Oregon personal Trip

[cartman]

My wife and I considering a 7-day trip to Oregon later this summer. Our initial thoughts are to fly into Portland, stay a day or two to see the city, and then to stop at a few wineries on the way to the coast. We would also like to do a little hiking while we are there.

Our itinerary might be a little too ambitious and thus would value any of the Boglehead's recommendations.

Our May trip to Italy was wonderful, thanks largely to the thoughts posted on this board

[GerryL]

Do a search on this forum for some recent queries similar to yours. You will find a wealth of info ... before others start chiming in.

Note: My favorite place at the coast is Yachats and the Cape Perpetua area. I call it Little Big Sur.
If you're interested in fossils hunting at the beach, let me know and I can point you to a good spot.

[LadyGeek]

This thread is now in the Personal Consumer Issues forum (trip).

[DomDangelina]

I recommend that you flee Portland at top speed the moment you touch the ground.

I second the recommendation for Yachats and the Cape Perpetua area.

[CoinCounter]

You may want to take the August 21 eclipse into account. I know many people are traveling to Oregon the preceding weekend and you may run into higher prices/hard to find rooms.

[climber2020]

The Oregon coast is awesome. I'm going back for the third time in a few days.

A few tips:

- Consider doing Portland at the end of your trip. If you live anywhere on the eastern side of the US, more than likely you'll have an earlier flight out due to the timezone differences. Driving from the coast to the Portland airport in the wee hours of the morning is not fun.

- Agree that the Yachats area is very nice. Consider staying a night at the Heceta Head lighthouse bed & breakfast. Excellent scenery. Grab one of the Mariners rooms if they're still available. If you wish, you can explore the lighthouse grounds with flashlights at night when it's normally closed off to the general public. The 7 course breakfast is awesome.

- Cannon Beach is a nice little town worth staying at for a night or two.

- If you're looking for a good day hike, check out Saddle Mountain. It's a short drive from Cannon Beach.

[iamlucky13]

That doesn't sound overly ambitious to me. Certainly a week isn't enough to see more everything in most destinations, but you can do what you said at a leisurely pace by picking and choosing. The wineries are along the way to the coast, and there's hiking and camping (in some cases with cabins or yurts) on the coast and in the adjacent Tillamook and Clatsop forests.

If you were wanting to fit Portland, the coast, and the Gorge all into one week, that could be bordering on overly ambitious.

A few suggestions to consider on your itinerary:

- Portland Waterfront - just plain a great urban waterfront to walk along, people watch, or wander a block or two off the river in search of street food. If you're there on the weekend, there's a craft market and street fair in the summer.
- Evergreen Aviation Museum - McMinneville - home of the Spruce Goose and in the middle of Oregon wine country.
- Tillamook cheese factory - Has become a tourist trap these days, but still interesting. The area around the town itself smells of dairy, but it never bothered me.
- Ft. Stevens - an old fort built to protect the Columbia River. Now a large park and historic site
- Ft. Clatsop - interpretive center replicating where Lewis and Clark wintered over before returning home.
- Seaside or Canon Beach - popular towns for resort or vacation rental accommodations with good beaches
- Newport - nice ocean harbor town with a great aquarium and a good brewery
- Pacific City - nice smaller town for a quiet beach stay in a vacation rental, with a great brewery
- Ecola, Cape Meares, Cape Disappointment (Washington side), Yaquina Head - some of the numerous great parks along the coast that I've enjoyed the most.
- Any turnout along highway 101 where the view catches your eye.
- McMenamins - quirky Portland restaurant chain that operates mostly out of historic buildings that I recommend to most Portland visitors who want a light taste of the "Keep Portland Weird" vibe.

[westcoast]

A week doesn't seem long enough so I wouldn't spend much time in Portland. Check out the north coast line starting in Astoria. Spend a few days their sight seeing, fishing or hiking. Head south on hwy 101 to Cannon Beach and Pacific City for a couple days an enjoy the scenery. Head back to Portland though Dundee an stop at as many wineries as you can they are all over. Then back to Portland for a day. Have fun you can't go wrong no matter where you go in Oregon.

[Nestegg_User]

Trying to do it all with a limited timeframe isn't likely to work well.

