Going to Portland for 5 days in September. We want to go to Powells Bookstore, hike some on the Columbia River Scenic Highway, and spend some time in Cannon Beach. How would you divy up the time? We are ok with staying somewhere overnight off the Scenic Highway and spending 2 days there. Is that too much time? Would 2 days be enough for Cannon Beach? Thanks in advance for your help.

Since you will be in Portland only 5 days, this is how I would do it :

Stay in a hotel in downtown Portland.
You can get to the Gorge along the Historic Highway in about 30 minutes from downtown, you can drive along the highway, stop at all the lookouts, go to each of the falls and still be back in town by late afternoon. No need at all to spend the night.
The next day you can drive to Cannon Beach (90 minutes from downtown Portland) and stay 2 nights ( most places have 2 night stay minimums anyway) and return to Portland. ( or go for a day trip..easy to do and be back in time for dinner in town)
The rest of the time you spend sightseeing in Portland..which won't be much time at all.
Don't miss
The Japanese Gardens
The Pittock Mansion
The Rose Test Gardens
The Chinese Gardens
Walking all around the Pearl District
Walking all around the NW part of town, NW 23rd Street and NW 21st .
Powells is worthy of a full day ... if you love books , someone will probably have to drag you away : - )

Take the Streetcar in town, it does a loop of Portland downtown and that way you can hop on and off when you feel like it.
Have a wonderful time, September is when we went for the first time, loved it so much we moved there ~

Two nights in Cannon Beach would be nice, If you want to stay right on the beach, the Ocean Lodge is very nice, next to the Stephanie Inn, one of the finest places to stay on the Oregon Coast. We have a beach cottage in nearby Seaside, you may also want to explore this area. Walk the prom, have some chowder at Norma's Ocean Diner, antique shop in the Gilbert District, rent a beach cruiser or surrey bike, have fun in the touristy shops there. If you're into history, some time in Astoria may be of interest to you, about 20 minutes from Seaside.

The Gorge area is very pretty, but there is not much to do there, you may want to consider exploring the wine country in the Dundee area one of your days if you're into wine.

I hope you have a great time and let us know how it goes, September is a gorgeous month on the coast. ***kim***

September is a great time here. As for splitting time, some of it depends on your interests.

As Scarlett mentioned, staying in downtown and visiting the gorge during the day is easy, but if you want to hike and see more, then yes an overnight in the area is a good idea.

I disagree with Kimamom. There is a lot to do and see in the gorge! Take the old scenic highway, which you can get to from either exit #17 or exit #22 off of I-84. Must stops on this scenic highway include the Portland Woman's Forum, Vista House, and Multnomah Falls. Those are the biggies, but you will see that there are many places to stop and lots of trails to hike. Further along I-84 is Hood River which is a nice town right along the river. Bridge Of The Gods and the hatchery are other places of interest. Around Hood River are several wineries as well as lots of orchards/fruit stands. Lost Lake is beautiful. Taking this back way from Hood River you can head over to Mt. Hood/Timberline Lodge. More hiking there, obviously.

Cannon Beach is easy for a day trip as Scarlett mentioned also. But if you want to stay overnight, it will be high season and most places will require a 2 night stay. Doing a day trip or overnighting obviously depends on your interests again. Overnighting will give you the opportunity to explore areas early in the morning, which is something we enjoy. Since Kimamom has not stayed at any of the hotels she mentions, you might want to check reviews from people who have. We always stay at the Surfsand Resort in Cannon Beach. The hotel is very nice, and oceanfront, very close to Haystack Rock, and an easy walk to the heart of downtown. The Ocean Lodge and Stephanie Inn are not walkable to town. I don't know if Surfsand fits in your budget, but there are other places in town so you might want to check www.cannon-beach.net for other options. Things we enjoy in CB include renting funcycles for riding on the beach, checking out tidepools at low tide around Haystack Rock, Ecola State Park for hiking, and of course bonfires at night on the beach. I would suggest venturing south a bit and doing the Three Capes Loop which is a very scenic drive with nice places to stop and check out, as well as places to hike. If you do that, Pacific City/Cape Kiwanda has a nice beach, and at the top of the big dune it is really pretty. The Pelican Pub on the beach is a great place for lunch or dinner, and they have outdoor seating on the deck, which is literally right over the sand.

