heat in Virginia and D.C.," said Lexi Weller, who was visiting Seattle. "So physically it feels great. The breeze is wonderful."

"I'm happy to be here. I'll be seeing friends, just taking in the beautiful blue sky," said Alexa Singer-Telles, another visitor.

Visit Seattle said Labor Day weekend is typically among the city's 10 busiest hotel weekends of the year, with occupancy around 80%.

The Port of Seattle expects 11 cruise ships through Monday, compared with 10 during the same period last year, bringing more than 35,000 unique passengers.

Seattle's 2026 cruise season is expected to include 330 vessel calls and about 2.1 million revenue passengers, both records for the port.

Bob Donegan, who leads Ivar's and works with the Seattle Historic Waterfront Association, said the busy holiday weekend also coincides with Mariners baseball, Sunday's Apple Cup and the Seahawks' home opener Wednesday.

"It just confirms what we already know," Donegan said. "There's no prettier place in the country than the Seattle waterfront right now."

Donegan said he expects the waterfront could see close to 10 million unique visitors this year, with cruise traffic, sports and World Cup-related activity adding to the draw.

"With the World Cup, the Mariners run, the Sounders and 330 cruise ships, I think we'll be close to 10 million unique visitors on the Seattle waterfront this year," Donegan said. "It's been magical this summer — a great time to be out and about."