Bend or Oregon Coast for family vacation? (Portland, Astoria: 2013, rentals)

[turquoise1]

Hi. So we wanted to take a little weekend break from PDX. Do any of you have recommendations for a weekend trip in either Bend or somewhere on the Oregon Coast? Is either location preferable?

[SETabor]

I'd go to the beach but it depends on what you want to do on vacation and how many people you want to be around.

The beach is hanging out at the beach, visiting tourist traps and lots of people. Bend would be fewer people and perhaps some hiking and hanging out at a spa.

If you do end up going to Bend, go south to Lava Butte and the Lava River Caves.

[turquoise1]

thanks!

[carpenterant]

Bend is a three hour drive from Portland. The coast an hour to an hour and a half, at least to get there. You may end up doing more driving along the coast to get to where you want to go. Just thinking in terms of how much of your weekend you want to spend driving.

Are you thinking of camping or staying at a hotel? It can be tough to find a place to stay on the coast on short notice.

And I totally second going to the Lava Tubes and Lava Land if you go to Bend. Also, High Desert Museum while you're down in that area.

The lakes along the Cascades Lakes highway are beautiful this time of year. Right in town in Bend you can float down the river. Bend also has a little bit of nightlife these days if you're into that kind of thing.

The coast will be more about being on the beach. I've also spent days driving along hwy 101 stopping at junk shops and antiques dealers, which can be fun.

[Steve Pickering]

Hot or very cool? Which do you want? Great camping at both. Beach hiking on the coast. Mountain or desert in Bend. Rock Hounding in Bend, Agates on the coast.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by SETabor

If you do end up going to Bend, go south to Lava Butte and the Lava River Caves.

Also stop by Shaniko too. It's out of the way, but in my opinion well worth the trip.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Everybody should do both, and more than once.

My vote, in the middle of summer, would be the coast. You have a chance of catching some excellent weather.

In Bend, there is something to do all year round, so a trip later in the year would be OK. Although in the summer, you can get up to the high lakes.

[turquoise1]

OK - it might be the coast, then.
What are some good towns? I saw that Seaside has an amusement park for the kids...
We are not camping folks so we hope to find some sort of decent lodging.

[Steve Pickering]

Every kind of lodging you could want is on the coast

[pdxMIKEpdx]

During the summer, look to spend upwards of $80.00 a night for a decent motel.
You'll find cheaper, but some of them aren't really places you'd want to stay with kids though.

If you are going to do a longer weekend and have friends to help chip in, renting a beach house for a few days is the way to go.
Especially if you have several kids running around.
You'll find them renting from 100 to 300 bucks a night (or more) depending on house size, location, season, and day of the week.
Google "VRBO"!

You might find some excellent beach house deals in Washington on the Long Beach Peninsula.
You can drive on the beach there too!
There's a ton of beach house rentals there.
Lots of folks have beach houses that they rent out to pay the mortgage.
You could use it as a quiet "base" and realistically cover the whole northern coast.
When you are tired of the touristy stuff, you can go "home" and have a nice quiet dinner and either walk or drive on the nice (wide, flat, and sandy) beaches up there.

By the way, check out Ilwaco and the town of Long Beach!
Long Beach is like a mini seaside, but LBP is also known for cranberry and oyster farming.
Marsh's Free Museum is a fun tourist trap to visit, and there are also go carts, bike and kite rentals, a merry go round, an awesome candy shop along with other touristy shops and cafes to eat in.
Interesting stuff to do and see on the LBP, and it's a short drive across the bridge from Astoria, which is pretty cool to drive across.


Seaside is a good bet with kids, it's a very touristy town with good beaches (you can drive on the beach from Gearhart to Fort Stevens) there is plenty to do and see on the northern Oregon Coast (from Astoria to Tillamook).

If you have kids, have them watch Short Circuit, Kindergarten Cop, and Goonies before you go.
They will have a blast recognizing and visiting locations from those movies.