Private charter to & from Bellingham

Bellingham sits on its namesake bay between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, about 20 miles from the Canadian border. Western Washington University gives the city a young, outdoorsy character, and the economy mixes education, healthcare, marine trades, food processing and a growing number of tech and outdoor-industry companies. Cross-border shoppers and travelers are a constant presence, and the city is the southern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system, which sails north through the Inside Passage.

The drive from Seattle runs about 90 miles on I-5, which can bog down at almost any time through Everett and the Skagit Valley. Flying private lands you at Bellingham International, a few miles from downtown, and puts the San Juan Islands, Mount Baker and Vancouver within easy reach. Many visitors use Bellingham as a base for the outdoors: skiing and hiking on Mount Baker, kayaking among the islands, mountain biking on Galbraith Mountain and driving the cliffside curves of Chuckanut Drive. In town, Fairhaven’s brick buildings, a lively brewery scene and a waterfront under steady redevelopment fill the evenings.