One possibility is using, say Newberg, as a base of operations in a two (or three) day exploration of the wine country-- with the first day hitting those closest to PDX then stay overnight in Newberg and seeing the rest toward McMinneville afterwards. Then either up to 26 to Cannon Beach/Seaside (Seaside is cheaper and not that far away) or go to the beach by way of 22 to Cloverdale on toward Tillamook then up to Cannon Beach/ Seaside.

(Yachats is just a bit too far to go from PDX with that timeframe, and the coast from Tillamook up to Astoria is just as nice (especially places like Manzanita).

Return to PDX via 26 to view their sites (maybe even get in the waterfalls) before heading out.


...and do avoid the Aug 21 time with all those heading to my neck of Oregon, it's expected to be crazy (extra few hundred thousand in central OR ). Glad I just have to go to my back deck for it

[Watty]

Do a search on this forum for some recent queries similar to yours. You will find a wealth of info ... before others start chiming in.

+1, there have been a number of good recent thread on this.

Take warm clothes for the Oregon coast, it can be in the 60's on the beach even when it is in the 80's ten miles inland.

[Super Hans]

No votes for Crater Lake here? That was the highlight of my one trip to Oregon.

[climber2020]

No votes for Crater Lake here? That was the highlight of my one trip to Oregon.

Crater Lake is way out of the way from both Portland and the coast. For someone wanting to maximize time by the ocean, adding this destination would add quite a bit of driving time to an already constrained schedule.

[Chadnudj]

I definitely loved Crater Lake, so another vote for it (particularly if you have a lot of time to hike/enjoy hiking).

I'd also definitely drive the Columbia River Gorge with plenty of time to stop and hike the waterfalls along the way -- simply gorgeous scenery, and Hood River at the east end of it is a pretty nice town to grab food/walk around. We weren't sure we were going to do it, but I'm definitely glad we did -- arguably the highlight of the whole trip for me.

[TBillT]

We want to do Crater Lake.
We did 1-day (actually half a day) in Portland and drove down the Columbia River Gorge to see Mt Hood
There was lots of waterfalls to see see and we drove over the Bridge of the Gods on the way to Seattle

[advice789]

The wineries will be fun with Newnpberg as a base. As for the Columbia gorge, perhaps a day of salmon or sturgeon fishing. There are prime months in the summer and great views from the boat.

[JupiterJones]

My wife and I took a similar trip a couple of years ago. Here was our itinerary, which might give you some ideas for your own trip:

• Flew into PDX. Picked up rental car and drove a short distance to the McMenamin's Kennedy School Hotel--a former elementary school that has been converted into a boutique hotel with many bars/pubs, a restaurant, a movie theater, etc. You actually sleep in a classroom, complete with chalkboard still on the wall! A highly recommended Portland experience.
• That evening we wandered around the nearby Alberta St. district. Lots of shops and restaurants (we ate at a good Thai place).
• Next morning we drove up to Astoria. Wandered around the charming town a bit. Had lunch at a place with a nice view of the Columbia.
• Stopped to check out nearby Fort Clatsop (Lewis & Clark). Did a brief hike down one of the trails.
• Continued on to Cannon Beach for the night--a town I learned about here on Bogleheads! We stayed at the marvelous Ocean Lodge, but there are plenty of other options, depending on how deluxe or budget you want to go. Excellent dinner at the Irish Table.
• Continued down the 101 the next morning, taking in the stunning views along the way. Stopped in Tillamook for the cheese factory tour. (Verdict? Not essential, but worth doing if you're in the area.)
• Lunch in Lincoln City at another McMenamin's, then backtracked a bit to take 18 on into wine country. Stopped at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, notable for having the actual Spruce Goose (an extra fee to see more of, but the basic admission gets you in part of it).
• Another bit of a splurge for lodging the next couple nights at the Black Walnut Inn. Totally worth it! The Hotel Oregon in McMinnville (also a McMenamin's property... these guys are everywhere!) looked like it would've made a good choice too.
• Full day of winery visits (learn to spit if you want to survive this sort of thing!) Quick lunch at the Red Hills Market in Dundee, then a top-notch dinner later at the Dundee Bistro.
• I think we did another winery stop or two the next morning, then lunch again at Red Hills Market because we just really liked that place. Then we drove back up to Portland, essentially completing a big circle.
• Our base in Portland was at the funky/hip, reasonably-priced Inn at Northrup Station. Free parking, and right on the streetcar line too, but also close enough to downtown that you can just walk if you want.
• Remainder of trip was packed with all the usual great Portland stuff that crops up in threads here:
  • Beer, coffee (Stumptown!), donuts, craft cocktails in retro settings (Pepe le Moko! The Driftwood Room!), beer, tiki drinks (The Alibi! Hale Pele!), beer...
  • All sorts of great restaurants. Tough to go wrong, I'd imagine.
  • Powell's City of Books, of course
  • Walking the waterfront. Saturday Market.
  • Japanese Gardens. Highly recommended, as are the Rose Test gardens next door.
  • Day trip out the Multnomah Falls. The tough hike to the top will reward you with fantastic views.

