A novel, wideband, symmetrical, printed directional coupler is described, which has tight coupling and high directivity. The coupler consists of four interconnected strips printed in two layers. The dimensions of the strips are optimized to minimize the dispersion of propagating modes. Design data are provided for some typical practical cases. The theoretical results are verified experimentally. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:2261–2267, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27051