Seattle or Oregon Coast

[skidunks]

DH and I are hoping to take a kid-free trip to Seattle or the Oregon coast in July. I’ve never been there and he’s only been for work. If anyone here has suggestions of where to go, where to stay and what to do I would SO appreciate it!

[imojoebunny]

We spent 5 weeks mostly in Oregon and Washington State last summer. I would do Cannon Beach over any of the other places we went, other than possibly Bend, OR. Cannon Beach is awesome, complete with rain forest hikes, and wild domestic bunnies that hop everywhere, cowboys and fires on the beach, and a nice town, with good restaurants, Pie Girl, art galleries. Such a beautiful and unique area. The Stephanie Inn looks awesome. We stayed in a house next to it.

[redheadk]

We are going to Oregon in July! We can only carve out a week to go so we are splitting time between Hood River and Cannon Beach.

We went to Seattle & Whidbey Island in 2019. It was a great trip. I can't compare it to Oregon but I highly recommend it.

[mrsjrd23]

The Oregon coast is beautiful. Cannon Beach is my favorite and where we got engaged. However, you need to book lodging asap - most places will be booked. And will require a minimum stay.

If you're there for a few days, you could easily spend some time just driving the coast and stopping wherever you want. The beaches in Oregon are all public land which is awesome.

[atlas]

Everyone loves the northern coast (Cannon, Seaside, Tillamook) but for me they are just a bit too busy, kitschy, but the Tillamook factory is a favorite) I mean the beaches are beautiful but I much prefer the towns in the central coast. Florence, Yachats, Waldport, Newport. I live in Bend so it is easy to get to the central coast but I also just love the laid back vibe in those areas.

[macmars45]

Pacific City, OR and Bandon, OR are my favorite tiny towns with great beaches and relaxed feel.

Seattle is fun. If you go and like BBQ food BBQ Pete's in Kent is worth the drive. I promise.

[robot]

Apr 2, 2022 8:18:38 GMT -5 atlas said:

Everyone loves the northern coast (Cannon, Seaside, Tillamook) but for me they are just a bit too busy, kitschy, but the Tillamook factory is a favorite) I mean the beaches are beautiful but I much prefer the towns in the central coast. Florence, Yachats, Waldport, Newport. I live in Bend so it is easy to get to the central coast but I also just love the laid back vibe in those areas.

I agree with this (although, you can't *really* go wrong - all of these locations are lovely in different ways).  I love the Depot Bay area - which is close to Newport as well for more restaurants and exploring, the aquarium, etc.

[darby]

I live in Washington & unless you’re looking for a city vacation, I would choose Cannon Beach and/or Hood River, OR. If you have time to do both, maybe stop for a night in the Willamette Valley to do some wine tasting in between. If you choose Seattle, do a couple nights there and then go up to the San Juan Islands, which are really lovely.

[quesyrah]

Apr 2, 2022 9:46:49 GMT -5 macmars45 said:

Pacific City, OR and Bandon, OR are my favorite tiny towns with great beaches and relaxed feel.

Seattle is fun. If you go and like BBQ food BBQ Pete's in Kent is worth the drive. I promise.

Bandon is one of our favorite places. The beach is just so beautiful and peaceful.

[wanderlustmom]

I love Seattle and Bainbridge Island and I want to go back and spend a week on the San Juan Islands. I agree that Cannon Beach is beautiful and I want to go to Bend

[KellyEasterbrook]

Apr 2, 2022 8:18:38 GMT -5 atlas said:

Everyone loves the northern coast (Cannon, Seaside, Tillamook) but for me they are just a bit too busy, kitschy, but the Tillamook factory is a favorite) I mean the beaches are beautiful but I much prefer the towns in the central coast. Florence, Yachats, Waldport, Newport. I live in Bend so it is easy to get to the central coast but I also just love the laid back vibe in those areas.

Hi neighbor!

Another person here in Bend who prefers the southern coast with less people. However, I’ve never even visited the northern coast because everyone tells me it can be crowded.

[oregonpachey]

Lincoln City is our favorite place to stay on the Oregon Coast. There are a million choices for lodging but we like the historic Taft section on the bay. You could get a condo on the bay and see the seals and all kinds of birds. Lincoln City is within driving distance of Depoe Bay and Newport. The Yaquina lighthouse is there and it's lovely. Newport also has the Oregon Coast Aquarium which is nice.