The trip turned out just about perfect. I might've been nice to have spent another night on the coast, but that's probably the only tweak I'd make.

Another alternative, which I did as a solo trip years ago, is to skip the northern coast and instead drive directly to Lincoln City or Newport from Portland and pick up the 101 there. Drive down the coast and stop in, say, Bandon for the night. Then cut back into the state and stay in Ashland for a bit, maybe catching some of the Shakespeare festival. You could probably do Crater Lake at this point too. Drive back up I-5 to finish up in Portland as above.

Hope that helps!

[2015]

My wife and I considering a 7-day trip to Oregon later this summer. Our initial thoughts are to fly into Portland, stay a day or two to see the city, and then to stop at a few wineries on the way to the coast. We would also like to do a little hiking while we are there.

Our itinerary might be a little too ambitious and thus would value any of the Boglehead's recommendations.

Our May trip to Italy was wonderful, thanks largely to the thoughts posted on this board

I just got back from a marvelous Amtrak trip to/from PDX in May. I'm not one of these frantic bucket list gotta-see-it-all/will be crazed if I miss one little thing type people, so YMMV (I've never understood why people take vacations only to duplicate their busy lives by getting caught up in the cacophony and histrionics of rushing around to see this and see that).

In a week's time, I simply used the Portland metro system to get a great feel relaxing of the city. I took each one of their metro lines (red, green, orange, yellow) to the end of each line and back. I next took the A loop streetcar line and then the B loop streetcar lines around the city. Completing this took a few days and I was able to see much of Portland while mixing with the locals at the same time. To me, it was an amazing experience. The three favorite things I recall most were (a) sitting outside Revolucion coffee house drinking a Mocha while watching the world go by, (b) eating lunch out at the waterfront while again watching the world go by, and (c) getting back into a beautifully lit downtown as night fell with the haunting sound of a street violinist filling the air. Magical.

[GerryL]

Interesting how some of the recommendations contain clues that the writer is not from Oregon (aside from the fact that they "flew into PDX").

Examples:
[JupiterJones ]

Another alternative, which I did as a solo trip years ago, is to skip the northern coast and instead drive directly to Lincoln City or Newport from Portland and pick up the 101 there. Drive down the coast and stop in, say, Bandon for the night. Then cut back into the state and stay in Ashland for a bit, maybe catching some of the Shakespeare festival. You could probably do Crater Lake at this point too. Drive back up I-5 to finish up in Portland as above.

No one here says "the 101." It's just "one-oh-one." Great drive. May be crowded in spots, especially in summer, but it's where I have spent much of my vacation time since moving here 27 years ago. (Just got back from a trip up 101 a couple of weeks ago.)

[2015]

I simply used the Portland metro system to get a great feel relaxing of the city. I took each one of their metro lines (red, green, orange, yellow) to the end of each line and back.

We call it MAX or maybe lightrail. And yes, our lightrail (aka MAX) is differentiated from the streetcar. And I second the idea of touring Portland by mass transit. One ticket is good for MAX, buses or streetcar, but don't start on the streetcar, because those ticket machines disperse a different kind of ticket. $5 will get you an all-day ticket (half of that if you are 65 or older).

And, BTW, the river that divides Portland in half is called the Will-AM-ette -- emphasis on the middle syllable.

