northern oregon coast
 

Going between Portland and Seattle and plan to spend 2-3 days on the Northern Oregon coast (don't want to go to far south as it would be really out of the way). What are the best things to see and do? What cities should we aim for? Any good places to stay that aren't too expensive?

Background: We are two adult women, very active, like to see and do lots of things. Looking to do hiking, exploring, biking, wineries, and breweries!

August? February?

This is one our favorite places in the Northwest to visit.

West of Portland enjoy the quaint town of Astoria, at the confluence of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. Be certain to go to the monument at the top of the hill at sunset - the view is magnificient!
Wonderful restaurants, too.

Astoria is the end of the Lewis & Clarke Trail - so a lot of history in that area

Southern beaches have beautiful rock formations on and just off shore - quite different than what we have here on the east coast.

Cannon Beach has nesting Puffins - if you like birds. At low tide you can walk out to the rock where they nest & docents will tell you about them. Beautiful tidal pools too with all kinds of urchins, etc to enjoy

Tillamock is the home of the famous cheese & awesome ice cream, we've only found in OR & WA

(Most favorite is at least a day exploring the Columbia River gorge - east of Portland, of course, hikes to various waterfalls with Multnomah being my favorite, complete with wonderful restaurant. ),

The Peninsula west of Seattle is the home of the little known Olympic National Park
After spending a week on the northern Oregon Coast (from Tillamock to Seaside, staying in Manzanita) and anticipating another this fall with relatives, i would much prefer time in the Olympic Park instead

I/we highly recommend Olympic National Park if you like hiking and exploring nature. It's the only rainforest in the northern hemisphere. We happened upon it a couple of years ago only to return on another trip after realizing it was a destination, NOT a drive-thru from Seattle to Portland!!!
We've stayed at the Quinault Lodge, historic from President Roosevelt's CCD days, twice., using it as our base while exploring the park.
Hikes galore from forests to seaside. Klaylock (sic?) is another spot but on the coast - they have place to stay as well - we had dinner at sunset overlooking the beach.

My scenic drive book I used initially in planning our drive from Seattle to Portland, highlighted Olympic Park, saying it was a 3hr drive from Seattle to Portland. The ranger in Port Angeles, northern tip, said "not!" and suggested Quinault which put us at the southern end of the park but plenty to see enroute - and hence knowing what to see on next trip.

Hope this helps, happy traveling :-)

Flying into PDX and renting a car? Are you coming back to return the car where you rent it?
Are you ready to head straight for the coast without spending a night in Portland?
If you were flying in late and didn't need a rental car until the next day, ride the light rail from the airport into the city and then rent there in the morning.
Try McMinnville for seeing a winery and maybe the Evergreen Aviation Museum to see the "Spruce Goose".
Check Lincoln City for a cheap place along the coast.
It's your choice if you want to go to the south end of Newport to see the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
Make a brief stop in Cannon Beach to see Haystack Rock. The town is too expensive to stay in IMO. I have stayed in the hostel in Seaside a couple of times even with my wife.
The Astoria Column is worth seeing before you head over the big bridge at the head of the Columbia River.
Before you turn in the car at PDX, you should go a few miles up the Columbia Gorge on I-84 to see Multnomah Falls.
You will wish you had more time to visit the Pacific NW.

'Northern Oregon Coast'--exactly what do you mean by that? Personally I consider anything north of Lincoln City to be 'northern' but if you dip south to Newport you won't regret it. There are a few good breweries in Newport, McMenamins has pubs in most cities up the coast, and the hiking can't be beat. I would suggest that you get a book on coastal hikes because there are some great ones.

Newport Historic Bayfront--Rogue Ales brewery is a must-visit. Sadly the Whales Tale restaurant is closed. For lodging, the Sylvia Beach Hotel is great for a night in an author-themed room. Agate Beach just north of town is a really pretty beach. Also, the Oregon State Aquarium is really excellent. Def worth a visit.

In between Newport and Lincoln City is Cape Foulweather and the Devils Punch Bowl. They are both worth a visit. I remember in 1995 there was a terrible hurricane-force storm on the coast and I drove to Newport from Lincoln City just before they closed the roads. I stopped at the top of Cape Foulweather and watched these 3 insane teenagers jump off the cliff and get blown back about 20 feet by the winds. Crazy! You can sometimes see whales in the water just below the cape when you are in the gift shop there.

Lincoln City is pretty touristy but up at the north end of town there is a McMenamins, I think it is called Lighthouse. If you go to Land's End and walk all the way to the end of the beach there is a nice headland that I used to climb back when I could climb :D The kites on the beach where the D River comes out are always nice to see.

