Start from 31 curated places around Anacortes, WA, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Adrift Restaurant
The farm-to-table anchor of Commercial Avenue, running from a focused lunch menu of crab cakes and panfried oysters to dinner plates built around whatever the local boats and nearby farms brought in that week. Outdoor seating in the courtyard fills fast on summer evenings; the kitchen runs lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday and is closed Sundays.
A'Town Bistro
An open-kitchen dinner spot on Commercial Avenue with a menu that leans French and Northwest by turns -- moules frites alongside shellfish chowder made to order, Cornish hen, and a squid karaage that regulars treat as non-negotiable. The room is intimate and the cocktail list is genuinely well-considered.
Trails & outdoors
Washington Park Loop Road
A 2.6-mile paved loop around the western tip of Fidalgo Island with nearly continuous water and island views. Easy grade, wide path, and benches at the best viewpoints make it the most accessible walk in the area. Green Point and Burrows Channel are the primary stops; a short unpaved spur leads down to Juniper Point above the tideline.
Cap Sante Park Trail
A short 0.7-mile loop from the Cap Sante Marina that climbs through second-growth forest to the summit overlook and returns via the Rotary Marina Walkway along the harbor. The elevation is modest, but the summit view -- Mount Baker to the east, the marina below, the San Juans to the west -- punches well above the effort required.
Things to do
Island Adventures Whale Watching
One of the original whale-watching operators in Anacortes, running since 1996 with a 97% sighting rate and a come-again-free guarantee if no whales are spotted. Two naturalists per trip, departing from Seafarers Way near Cap Sante Marina, with trips covering the San Juan Islands and the orca pods that frequent Haro Strait.
Anacortes Community Theatre
A non-profit community theater on M Avenue that has produced live performances for over 50 years, running six mainstage shows annually -- two musicals, two comedies, a drama, and a holiday production. The 918 M Avenue venue is small enough that every seat has a good sightline, and the talent level consistently surprises visitors expecting small-town amateur theater.
Landmarks & sights
Cap Sante Park
A 37-acre forested headland jutting into Fidalgo Bay on the east side of downtown. The short switchback trail to the summit delivers a 180-degree sweep of the Cascades, Mount Baker, the marina, and the San Juan Islands. You can also drive to the top, but the walk from the marina lot earns the view.
W.T. Preston Snagboat & Maritime Heritage Center
The last sternwheeler snagboat to work Puget Sound, now a National Historic Landmark drydocked on the Anacortes waterfront. The adjacent Maritime Heritage Center covers the town's fishing and shipbuilding past with free admission; the Preston itself charges a small fee for a self-guided tour of the galley, crew quarters, and working dumbwaiter.