[Nestegg_User]

Gerry

Remember "it's the Willamette damn it".

... and those of us living in the dry part of Oregon don't always use the terminology that the "city folk" use (moved out here for retirement... and no, not from Cali)

[pnwlazy]

If you want great wine - Dundee and Yamhill areas - you can take 99W through wine country and continue on down to Pacific City / Lincoln city areas.

Then drive north up the coast to Canon Beach area to take 26 back to the portland area.

There are a ton of activities on the columbia in the summer time - kayaking, boat tours, speed boat adventure trips, fishing, etc.

Spend a day going up to the Gorge - do some parasailing .. Spend a day going up towards mount hood - lots of hiking in that general area.

What are your favorite type of wines?

[JupiterJones]

No one here says "the 101." It's just "one-oh-one."

Actually, when I pronounce it I call it "the five" because I just assume it's in binary.

[2015]

Interesting how some of the recommendations contain clues that the writer is not from Oregon (aside from the fact that they "flew into PDX").

Examples:
[JupiterJones ]

Another alternative, which I did as a solo trip years ago, is to skip the northern coast and instead drive directly to Lincoln City or Newport from Portland and pick up the 101 there. Drive down the coast and stop in, say, Bandon for the night. Then cut back into the state and stay in Ashland for a bit, maybe catching some of the Shakespeare festival. You could probably do Crater Lake at this point too. Drive back up I-5 to finish up in Portland as above.

No one here says "the 101." It's just "one-oh-one." Great drive. May be crowded in spots, especially in summer, but it's where I have spent much of my vacation time since moving here 27 years ago. (Just got back from a trip up 101 a couple of weeks ago.)

[2015]

I simply used the Portland metro system to get a great feel relaxing of the city. I took each one of their metro lines (red, green, orange, yellow) to the end of each line and back.

We call it MAX or maybe lightrail. And yes, our lightrail (aka MAX) is differentiated from the streetcar. And I second the idea of touring Portland by mass transit. One ticket is good for MAX, buses or streetcar, but don't start on the streetcar, because those ticket machines disperse a different kind of ticket. $5 will get you an all-day ticket (half of that if you are 65 or older).

And, BTW, the river that divides Portland in half is called the Will-AM-ette -- emphasis on the middle syllable.

Yes, I have videos of that river, and the bridges as well. And the MAX--Metropolitan Area Express--is what I started on, and used that that all-day ticket on the days when taking the streetcars. I didn't bother with the buses because the MAX and streetcars were enough for me to get a reall feel for the city and outlying areas. It was particularly fun taking the taking the streetcars through the Eastside Industrial, Lloyd, and Rose Garden districts and seeing all of the old buildings. I recall getting off over there and sitting out having a Mocha at this great coffeehouse while watching the streetcars go by--totally relaxing!

Another thing I enjoyed was working out at 24 hour fitness, because it felt cool to be working out with the locals. About the worst thing I did was get dragged around Washington Park the first day by a friend looking for the Rose Garden. Fortunately, he went on to Seattle the second day leaving me to leisurely soak in Portland on my own.

[MichaelRpdx]

You may want to take the August 21 eclipse into account. I know many people are traveling to Oregon the preceding weekend and you may run into higher prices/hard to find rooms.

if you can find rooms or open roads.

[MichaelRpdx]

My wife and I considering a 7-day trip to Oregon later this summer. Our initial thoughts are to fly into Portland, stay a day or two to see the city, and then to stop at a few wineries on the way to the coast. We would also like to do a little hiking while we are there.

What are your interests?
What do you normally do while traveling?
Without knowing those all we can do is project with our own ideas of a good time.

[itstoomuch]

Where are you coming from and your interests?

[LeeInTN]

We did this in August and loved it. Flee Portland and head west. We made the counterclockwise loop and saw/hiked lots of coastal spots for a couple of days, east to Crater Lake for a day, north to Bend for a day, up to Mt Hood and then to the Columbia River for visits to the waterfalls and the fish ladders en route back to Portland for departure. Wonderful stops along the way on each leg of our journey. Check out a hard-to-reach spot called Lost Lake on the north side of Mt Hood. We'd do this trip again!