Scarlett gave good suggestions for downtown, so I won't repeat all those. You might want to check out Forest Park as there are lots of good trails there. You can hike from near the zoo up to Pittock Mansion. Very pretty, and the Vietnam Memorial there (near the start of the trail) gives some good OR history as well.

So you can see that 5 days will be very full, but very enjoyable

Sorry, I meant to offer a couple suggestions for overnighting in the gorge. I really like the Edgefield, which is a McMenamin property in Troutdale. It is a lot of fun, and very unique. Another place would be Bridal Veil Lodge. These two places are completely opposite, but both are very reasonable for cost.

I assume 5 days, means 4 nights, and you don't state what time you arrive on day 1 or depart on day 2.

In any event, the Columbia River Gorge can be done as a day trip from Portland.

Spend one or two nights in Cannon beach, and spend one night in Hood River if you don't want to do the gorge as a day trip.

I cannot imagine anyone having actually been to the Gorge, saying that there is not much to do there.
This is a good website to give you an idea of the size/scope of the area and what there is to see and do..
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/columbia/rec...terfalls.shtml

Of course, there are no expensive restaurants along that road so that might disappoint some visitors.
We always took a picnic and usually had it on the grounds of Bridal Veil Falls where there are picnic tables .. even if it is not a dry sunny day, the place is amazing in its beauty and so typical ( in my mind) of that deep green Pacific Northwest Forest ..

I hope this works.. this is an example of what you will see from the Womans Forum that mms mentions..
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/med...ic-highway.jpg

"Would 2 days be enough for Cannon Beach?"

Depends on what you're planning to do. Cannon Beach is a great place to just relax, but there's good hiking and other sightseeing nearby, too.

I agree with the others; the Gorge is an easy day trip from Portland. But if you're planning a long hike (or two), you might want more than a day. Don't know that I'd suggest spending a night in the Gorge though, since in most any case, Portland is less than an hour away.

Mms mentioned wineries around Hood River. If Powell's is really all you want to see of Portland, it might interest you to know that the heart of Oregon's wine country is less than an hour southwest of the city.

kimamom, if you're ever in the Gorge area again, you might find something more to your liking at Columbia Gorge Premium Outlets: http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=28.

I'll second the Edgefield. We stayed there a few years ago after doing about half of the coast (Yachats to Cannon Beach) and then sampling the Willamettes wares. We were flying out the next morning and Edgefield was very convenient to the airport. Also a great place to go bar-hopping without leaving the property!

Thanks to everyone for all the advice so far.

Happytrailstoyou - We land on Sunday around noon and go home on Saturday morning, so we are in Portland for 5.5 days and 5 nights.

Both hubby and I have been to Portland before. But we do plan to go hiking in Forest Park and check out the International Rose Garden. Maybe the Japanese Garden.

We are not nightlife people. We'd be looking for walks on the beach, hiking in Ecola, reading on the beach, walking through town in Cannon Beach. Two days enough?

We are thinking of staying at Bridal Veils Lodge when we go out to the Gorge, but we are also interested in Hood River. Anyone know a nice B&B there?

Also, I would love a recommendation for a downtown Portland hotel. Something clean, comfortable, but not hoity-toity. Homey but not homely. Chains are ok, but we try to support the local economy when we travel, so a locally owned and operated place would be great.

Fodor's forums is just best. Thanks so much everyone!

If you are not city people, there's really no need to spend the extra money staying downtown in Portland. You could stay easily in NE Portland in the Rose Quarter/Lloyd Center/Convention Center area, where there are a number of decent business/chain hotels like the Doubletree and the Crowne Plaza. These are still very centrally located to downtown. Friends recently stayed at the Crowne Plaza and were satisfied with it - I'd recommend it if you can get a good deal (do avoid the restaurant - was forced to eat there one night. Awful! Eat at Wendy's instead if anywhere!)

The usual downtown hotel recommendations like the Monaco, Vintage Plaza, and Lucia are really nice but are a tad on the hoity-toity side and are going to cost you more money and may not be worth it for you if you won't enjoy the downtown. Then again, you might enjoy Waterfront Park and many of the hotels are close to that. Down at Riverplace (south part of downtown), there are a few hotels such as the Marriott Residence Inn that are also on the Portland Streetcar line. It's a chain hotel of course, but the location is better for strolling along the river than some of the downtown hotels.