[dragon's breath]

If you hit the southern Oregon coast, stop by Cranberry Sweets (Bandon, and, I believe Coos Bay, both have shops). Not sure if things are back to normal enough that you can just wander around the shop and sample pretty much everything, but it's fun, and the candies are really good (they are famous for their "wine jellies").

I've always liked wandering around Newport's old bay area, but haven't been there in a few years. Pacific City is pretty, but so many people! We've stayed in a Yurt in Astoria and just spent a few days with a campfire, but burn bans are always possible that time of year.

The Oregon coast is always a bit on the chilly side, so always have layers.

Someone else mentioned Hood River, and I'd say one place to eat there would be The Mesquitery. Ixtapa used to have really good Mexican lunch deals, but haven't been there in years either. For pubs, there is Big Horse, Full Sail, Double Mountain, and pFriem, but they're probably all good. The downtown area is very walkable, though I guess it's hilly. The old highway is going to require permits to drive it this year, so be aware of that if you want to see the waterfall area along the gorge. If you cross the river at Cascade Locks, there is another pub nearby called Walking Man. Spent a few times just hanging out with some people there-- they had really good fries. I'm not much of a drinker, but but most of the pubs are also breweries, so you can try some of the small, local beers.

Hood River can get pretty hot in the summer, so be prepared for that.

[sillygoosegirl]

Don't forget to bring your winter coat if you come to the Oregon Coast. Even in July. I just say that so you have realistic expectations.

[ellipses84]

I’ve lived in both states. That’s such a hard decision! I think I might lean towards romantic getaway in Seattle and the surrounding islands/ peninsula and taking the kids to OR / Cannon Beach in the future. Both can be great for either, but I feel like with Seattle there’s more travel logistics involved and you’d get some city time and more variety of small towns/ nature. I’m also probably biased since we’d always vacation and camp on the OR coast instead of WA when I was a kid. If you want to relax more and want to be at the open Ocean, pick Cannon Beach. My DH who is from the Midwest LOVED going to Cannon Beach for the first time. Goonies and Point Break were filmed there which are a couple of his fav. old movies.

[flex]

When in July will you be visiting? Bear in mind the World Athletic Championships will be held in Eugene OR July 15-24. Thousands and thousands of coaches, athletes, press, etc., etc. from around the planet will be attending. Hotels and AirBnB's are booked out, EVEN along the Oregon Coast, to help with the overflow of visitors. So if you do plan on going to the Oregon Coast, be sure to do your research on housing.

[basilosaurus]

My FIL lived in Seaside for decades, so I've been a few times, but never during the 3 weeks of summer. We almost always ate at the Shilo Inn since his long term girlfriend was a waitress there forever. It's right on the beach, so we never stayed there (out of our budget at the time), but I understand it's a decent place to stay.

GMIL lived in Lincoln city for many years, but I only visited once and stayed in her little apt. It's beautiful.

Seattle is a very different vacation. The city has so much to do. The coast is pretty sleepy. Both are great, just very different.

[jg183]

Cannon Beach is definitely the most popular in oregon. For Washington the San Juan Islands are great or Bainbridge or Whidbey Island

[trissie18]

We visited Oregon last year for our family vacation. We spent four nights in a beach house on the coast and it was the absolute best part of the vacation. We all still talk about how beautiful, relaxing, and fun it was. It's on our list to go back.

ETA - we stayed in Waldport.

[woot16]

Apr 1, 2022 21:07:21 GMT -5 skidunks said:

DH and I are hoping to take a kid-free trip to Seattle or the Oregon coast in July. I’ve never been there and he’s only been for work. If anyone here has suggestions of where to go, where to stay and what to do I would SO appreciate it!

We just returned from a Spring Break trip earlier this Spring. We had our kids (5&7) with us but definitely would go back as an adults only trip too. We were there a week and split our time with the first part at Suncadia Resort in CLE Elum and the second part in Seattle. We had a blast but highlights included the whale watching tour with Puget Sound Express and seeing a pod of killer whales. We also really enjoyed MOPOP and our time at Suncadia.