Klondike Gold Rush Museum, Seattle

Located inside a historic redbrick building with wooden floors and soaring ceilings is this tiny yet fascinating museum with exhibits and photographs recounting the saga of the hectic 1890s, when half of Seattle caught Gold Rush fever. Thousands, including the mayor, left jobs and homes to follow the call of gold. The difficult journey 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) north to Alaska started with the steamship from Seattle to Skagway, and then continued onward by foot, over forbidding mountains and up treacherous rivers. Few of the spur-of-the-moment adventurers struck it rich, however, since most of the valuable claims had already been staked long before the newcomers' arrival. Many of those who stayed behind in Seattle did better. To ensure that prospectors could withstand the northern wastes, Canadian authorities insisted that they brought with them a year's supply of goods and provisions (400lbs/180kg of flour and 25 cans of butter, for example), and many of the city's early merchants did very brisk trade.

The storytelling here is good and gives a real appreciation of both the mania for gold and the many challenges the prospectors faced. While most walls are lined with photos of gold miners, explorers, and the hopeful families who followed them, others are themed on the development of Seattle and the Pacific North West. Film presentations, live gold-panning demonstrations, and rotating exhibits are scheduled throughout the year.

Refreshingly, also, due to being administered by the National Parks Service, this museum is free – therefore a perfect place for the frugal individual or family.