OR Coast Newport and South
 

Planning our getaway from roasting SW FL for this July. We were fortunate enough to have covered the Astoria, Cannon Beach, Seaside area 3 yrs ago.

We will start from Portland and plan to get to Newport. We are travelling with our 15 yr. old son. We love hiking, rough coastlines and our focus is not shopping. Would Yachats be a better place to stay than Newport? Is Florence worth spending a night? We would like to see the best parts of the dunes that are not dune buggy infested. We already plan to take the jet boat ride on the Rogue River, (I know that doesn't make sense with what I just wrote about the dune buggies)so planning to stay in Gold Beach.

I've searched the OR board, but most of the posts on these cities aren't very recent and none compares these locations as far as lodging, dining, etc. Our budget for lodging is no more than 80 dollars per night. We figure we have 4 days for this area, then on to Eureka, CA.

Thanks everyone.

In Newport, don?t miss the historic Nye Beach area. The Cape Perpetua area including the Sea Lion Cave is fabulous, and there are three State Parks near Coos Bay that are not to be missed. Bandon has an interesting beach and we like to stay that the Best Western in Brookings, which is right on the water; however, the rooms are more than $80.

I spent last weekend on the coast, visiting Manzanita, Newport, Yachats and Florence. If you catch a good weekend, it's stunning.

Yachats is a cute little beach town (a couple of shops, a couple of restaurants. Probably not a lot to do with a 15 yr old. Newport has the historic waterfront with shops and resturants. We stayed at the Nye Beach hotel, not 4-star accomodations ($70/night during the week), but clean and right on the beach.

If you spend a night in Newport, you don't need to stay in Florence. It's about a 45min drive south and not worth an overnight IMHO.

With a 15 yr. old I would definitely stay in Newport. You must visit their aquarium, your son will love it. There is also the wax museum which is great fun.

Florence has some shops, but is rather boring, especially with a teen. In Gold Beach, we like the Sand N' Sea motel which is oceanfront and very reasonable. There are some cool trails to hike down to the ocean and a small indoor pool and spa there.

The jet boats are great fun, we do the one out of Grant's Pass. Take a jacket and a hat, you get rather wet when they do the 360 turns, but it's really fun! ***kim***

About 45mins south of Florence take some time in the North Bend, Coos Bay area...off the highway you will find some beautiful surprises, Shore Acres State park, Sunset Beach, Horsfall Dunes...to name a few. Charleston and Bandon both have shops and any and every type of fresh seafood. The coast line from Florence to Gold Beach is awesome, less upscale and populated than Cannon Beach and Newport. Bring your jackets.

Thanks everyone. Okay, I'm sold on the Newport idea. I will try for Nye Beach Hotel unless someone else chimes in over the next week or so.

Knowing that we want to end up in Gold Beach, (I'm leaning toward Sand N Sea for lodging) and we will stay there for two nights as we have the full (8 hr.) Rogue River boat trip planned, where would you advise for night 2, Bandon? Would we have to back track to visit the Dunes area if we do that for night two? My husband is not keen on back tracking.

If we leave PDX early and do all the stuff in and around Newport during the day/evening, then we depart Newport the next morning, I want to see Heceta Head Lighthouse, Cape Perpetua, then can we fit in the dunes and on to Bandon? I was thinking about doing the 5 mile Umpqua Dunes Trail unless you advise that it will be too windy in July for that.

Sorry if I'm rambling and thanks again.

If you're not into historic old hotels, check out the nearby fairly new Elizabeth Street Inn (a standard multi-story motel with interior corridors). All rooms have ocean views.

Fine tuning the trip, we leave in two weeks, and, even though I've made reservations in Bandon, we have now decided that we have far too many hike plans and places of interest after our night in Newport to go as far south as Bandon for our second night's lodging on the coast. Can anyone give any first hand suggestions for lodging in Reedsport or Coos Bay, North Bend. Nothing fancy needed, just clean and fairly priced.

Thanks everyone.

Reedsport to Bandon is less than 1.5 hours, so unless you have plans between the two towns, you might want to keep that Bandon reservation. Except for golf (at Bandon), this area is comparably less touristy; there are few, if any, memorable places to stay, and I doubt you'll need a reservation.

Check out the dunes just north of North Bend; much less buggy infested than those in the Florence area.

Thanks Beachbum,
Do you have any particular hikes to suggest in the dunes area? I'm sort of confused because my Lonely Planet Pacific Northwest guide says that "the lower half of the dunes, south of Reedsport, sees the most ORV traffic, while the upper half has the most hiking trails." We want some great hikes with no ORV noise, etc.