Car Hire Spokane - Mini guide to Spokane

Spokane is a cultural and commercial oasis spread along a beautiful river on the east of the Cascade Mountain Range that divides Washington state. There are plenty of natural attractions, including a lovely waterfall, but you’ll also find some interesting architecture, intriguing museums, numerous wineries, a wide selection of outdoor activities and the birthplace of Bing Crosby.

Located a few miles from the Idaho border, Spokane is the region's only real city, and its scattering of grandiose late-nineteenth-century buildings - built on the spoils of Idaho silver mines - sport some unexpectedly elegant touches. Most of the relics of Spokane's early grandeur can be found several blocks southwest on W Riverside Avenue, where neoclassical facades cluster around Jefferson Street. The city's 19th century highlights include the Davenport Hotel, the Clark Mansion, and the Tudor Revival Campbell, part of the Cheney Cowles Museum.

The town's nexus is the hundred-acre Riverfront Park, sprawling over two islands in the middle of the Spokane River. Bisecting the park, the river tumbles down a series of rocky shelves known as the Spokane Falls, once a fishing site for native peoples and later the home of the first pioneers. There’s a vast variety of entertainment on offer, including an ice rink, IMAX theatre, a beautiful hand-crafted Looff Carousel dating from 1909, plenty of nature trails and camping grounds and the Gondola Skyride, providing a bird’s eye view of the park and falls.

The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture is hugely popular and is one of the most interesting and well-maintained museums in the Pacific northwest. It houses an impressive selection of exhibits and artefacts documenting local history, as well as art and exhibitions showcasing Plateau Indian culture. It’s well worth visiting even just to take in the impressive architecture of the building itself.

For something different, visit Gonzaga University’s Crosbyana Room, packed with memorabilia detailing the life of Bing Crosby, including the Best Actor Award he won in 1944 for ‘Going My Way’. The school is Crosby’s alma mater and now also owns his birthplace and childhood home where you can browse Crosby family memorabilia.

The Gothic cathedral of St. John the Evangelist is worth visiting when one of its regular concerts is held, to take in the powerful sounds of the 5000-pipe organ.