Visit the site travelportland.com to look for deals on some of the hotels mentioned above. Also consider Priceline.com if you really want to save money and are prepared to honor the required conditions (no changes/non-refundable, no certainty on what hotel you will get).

Yep, for what you're planning, two days in Cannon Beach would be fine. For the return trip to Portland, consider driving south and doing a portion of Three Capes Scenic Loop (starts near Tillamook) before heading back on hwy 6. Could take the better part of a day, but I doubt you'd regret it.

For your Portland stay, I'm thinking Inn at Northrup Station: http://www.northrupstation.com/. Away from the downtown core, but within easy walking distance of some great restaurants. And on the streetcar line, which takes you within a block or two of Powell's.

I don't recognise "hoity-toity"... hotels have people who check you in and carry your luggage and bring you room service, they wait on you... it always works for me.

Portland is one of those cities that I have visited/lived in that rarely has attitude.. especially in hotels. Most hotels cater to their guests, they want them to come back.

So having gotten that off my chest...
I will say that the Monaco is a very good hotel but not budget..

You should look into the Ace Hotel,
http://www.acehotel.com/

The Modera
http://www.hotelmodera.com/

, as beachbum suggests, the Inn@Northrup Station
http://www.northrupstation.com/

and maybe the Embassy Suites..
www.embassyportland.com

I always suggest the Westside/downtown part of Portland for hotels because most people don't have cars with them and it is convenient to be in the part of town where the Streetcar is located, the most hotels are located within walking distance of downtown sights and restaurants.
For a short stay, downtown usually works ..

2 days in Cannon Beach is better than nothing :- )
You can cram a lot in .. and the weather cannot be counted on ..

I have not stayed there, but think Inn at Northrup Station would fit what you are looking for. Location is great, and it is definitely not snobby, etc.

Another option, that I have stayed at, is the Kennedy School. The only drawback to that is that it is on the east side, and so not walkable to much of downtown. It is a short drive though, 5-10 minutes at most. It is another of the McMenamin properties and a lot of fun.

If you are looking for location so you can walk everywhere, then I would opt for Northrup Station, but if you are looking for something out of the norm then I would opt for Kennedy School.

The Northrup Station looks wonderful! Quirky, unique and cozy. Thanks for all of the recommendations.

It's looking like we'll land on Sunday and check into Northrup Station. Ride the streetcar to Powells, explore downtown.

On Monday, we'll check out of Northrup Station, hike around in Forest Park. In the afternoon, start heading to the Gorge.

Hike around in the Gorge some, dinner at Multnomah Lodge. Stay somewhere in the Gorge.

Tuesday, meander around the Gorge somemore, drive to Cannon Beach in the afternoon. (Is there any other way to get to Cannon Beach besides going back into Portland? We'd like to see as much new stuff as possible).

Stay in Cannon Beach Tuesday night and Wednesday night, probably at Ecola Lodge (love the bunnies). Thursday drive along the seaside for a while. Maybe stay somewhere along the sea that night. Probably stay at the Portland Embassy Suites Friday night - the one by the airport. We stayed there before and thought it was really nice. Fly home Saturday morning.

Comments? Suggestions? Thanks to all!

Sounds like a plan!

If you're looking for a different view, you could cross the Columbia on Bridge of the Gods, and return to Portland on the WA side of the river. But, unless you're willing to take the longer route along the Columbia to Astoria, then south to Cannon Beach, you'd need to go through Portland to catch hwy 26, which itself is a pretty nice drive.

I've not stayed there, but Ecola Creek Lodge looks to be a cute little place. Good choice! I like that it's on the north side of the little river, which divides the beach north and south. The north end of the beach is much more quiet, and except for Haystack Rock, scenic. Just wondering.... did you look at Cannon Beach Hotel? http://www.cannonbeachhotel.com/

Again, I'd recommending heading south from Cannon Beach. Lot's of oceanside parks to explore, notably Hug Point and Oswald West (good hiking here too), and towns like Manzanita and Nehalem to poke around in. The issue would be where to spend the night. Not many options unless you go as far as Pacific City, but the Old Wheeler Hotel seems a popular choice: http://www.oldwheelerhotel.com/.