There are all kinds of little towns sprinkled along the coast. When I visit now (I live in Germany now but my family is still in OR) I always hit up the Moe's clam chowder chain and Pig-n-Pancake just because we used to go there when I was a kid. Tillamook Cheese factory is a great free tour.

Rockaway Beach used to be not too crowded compared with a lot of the other beaches. That being said, it is still important to see the crowded ones like Cannon Beach. They are too beautiful to miss. At low tide you can not only view the tidepools at Haystack Rock, but if you go to the northern end of the beach you might catch a glimpse of the ruts that were made in the rock from wagons transporting goods before the highway was built. I think we walked around the headland once there at low tide but it has to be a clam tide for it to be safe.

The Seaside promenade seems to be popular with people who like a carnival atmosphere, but the traffic can be truly awful in the summertime.

Fort Stevens State Park has great history with an old shipwreck and WWII batteries intended to repel Japanese invaders. The park also has a lake with good canoeing and lots of hiking trails although they are mostly level.

Astoria is a great town, of course you need to climb the Astor Column and fly a balsa-wood airplane off the top. They are sold at the bottom :) There are a number of harborside restaurants, some of them are built over the water.

This isn't the crab season, but dungeness crab is the best crab I ever ate and razor clams are amazing. Be sure to try them if you can find them.

I hope you have a lovely time, the Oregon Coast is truly magical and I can't wait to visit it myself when I make a home visit next month.

you might find this link useful

http://www.oregoncoasttravel.net

Are you looking for a nice quiet little beach town or something with a little more activity?

I recently was in Long Beach, Wa and thought it looked like a fun place to stay- pretty touristy but beautiful beach and appears to be lots to do.

I only did a brief stop don't really have suggestions other than it looked fun.

I love Cannon Beach- yes its a bit spendy but I think worth it.

If you do get to Astoria, cross the bridge over the Columbia to the Washington side and visit the Lewis and Clark Discovery Center. The Maritime Museum in Astoria is well worth a visit even for people who don't care to visit museums. The Coast Guard are heroes to west coast residents, and the museum features that service.

The northern oregon coast is the region with Florence in the south and Astoria in the north, and the stretch of Highway 101 from Florence to Depoe Bay has long stretches with expansive views of the ocean.

Our favorite places to stay in this area are Florence, Yachats, Newport, and Cannon Beach (in low season).

HTtY

September? January?

LOL

We are going in August!

Florence is def not northern Oregon Coast. Anywhere south of Lincoln City puts you in the central coast region. Florence is a few hours south of that and probably wouldn't be feasible on a trip of the duration the poster said they were making.

Stick to Newport and parts farther north and you can hit the highlights in 2-3 days. If you don't want to be rushed, you might even consider driving over to Lincoln City and heading north from there. My family has done that trip many times over the years, most recently just a couple of years ago.

Bookmarking

I'd have a look at a couple of locations on the Washington side of the river. Cape Disappointment is a terrific area, with a couple of very nice lighthouses, one or two great waves-hitting-rocks beaches, and some very interesting history (Lewis and Clark.)

Just north of the river is the little fishing village of Ilwaco, not nearly as touristy as some of the Oregon towns, and fairly picturesque on its own. Up the road from Ilwaco is Willapa Bay, a real birder's paradise with many migratory and resident bird species, in a lovely setting. Long Beach WA is a sort of low-key version of Seaside, OR, in the sense of taffy-and-penny-arcade waterfront towns.

The north bank of the Columbia is very historic and quite scenic. When you're done with the coast it's a good route to follow on your way to Seattle.

<i>Florence is def not northern Oregon Coast.</i>

Whatever you call it, the stretch of Highway 101 from Florence to Depoe Bay has long stretches with expansive views of the ocean (and the same can be said for the region between Brookings and Port Orford, but not elsewhere on the coast).

HTtY

I live in Seattle and have been going to the Oregon coast every year since I have been born, almost 29 years. If you love beaches and puffins and kite flying, Cannon Beach is a must. A fun drive from Cannon Beach is to Tillamook, where they make the ever famous cheese, The factory is corny, but FREE cheese samples and good ice cream. Seaside is about a 15 minute drive north from Cannon Beach and has little shops and restaraunts.

Brendon, the OP went on her trip in August. It looks like you just joined Fodor's. One quirk to know: Fodor's does not ever close a thread because it's old or inactive.