Hi everybody!
So I am the best man for a friends wedding this coming September. I wanted to get away from the now traditional "lets go to Vegas and party" scene. I want to do something a little more memorable as in a drive from Vancouver, BC along the coast to Oregon. There will be four of us in total. 28 year olds. I have read about Cannon Beach, the Sand dunes, some golf. Just haven't wrapped my head around which cities we should be stopping in. We will be going for 5/6 days in the middle of July. We are either renting an RV or an SUV from Vancouver and want to drop off in Vancouver.
Can someone please help me with what are the must see's during this trip? Should we be making stops along the coast of Washington? Is California worth taking the long drive to in such a short trip? A general itinerary is what I am looking for here, don't want our days to be too overbooked but we also don't want to miss out on some of the must see's.
Thank you all in advance!

Just a quick note . . . No, with just 5 days you do not have enough time to include California. And even much of the Oregon coast would be a long way. Have you considered just maybe Washington? An island or two, Olympic national park, etc.

Why Vancouver?

With the time you've got, it would make a lot more sense to start in Portland. From Portland to Seattle is maybe 3 hours, Vancouver is another 3 hours. Neither estimate includes Seattle and Vancouver traffic or border wait time. Those could add another 3-5 hours. I would skip Washington coast. It's different if you want to see Olympic National Park. If you're locked into vancouver, consider sticking to Washington and BC. There's more than enough in WA alone to fill up your time.

I wouldn't decide on an RV until you make sure you can book RV sites on the Oregon coast. Believe it or not- you're looking late. Reservations opened Jan 1, I think, and a lot of July campsites are already gone.

No to the RV; two people will have good views and the other two none, plus costs are killer and camping places will be in very short supply. The SUV + hotels will also allow you to drive around cities and on twisty roads where the RV would be like driving a dinosaur.

With just five nights I'd definitely skip anything farther south than Puget Sound. Here's the loop I'd advise - https://goo.gl/maps/VWD2QQhBAYp - which could be done in either direction. It includes the beautiful ferry ride from Vancouver to Victoria, alpine wildflowers at Hurricane Ridge, the impossibly wonderful Hall of Mosses trail in the Hoh rain forest, crashing waves on the rocks at Ruby Beach, then cocktail hour and music (if you want) in Seattle before returning to Vancouver. One night in Victoria, two on the Olympic Peninsula, and two in Seattle - done and done.

You're trying to cram too much in 6 days. Fly to SEA. Rent a car or SUV and spend a day seeing what you can of ONP.
Return the vehicle and take the morning train to Vancouver.
Don't even try to take a rental vehicle either way across the border.
Spend 2 days/nights in Vancouver seeing Stanley Park and whatever else you want.
Take the Amtrak train/bus south from Vancouver to Portland and rent a vehicle in Oregon and head for the coast.
A yurt in 1 or two Oregon State Parks will be a cheaper option than renting an RV IMO.

As mentioned, with 5/6 days you cannot do all that you would like. Either focus on Seatle/BC/ONP or fly down to Portland and then do the OR coast. Definitely do not rent an RV. And SUV will give you much more flexability. Plus, if you do the Olympic Peninsula, an RV is a hinderance. I really like gardyloo's route for your trip. The ONP is wonderful, so don't try to cram stuff in in just a day, but do the loop as he suggested. One thing many people do not realize is that the ONP is rather unique in that there are no roads that go through it. Think of 101 as a bicycle tire and then various roads are the spokes, but none gone all the way through. So that is partially why it is time consuming and why RV's are not recommended.

Just to give you another option.... Fly to Portland, then drive to Bandon, which has one of the best golf resorts on the planet, some of the best beaches on the Oregon coast, and sand dunes, all within a 90 minute drive.

I think you should look into taking a train from Vancouver, Canada to Portland, OR...

The train departs Vancouver at 6:30am and arrives in Portland soon after 3:00pm

From Portland you can then rent a car to go either west toward the coast, and/or east toward the Columbia Gorge while including a loop that adds Mount Hood/Timberline Lodge to your path.

Central Portland is suitable as a base from which you can arrange other things and around which you can navigate without needing a car the whole while.

The return train departs Portland at 2:50pm and arrives in Vancouver at 10:50pm.


While it might be enticing to opt for a car the whole time, with four people traveling, be aware that you might face steep parking charges if staying at central Portland hotels and factor those into the pricing of the trip.

Using the train, you could have possession of a vehicle ONLY when you needed it for your west or east journeys.


Just another angle.

The only thing I'd change with NWM's plan is leave Portland and just go back to Seattle instead of arriving very late in Vancouver.
The recently remodeled King St. station is within walking distance of CenturyLink stadium (go Seahawks!) and the HI hostel (former American hotel).

Thanks everybody for your replies.. I must not have worded that correctly. We are all from Canada. 2 of us live by Vancouver and the other two are from alberta and will be meeting us in Vancouver to start off the trip. We do not want to see seattle or Vancouver.

My son and his friends did a bachelor thing, drove to Florence from Vancouver for a long weekend, did dune buggies on the dunes etc. Not sure if they made any other stops. Jesse honeyman State Park is pretty sweet if you can get in there.

No matter where you are from, five days isn't long enough for down the Oregon coast and a bit of California. I'd stick to Washington state since you are from Vancouver maybe you aren't interested in Vancouver island, but there plenty to fill your time in ONP and various islands. Or maybe head to someplace along the northern Oregon coast