Last summer we spent three days in the northern part of the Oregon coast and really liked it. We covered the area from Cannon beach down to Newport. We plan on covering the area to the south of Newport this summer. We live in Seattle so we plan on flying to Medford and then drive north. We want to spend four days on the way, and were wondering what are the best places to stay in the area. We have a six months daughter so we don't want to change hotels every day, but spending two nights in two different locations is reasonable. We really liked Cannon Beach so a town with a similar atmosphere would be great for us.

Also, do you think it is better to travel in August rather than July.

It's not on the coast, but Tu Tu Tun Lodge on the Rogue River outside of Gold Beach is well worth looking into. It's a wonderful place.

I'd say Bandon is probably your best bet on the southern coast if you want something along the lines of CB--but the choice of accommodations there is pretty limited. You might see if you can rent a house for just 2 nights. Yachats isn't very big and it's just south of Newport but it does have the Overleaf which is a great place to stay as well as a couple good restaurants.

I like August better than July. Weather is a tiny bit more reliable..often the coastal hotels have 2 night minimums, some 3, so that will work for you anyway.

The farthest south we ever stayed overnight was Arch Cape, near Manzanita..if you end up around there on the way back to Seattle , I highly recommend the Inn at Arch Cape..they have fireplaces in all rooms with little kitchens and a deck with a bbq grill and a short walk to the beach.

www.innatarchcape.com

Hmmm.... As much as I love Tu Tu Tun, I'm not sure you'd be comfortable there with an infant. When we were there a couple years ago, my daughter who was then 13, was the youngest guest. Might be moot, though; it's popular enough that it could already be booked solid.

But, I do agree about the Overleaf Lodge in Yachats. IMO, it's got the best setting of any lodging on the Oregon coast. Just spectacular. I also agree about Bandon, but don't know if it's worth overnighting there, when you'd probably be perfectly happy spending all four nights in Yachats.

That said, there really is no other town like Cannon Beach on Oregon's coast. Besides a change of scenery, do you really have a reason not to go back?

As Scarlett says, weather is more dependable in August. Make reservations as soon as you've decided on when and where.

Good point beachbum. I was thinking they might be more comfortable there with an infant as opposed to a toddler (figuring a baby would sleep a lot and they could enjoy being out on their private deck during her naps) but I just checked and during the summer months, only children 10 and older are permitted.

Thank you all for the comments!.

I have another (possibly stupid) question: given that we have only 4 days, do you think it is a good idea to do the VERY long drive to Crater lake or should we just focus on the coast? How predictable is the weather at Crater lake during July-August? We wouldn't want to waste a day going there just to find out it's cloudy with zero visibility.

Given that you live here in the area, I'd save Crater Lake for another trip (combining it with, say, Ashland or Bend) and focus on the coast this time.

Man, you'd think the rest of Oregon was Kansas based on all you Northern Oregonians. I back on my rant about the portlandcentric nature of all these posts and suggestions.

I tend to agree with NWWanderer, but whether on this or another trip, you'll have to deal with the same question. Except, that if you're staying in one location for the duration (the coast, Bend, or Ashland), you'd have flexibility to choose which day to drive up to the lake.

So, your recommendations for Joshpal would be what, bbqboy?

So from the answers above I think we will spend two days in Yachats. I am still not sure where we should stay in the other two days in the southern area of the Oregon coast.

One additional factor is that we will be traveling with our infant daughter (8 months). Therefore, we probably will not be able to do buggy riding on sand dunes or rafting in Gold-beach (I think I read something about these things).
So we want to avoid staying in a popular location if we cannot enjoy its main/only attraction. Anyway, please let me know what you think.