sdb421

My husband and I are planning an 11 day trip for our 10 year wedding anniversary in mid-late Sept 2016. We plan to fly into Portland and rent a car and return it in San Fran when we fly out. We'd like to see a bit of the coastline, but mostly tour Oregon and CA wine country. I'm looking for suggestions on the best drive route and the best places to stop along the way and set up base for touring wine regions and sight seeing. I know that this is a busy time of year, but we'd love to have a more unique, personal experience and stay somewhat away from the huge crowds/tourist traps, while still staying in fun areas and tasting great wines. We'd like high end accommodations, but prefer more boutique hotels or high end B&B's, rather than large resorts or hotels. We plan to spend 1 night in Portland (which we could be convinced against, if need be) and 1-2 nights in San Fran at the end, so that leaves 8 nights/9 days of travel in between. Does anyone have suggestions for our drive route and stops in between? Thank you so much for your help!

MmePerdu

http://www.benbowinn.com

janisj

The Benbow is good -- one of my favorites. Good base for the Redwoods.

For farther north near Mendocino - not a boutique or especially small place - but you simply cannot beat the views from the Little River Inn (I like staying there over staying IN Mendocino) http://www.littleriverinn.com

If you want something even a bit farther north -- the Gingerbread Mansion in Ferndale is wonderful http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/ca-fe...ansioninn.html

tomfuller

Have you researched what the drop off fee will be?
Are you more interested in the Oregon coast or the California coast including Redwood NP?
This is how I would do it but it's probably not your style:
Fly to PDX. Take the TriMet Red line into downtown Portland. Spend a night in downtown and spend part or all of the next day in Portland before renting a car for your trip to the coast.
Drive the coast as far south as Newport. See the Oregon Coast Aquarium just south of Newport.
If you have seen enough of the coast, head inland and see the Willamette Valley wine country if it interests you.
See the Columbia Gorge, Mt. Hood and Multnomah Falls before returning the car in Portland.
Take the Amtrak Coast Starlight overnight to Sacramento.
It arrives early in SAC. Rent a car in Sacramento and drive to San Fransisco.
If you want to see big Coast Redwood trees, go over the GG bridge to see Muir Woods

janisj

tom -- they say they are most interested in wine regions >>We'd like to see a bit of the coastline, but mostly tour Oregon and CA wine country. anyone but tom would recommend amtrak for this trip -- I have to toss this in -- Why would you recommend getting off the train in Sacramento, pick up a car, and drive one of the most congested corridors in the state . . . when IF they were at the Amtrak station anyway they could jump on a Capitol Corridor to Emeryville/SF???? But you do need to understand where tom is coming from- apparently sometime in the past he was scarred for life w/ a high drop off fee and he comes up with some very 'creative' plans involving multiple trains and buses to avoid a one way drop off. )

sdb421

Thank you both for your replies. I appreciate the info! Tom, we have not researched the drop off fees, but unless they are completely outrageous, we are looking forward to the drive and having the ability to explore the area by car, so I think we will stick with car travel for now.

Janisj, would you skip the night in Portland and head right to Willamette Valley? Is one night in that area enough? I was thinking 1 night in Portland, 2 nights in Willamette/Yamhill, 2 nights of Oregon Coast, 1 night in N Cali coast, then 2 nights of Healdsburg, maybe 1 night in Napa and then 1 night in San Fran, but this might be too much moving around...

janisj

>>1 night in N Cali coast,IF you stay a night in Portland. It is less than hour drive from Portland.

So I'd either skip staying in Portland and stay 2 nights in the Willamette Valley - OR - stay one night in Portland and one night in the Valley.

Then a couple of nights on the Oregon coast, and 3 nights on the CA coast - one at the Benbow (no on the coast but a good stop over after exploring the Redwoods, and 2 in Mendocino/Little River. There are vineyards and wineries in Mendocino County too. So even if it wasn't magnificent scenery, it would be worth at least a night.

