Whidbey Island Travel Guide

Introduction

30 miles N of Seattle, 40 miles S of Bellingham

While the San Juan Islands are beautiful, their beauty has become something of a liability -- during the summer, they're just too crowded. If you don't relish the hours-long waits for ferries, you can still have an island experience here on Whidbey Island, which is only 30 miles from Seattle and is popular as a weekend getaway for Seattleites who come seeking tranquillity and relaxation. Outside of Washington, Whidbey Island isn't nearly as well known as the San Juans, which is why it is less crowded in the summer.

Whidbey Island is 45 miles in length, which makes it one of the largest islands in the continental United States. However, because it is never more than a few miles wide, Whidbey offers views of the water at seemingly every turn of its winding country roads. Farms, forests, bluffs, and beaches provide the foregrounds to the aquatic vistas, and two historic villages, Langley and Coupeville, offer the same sort of...