From Portland to San Francisco
 

Hi,
We are driving from Portland to San Fran over 10 days in July.
Are there any places you suggest stopping on the way?
Thanks

Do you want the coastal route, I-5 or eastern Oregon on US97?
Are you coming back to Portland? Rental car or your own?

We want to do the costal route. We will be renting a car and ending our trip in San Francisco. Any tips would be great.

Why not take 7 days to go the coastal route and then 2-3 days driving back to Portland on I-5?
Don't pay a one way drop off fee if you don't have to.

You need to understand tom. In a past life he must have been seriously traumatized by a rental car drop off fee. ;) He <i>always</i> recommends rearranging an entire itinerary because of drop off fees. At least this time it doesn't involve 2 train rides and three buses . . .

tom: If they are ending their trip in SF that should be be the end of it - why redesign things?

jgilhooly: 10 day is nice and we can help you work out a terrific coastal route . . . But, first of all -- out of that how many days do you plan IN Portland and IN San Francisco? Or is the 10 days <i>just</i> for the travel in between?

We r planning to be in Oregon for 5 days and than going to Napa and San Francisco. Rental are expensive with a different drop off but we are going to do it lol.

OK -- not to be a pest, but is your entire trip 10 days?

Trying to get a handle on what is doable. Is it 5 days for Portland and the Oregon coast, and 5 days for Napa/SF and anything else? Or is it Portland X number of days, SF X number of days and 10 days for everything in between? Or something else?

Makes a really HUGE difference. If the entire trip is 10 days and you want to spend time IN Portland, IN Napa/Sonoma, and IN San Francisco -- then you really only have a day or two at most to explore the coast/redwoods. But if you have 10 days <i>besides</i> Portland and SF -- then you can really explore the coast and wine areas.

The whole trip is ten days. Just looking for some stops along the way! Thanks

D*&N!! Grr >)

I posted a long, detailed response and when I clicked preview -- the dreaded "we are down for maintenance" screen and lost the whole thing

This will be a shortened version:

OK -- assuming 1) you arrive PDX on day 1/depart SFO day 10, and 2) you want to spend some time in both cities and in Napa Sonoma . . . w/ just 10 days total you really only have a couple of days to play with.

So something like this works.

• Arr Portland and stay 3 nights - giving you 2.5 days in the city. (If you are OK w/ just 1.5 days - then stay 2 nights and add a night to SF)

• Head down I-5 and cut over to the coast near Roseburg, stay the night around Gold Beach. My favorite part of the OR coast(?) -- no. But it is fine and you need to get pretty far south to make things work.

• Stay the next night in Ferndale or nearby. This is less than half a day's drive so you'll have a fair amount of time for exploring the redwoods.

• Then head down 101 and to Healdsburg at the north end of the Sonoma Valley. Stay 2 nights (giving you 1.5 days for wineries/vinyards.

• Then to SF for 2 (or 3) nights - fly out on day 10.

My wife are in the early planning stages of a 10 day Portland to San Francisco trip. Not much interest in wine tours. Probably mostly coast. will be spending at least one night in Portland, maybe two. Definitely want to experience the coastal towns, and maybe some exploring of the Colombia gorge. Natural landmarks are a draw for us, and some LIGHT hiking. If time allows, would also like to see Yosemite at the end of the trip, but I don't want to try to cram too much in the 10 days. I'm open to suggestion. Thank you in advance.

Jerry

I think you will get more replies if you post this as a new post, especially with thread about Yosemite, which could be entire post of it own.
Weather alert:Nov. thru May --rainstorms intermixed with limited sun and wind...July, Aug. Sept. Oct. usually sunny but rarely hot...but usually a little windy
Of all the places I have been in "the West" Portland, Seattle and Oregon coast are my all time favorites even though I live in California.
Portland: great walking path along River in downtown Portland,
The "Famous" Powells Bookstore..really big..worth a look...out back door "Pearl Bakery, great bakery with sandwiches and good coffee..
Saturday Market--under Burnside bridge...lots crafts, food..fun place.
Portland to Astoria..beautiful drive..about 2 hrs...very historic...named after John Jacob Astor who helped establish town through his fur trading business..
OR
Portland to Cannon Beach..(90 minutes)..beautiful area although a little touristy.
Great walking town...
whole Oregon coast has many "view"areas and beaches you pull over and take a walk...(weather permitting) Lots of Lighthouses..
Depoe Bay is cute, Newport is busy big good restaurants in harbor...
My favorite is Bandon... Small town that has changed from "lumber & fish" to tourists but in a nice way. Great walking beach,We always stayed at place called Sunset motel...lots of variety in room style and all have beach views...down the road is now a world class Golf course and famous restaurant...on expensive side..
Crescent City is about 2 1/2 hours from Bandon..good place to crossover to Interstate 5...However, you would miss going thru the Redwoods; Giant Sequoias..only found on the California coast.
This route will take you down 101 & eventually to San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge...
Happy trails..
Maybe save Yosemite for another trip ????


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Welcome to Fodors mnger9 . As traveler24 says, you should start a new thread of your own instead of tacking on to this old one which is about a different trip and different interests.

Many won't see your post nor notice the dates and continue to respond to the original post.

traveler24 has given you some good info -- but you really do need a new thread . . .