You don't need to move around in the Napa Sonoma area. Especially if you stay in/near Sonoma you can get to anywhere in the Sonoma and Napa Valleys so no need to move. But if you stay up in Healdsburg - maybe stay a night in St Helena.

(Cali is a city in Columbia . . . just sayin' )

Michael

If on the coast in northern California, it would make sense to go inland just south of Mendocino, through the Anderson valley which has some important wineries. You could stay in Booneville to explore the area.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...y+wineries+map

janisj

You could stay in Booneville -- but you could also just drive through and stop a a few vineyards on your way to the Sonoma Valley

http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/i...o-wine-map.gif

sdb421

Everyone's thoughts are so helpful. So I think we've decided on:

2 nights in McMinville, OR to explore Willamette/Yamhill
2 nights - Oregon Coast (need to pick the best location for this stay)
2 nights Northern California coast (need to pick a location for this stop as well and can we explore redwoods from here?) - will head inland around Mendocino to tour wineries on our way to Sonoma.
2 nights - Northern Sonoma/Healdsburg area
1-2 nights in Napa
1-2 nights in San Francisco.

Does this sound like a good plan? Input on locations for coastal stops? My husband plans to play one of the Bandon Dunes courses one day, but we are happy to drive a bit from our accommodations to get there! Thanks again for everyone's help!

janisj

>>will head inland around Mendocino to tour wineries on our way to Sonoma.

Peter_Hasdon21

Leave early in the morning, like pre 9am, and you should be arriving in San Fran by nightfall. And as people mentioned already, one way to go about it is take the 5 to Grants Pass, and cut over to the 101. You'll end up in Crescent City, and it's a straight shot from there.

gyronikeleg

Big sur is an absolute must.

I still don't know why it is relatively unknown. It really should be a known stop. The water is amazing and the geography is awe inspiring.

janisj

gyronikeleg: >>Big sur is an absolute must.

I still don't know why it is relatively unknown. It really should be a known stop. The water is amazing and the geography is awe inspiring.

janisj

Uh - no, you don't want to drive from Portland to SF in a day (but you knew that already so you probably can figure out which posts are helpful )

Gardyloo

Have a look at this possible route - https://goo.gl/maps/yDrRhAvaEcS2

It starts off close to the Portland airport at McMenamin's Edgefield - http://www.mcmenamins.com/Edgefield - a fun and funky "resort" with on-site vineyards, winery, brewery, distillery, movie theater... cool.

Then proceed along the amazing rim of the Columbia Gorge past waterfalls and vista points to Hood River. From Hood River take the "fruit loop" - more wineries, fruit stands (harvest time - terrific) and proceed to Timberline Lodge on the slopes of Mount Hood. http://hoodriverfruitloop.com/ and http://www.timberlinelodge.com/

Then scoot across the Willamette Valley to the vineyards and wineries around McMinnville - http://mcminnvilleava.org/ - and out to the coast. Follow US 101 south along the Oregon coast and through the redwoods to the Napa/Sonoma areas - I've shown St. Helena on the map but there are numerous alternatives - before ending the drive in SF.

The Columbia Gorge and Hood River Valley are up-and-coming wine areas in Oregon, and the scenery and diversity is like nowhere else. It's terrific touring country.

sdb421

Thank you everyone. Janisj, you've been hugely helpful and Gardyloo, I'm now intrigued about exploring Columbia River Gorge and Hood River, but wonder if I have time on this trip since it's somewhat out of our way! I'll need to think about that one. Here are our tentative plans and accommodation choices so far:

Thursday: Arrive Portland

Thurs-Sat – McMinville, OR
• Private Vineyard stay

Sat – Mon – Coos Bay/Gold Beach, OR (Bandon Dunes, Fishing, Sea Lion Caves)
• Tu Tu Tun Lodge

Mon – Tues – Trinidad, CA (Redwoods)
• Trinidad Bay B&B

Tues – Wed – Mendocino, CA (Anderson area wineries, Ft Bragg)
• Elk Cove Inn and Spa
• Sea Rock Inn
• Little River Inn

Undecided on which of these three accommodations I like best!

