Honeymoon Portland, Oregon to San Francisco, CA
 

We are trying to plan our honeymoon road trip down the coast from Portland to San Francisco. Fly into Portland. Trying to plan for 10 days. Return home from SanFran.
Want to see Redwood National Forest, waterfalls, hiking. Any tips? Hotels? Restaurants?

July? February?

Regardless of whether it is in July or January, go down the coast on US-101. July is better, of course. US-101 takes you through the Redwood National PARK (not forest), the Newton P. Drury Scenic Bypass, and the Avenue of the Giants. Just a tiny detour up US-199 from Crescent City takes you to the Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park.

A few hotels to suggest with honeymoon ambiance.

Whale Cove Inn in Depot Bay

http://www.whalecoveinn.com

The Channel House in Depot Bay- some of the rooms have hot tubs on the deck overlooking the ocean

The Overleaf in Yachats.

Tidal Raves is a nice place to dine in Depoe Bay- great ocean views.

Month does make a big difference.

Two special places you might want to check are the Gingerbread Mansion in Ferndale http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/ca-fe...ansioninn.html

and the Benbow in Garberville http://www.benbowinn.com

We will be going early October.

Oh -- early Oct. is a fabulous time on the coast!

I am most familiar with the coast between Lincoln City and Florence and I think it is one of the prettiest segments.

My favorite beach is at Heceta Head. Also known as Devils Elbow. Nice little cove, there is a trail up to the lighthouse and a B&B that used to the light housekeepers home. The B&B is great place to stay but does book up far in advance. If you want a longer hike, there is a trail behind the lighthouse that leads to a secluded beach.

Newport is a little north of Florence and another place I enjoy. I like the Nye Beach area of Newport with lots of little shops and restaurants. In the Old Town area of Newport, check out the Local Ocean restaurant- excellent seafood.

At Yaquina Head lighthouse there are some nice hiking trails. Was just hiking there a couple of weeks ago. Make sure you take the 160 stairs down to the beach.

Have a great trip.

<i>Want to see Redwood National Forest, waterfalls, hiking.</i>

Okay, early October is a great time.

Start with a couple of days in the Portland area, especially including the Columbia Gorge, Hood River Valley and Mt. Hood. This is a very scenic area with a great deal of variety including Mt. Hood itself (an afternoon at Timberline Lodge is terrific) as well as the Hood River valley leading to the mountain - vineyards and orchards probably with the beginnings of fall color. At the base of the valley, the town of Hood River is a big brewing area, and the Gorge between Hood River and Portland is nonstop beauty - numerous waterfalls (which ought to have some water in them if it's rained at all) and vista points, good hikes, you name it. You could base yourselves in Hood River, or if your tastes run to the off-beat, stay at McMenamin's Edgefield - http://www.mcmenamins.com/54-edgefield-home - with its collection of funky bars, brewery, winery, distillery, spa, restaurants, movie theater, golf... between PDX airport and the west edge of the Gorge.

Then I'd head to the coast, following the north shore of the Columbia downstream from Portland. Include a visit of the historic and impressive Cape Disappointment area - lighthouses, waves crashing on rocks - then over the awesome mouth of the river to Astoria, and stick to US 101 all the way down the coast and into the redwoods. There are several particularly scenic stretches of the Oregon coast; my favorite is the last 70 miles or so before the California state line, but areas like Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park, Yachats, Heceta Head, etc. are also noteworthy. My favorite overnight spot on the central/southern coast is Bandon, with its funky "old town" waterfront area including several good restaurants.

The redwoods start right around Crescent City and continue all the way down to Garberville. As mentioned, the "Avenue of the Giants" side road, which parallels US 101 for some distance, is well worth taking.

In the redwoods, my preferred stopping places are Trinidad, Arcata and Ferndale; Trinidad and Ferndale are very small places (Ferndale full of remarkable Victorian architecture) while Arcata has more chain-type lodging, as does Eureka.

Here's a rough outline of how I'd manage the 10 days -

Portland/Gorge - 2 days
Portland to coast via Cape Disappointment - 1 day
Oregon coast, north to south - 3 days
Redwoods - 2 days
SF itself - 2 days.

None of this would entail driving more than, say, 3 or 4 hours per day, except Eureka to SF is around 5 hours. If you didn't need two full days in SF, or wanted to limit the Oregon coast to 2 days, then I'd suggest peeling off US 101 at Leggett, CA, and following California Hwy 1 all the way to the Golden Gate. The Mendocino and Sonoma County coastline is superb, and, again, October is a terrific time to see it.

Oh, and, of course, congratulations!

Thank you all so much for your advice. I really appreciate it!