Need help with itinerary to Seattle, Oregon, California
 

We (husband and 6 yr old son) will be flying to Seattle on July 4th, staying the weekend. Then on Mon., July 8th we will be driving down through Oregon into northern California to see the redwoods. We have never been to Oregon or California before and want to see all we can. We would like to see Eugene, Portland and some of the Oregon coast, then I thought we would go as far as the Avenue of the Giants.
I am having trouble when and how long we should be where. I need to plan the itinerary so that I can make hotel reservations.
Any help will be appreciated!

If your priority is to visit Eugene, you will miss most of the upper part of the Oregon Coast unless you visit Eugene from Florence (61 miles each way).

The drive on I-5 between Portland and Eugene is busy and not scenic as is the drive from Cannon Beach to Florence.

On the Oregon Coast we like to stay in Newport, Yachats, Florence, and Brookings and in northern California in Garberville (at the Best Western).

Driving from Port Orford to Brookings on 101, there are ocean views most of the way.

HTtY

Starting in Portland, take US 26 to US 101. Turn south on US 101 and make a stop in Cannon Beach for lunch and to see Haystack Rock. Continue south on 101 and make a stop at the Tillamook cheese factory for some great ice cream and cheese.
Spend the night in Lincoln City and see the world's shortest river.
The next day see the Oregon Coast Aquarium just south of Newport. When you get to Newport, take a little setour east about 5 miles on Rt. 38 to see the Dean's Creek elk viewing area. Go back to Reedsport and continue south to spend the night in Coos Bay.
The next day enjoy the nice ocean vistas on the way down to Brookings. One tourist attraction your son might enjoy is "The Trees of Mystery" along 101 in California. You can take a gondola ride up to the top and also see some nice Coast Redwoods there.
Head back into Oregon on US 199 to Grants Pass and north on I-5 to get to Eugene.
What do you want to see in Eugene? There's not much going on at the U of O in July. I do know where Pre's rock is and it is a bit hard to find.

Thank you both for your responses! I have read about Cannon beach and it sounded nice, so maybe I will rethink our itinerary. Tomfuller, my husband mentioned Eugene because someone told him it was a nice city to visit. But we didn't know of anything in particular. I would definitely like to go down the coast, and I think our little boy would enjoy that more. My husband likes the microbrew pubs and so Portland comes to mind.

I live in Eugene- there is a lot of beautiful scenery around here to enjoy- the city- not so much.
Its OK but not a spot I would suggest for a vacation destination - you will enjoy trip more sticking to the coastal towns and down to the Redwoods.

Heading down to the redwoods you could spend a night at the Oregon Caves- there is a lodge there which is nice - not sure how quickly it books up.

From Oregon Caves head over to the coast-
When we did this trip, we stayed in Trinidad at the Trinidad Inn- nice clean, quiet- staff helpful in planning day trips.
If you don't want to drive that far, check out the Requa Inn just south of Crescent City- nice old inn on the river. There is a scenic overlook up the hill from there - lovely place to do some hiking or watch whales which frequently are feeding or playing down below.

South of Trinidad you could head for the Scotia Inn in the logging town of Scotia- interesting history and close to the Redwoods

I agree with sunbum about Eugene.

Cannon Beach is very nice and we head over there often. In the summer most places have a 2-3 night minimum stay, BUT you can oftentimes squeeze in between other reservations for a 1 night stay. We do that quite a bit. There is a reason CB is popular as there is so much to do there.

You didn't say how many days you have.

There's also the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. If you have enough days, I'd suggest looping through the Olympic Peninsula from Seattle. That will get you along the coast all the way from Washington through Oregon to Northern California.

On your return trip to Seattle (are you going back to Seattle?), take the inland route on I-5 which is a very fast route and will take you by Eugene if you want to stop there.

easytraveler, we fly into Seattle Thurs 7/4 a.m., and we will stay through Sunday, leaving early Mon. 7/8. Yes, we will be returning to Seattle to fly out on Sat. 7/13 pm.

Hi, Laurie, thanks for the added info.

Here's what I'd suggest for your trip:

July 8th, start from Seattle, go out to Washington coast, overnight along the coast

July 9th Oregon coast, overnight along the coast

July 10th - 11th Oregon coast, Northern California coast, overnight near Redwood National Park

July 12 start from Redwood National Park/Crescent City to get to I-5. Overnight Eugene/Portland, Oregon

July 13 early morning start back to SEATAC, maybe visit Columbia Gorge


Allow me to address the return portion of your trip first.

You didn't say how late in the pm you have to be at SEATAC airport on the 13th. Barring no mishaps, I like to give myself two hours before flight time to return the car and get to the gate. Give yourself more time if you think you'll need it with your young son.

Depending on the time of departure, if it were me, I'd opt to stay in Eugene for the night, have a leisurely breakfast next morning, enjoy Eugene for awhile, then start on the near 5 hour drive back to SEATAC. However, if it were really me, I'd opt to stay in Portland - a much more interesting city with a lot more to do and only at most 3 hours from SEATAC. This way you may be able to fit in part of the beautiful Columbia Gorge (east of Portland) and drive as far east as the Multnomah Falls on the morning of the 13th.

The pm departure makes it a bit awkward to plan, because you don't want to be too far from SEATAC and yet you don't really want to spend half/most of the day around SEATAC either. Just plan whatever seems to fit your comfort level the best.

Now, to the rest of your trip. Depending on where you're starting from in Seattle, you probably don't want to start out on the 8th just to hit peak traffic hour. Your friends/family can advise you better. This means you have at most 4 full days for your trip. That's not enough time to go around the Olympic Peninsula and fully enjoy the rest of the sights you want to see, so, skip the Olympic Peninsula.

I'd also suggest getting out to the coast ASAP, maybe have a late breakfast/early lunch in the Aberdeen, Washington, area and then start down along the coast for the rest of your trip. You have three full days from the time you start out from Seattle to go down along the coast, reach Redwood National Park and enjoy that park.

On return, if you start out early on the 12th, from Redwood National Park, you'll have plenty of time to reach Eugene/Portland for the night.

Hope this helps a bit.

Easytraveler is correct that you don't have a lot of time. However, if you are not going to see the Olympic Peninsula, there is NO reason to go over to Aberdeen. Put it to you this way: When we go to the Oregon Coast, we are always meeting folks from Washington State, who like the Oregon Coast better than their own. Take I-5 south to Portland. Far faster.

From Portland head west out to Cannon Beach, then continue south on 101. OR go to the Central Coast and head south, as cited above.

I agree about Aberdeen.

However, our favorite (and frequent) route to Cannon Beach is Olympia-Raymond-Ilwaco-Astoria-Cannon Beach. This route takes us through some nice little towns, along Willapa Bay, and across the Columbia River on a historic bridge.

This drive takes the same or less time as going via Portland, and it is far more pleasant and scenic.

HTtY

doing this same trip myself at this time. thanks for all the suggestions. I wasn't planning to make reservations on the coast cause don't know where we will stop. guess I need to reconsider that for the weekend???

I do like Willapa Bay and Astoria....didn't know that route was close in times to Portland.

LfQuilter, you definitely want to reserve a hotel ahead of time for the Oregon Coast on the weekend.

oh goodness, have a month. eek