Wed – Fri – Healdsburg, CA (Sonoma County)
• Private Vineyard stay

Fri – Sun – Napa
• The Inn on First


Sun – Depart Oakland

Would love feedback on this itinerary, accommodations and even tastings that we can't miss! Thanks!

janisj

OK -- you listed being in two places the same days -- what you really have is:

Thurs-Fri – McMinville, OR
• Private Vineyard stay

Sat – Sun
• Tu Tu Tun Lodge

Mon
• Trinidad Bay B&B

Tues Mendocino, CA (Anderson area wineries, Ft Bragg)
• Elk Cove Inn and Spa
• Sea Rock Inn
• Little River Inn

Wed - Thurs – Healdsburg
• Private Vineyard stay

Fri – Sat – Napa
• The Inn on First

Mostly looks OK -- but IMO the Tuesday is simply too much in too little time. In fact it is nearly impossible. You really do need two nights in the Mendocino area. Just the drive down from Trinidad will take close to 4 hours without a single stop. And that would preclude doing the Avenue of the Giants etc. If you want to drive even one segment of the Avenue and stop anywhere you need to allow about 6 hours for the drive -- leaving almost no time for Mendocino or Ft Bragg or any of the local parks. One must in Ft Bragg is the Botanic Gardens which alone can take a couple of hours. And Mendocino is worth about a day for wandering/galleries/dining.

I'd cut Napa to one night and add a night to Mendocino/Little River/wherever.

But if you want to keep the nights in Napa -- I'd just forget about Mendocino and head straight down to Healdsburg because it takes too long getting out to Mendocino to just turn around the next morning and leave. (I love LOVE the Mendocino coast but it isn't a dash in/out sort of place. The driving is slow)

Gardyloo

Gardyloo, I'm now intrigued about exploring Columbia River Gorge and Hood River, but wonder if I have time on this trip since it's somewhat out of our way!

Depends on your priorities, I suppose. Here's a possible outline, which might involve some minor amendments to your plan. Revised map - https://goo.gl/maps/iug1b9zamZQ2

Day 1 - Arrive PDX, drive through Columbia Gorge to Hood River. You'll have adequate daylight to see a couple of the waterfalls, Crown Point vista, etc. Spend the night in Hood River.

Day 2 - Fruit loop, lunch at Timberline, drive (2 hrs) to McMinnville for the night.

Days 3/4 - Willamette Valley wineries, drive to coast PM day 4 (2 hours) and overnight at Yachats ("ya-hots.")

Day 5 - Drive to Bandon or Gold Beach (my recommendation - Bandon.) Skip the Sea Lion Caves - stinky tourist trap.

Day 6 - Drive to Trinidad (north of Eureka) or Ferndale (south of Eureka) with numerous stops along the Oregon coast and several redwood groves in Del Norte County. Trinidad is a very pleasant oceanside village; Ferndale is a gorgeous Victorian village off the main highway a little south of Eureka, highly recommended.

Day 7 - Tour the Avenue of the Giants then take SR 1 to Mendocino.

Day 8 - Drive SR 1 south to Jenner, then take the SR 116 along the Russian River inland to Healdsburg.

Days 9-11 - Per your plan.

The basic idea is to tour vineyards in the daytime then move to the next destination in the late afternoon/early evening so that you're positioned for the next day's touring.

sunbum1944

I think the the area between Lincoln City and Florence is one of the prettiest parts of the Oregon Coast. Check out the Overleaf in Yachats as a place to stay. You might check on the Channel House at Depoe Bay too. Some of the rooms have hot tubs on the deck overlooking the ocean. Make sure you stop at Devils Elbow State Park (also known as Heceta Head). Lovely beach, nice trail up to Heceta Head lighthouse- the most photographed in the U S. South of Florence there is not a lot to see as the road is inland a bit and all you see are trees. Scenery picks up again around Bandon.

Enjoy your trip