I am planning a driving tour of the Oregon Coast on my Spring Break (March 17-25). I will start in San Francisco and eventually spend the last couple days in Portland where I will fly back to Houston. I'm starting in San Francisco because I want to include the redwoods... I'm open to suggestions though.

I have two main questions:

1) Is it necessary to book reservations in advance during that time period in coastal towns? Normally, I am a fanatic about reservations in advance, but I would kind of like to be able to stay longer in places I like without feeling the constant pressure to drive to my hotel in another town. Is it too risky to not pre-book?

2) I am in the very beginning stages of planning this trip. I was wondering if I could get some pointers on the most picturesque coastal towns, etc.

Thanks for your help!

Yes, definitely make reservations! That is our spring break here as well, and the places book up fast during that time.

As far as where to go, what are you looking for?

Well, basically, I love the Pacific Northwest... I've spent some time in Vancouver and Seattle and I'm just amazed at how incredibly beautiful it is. I am just wanting to take a scenic drive, stroll through a few fishing towns, grab some great seafood... just a nice relaxed exploration type trip. Also, being as how we've never seen the Redwoods, we wanted to check them out.

At this point, I think I might have more questions for you than answers. The biggest is, do you know what kind of weather you're likely to encounter that time of year? Unless you like cold, windy, and wet, don't plan on doing much outdoors. Weather may impact your sightseeing too.

That said, my choices for picturesque towns would be Bandon's old town, Yachats, Newport's bay area, Depot Bay, Oceanside, and Cannon Beach. Except for Yachats and Oceanside, you can find stuff to keep yourself occupied in any of these places, regardless of weather.

Whats your budget?

I live on this coast so this is important info. to get the best results!

on a student budget?..do a search for: yurts
only $25 a day!

book one at Harris Beach State Park...for immediately north of there is 25 miles of scenics like this:

http://iloveoregon.com/images/Natura...de%20angle.jpg

I'll check back for an update!

SF to the oregon border is 300 miles. That's 1-2 days right there. If you really want to see Oregon and Redwoods, fly into Medford, spend a day in Ashland, travel 199 to coast. You could stay at the tree houses in Cave Junction,
http:/www.treehouses.com
then on to jedidiah smith state park, (better than the national park) drive the whole coast. gold beach/rogue river, Yachats, Newport, Astoria are must sees. Depoe Bay, Garabaldi , Neskowin are all great stops. If you stay south(CJ or GB), central(Yachats) and North(Astoria) you'd have about the right distance between towns and be able to see it all. Don't forget the 3 capes loop and Netarts Bay and region.

Don't miss Cannon Beach/Seaside/Astoria on the northern coast. The Hotel Elliott is gorgeous, www.hotelelliott.com and there is a new place on the water called the Cannery Pier Hotel if you want water views. Lots to see and do in this quaint, historic little town. (It's on the Columbia River, about ten minutes from the ocean.)

In Cannon Beach, I would recommend the Stephanie Inn for luxury accomodations. If they are full, check out the Inn of the Four Winds in Seaside. Let me know if you would like some great suggestions on where to dine in this area. Have a wonderful time on your travels! ***kim***

Thank you all so much for the information...

First, the weather. I have heard that it is not the best that time of year, but I was wondering if the bad weather was a constant. Are there some good days and some bad? I don't mind cold and windy, but I'm not a big fan of rain. The point of the trip though is to see the coast, so if it's always foggy and rainy that time of year, I may want to save this trip for another time of year...

As far as budget on the hotels, I'm looking in the $100 range.

Thanks for the tip on the Medford airport, I'll look into that and the other suggestions!

Fog is always a possibility on the coast, but if you want to avoid rain, July or August would be your best bet. That's not to say that rain is constant in March, but you'd hate to come this far and be disappointed.

I'm not sure that you'll need hotel/motel reservations. The kinds of places it sounds like you're looking for are not widely publicized. You might have to do a little looking, but shouldn't have too much problem finding a vacancy sign in a decent looking motel. One advantage of coming during off season is that rates are less, but even then, I don't think you can touch the places kimamom is recommending. Have you ever stayed in any of those hotels, ***kim***?

Medford would be a good alternative to SFO, but it's served by just a few carriers, so ticket prices might be high.

joym: You might want to check out this trip report http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34697304

It really just covers from Mendocino to Bandon and I didn't go any farther north this trip. But it does talk about the redwoods, coastal villages, places to eat and a couple of inexpensive but good places to stay in Gold Beach and Bandon.

In Gold Beach, check out the Sand n Sea motel, right on the beach. Basic little hotel, but beautiful views of the ocean from certain rooms. Very affordable! ***kim***