Coast Road Trips
Before the cruise ports and long after the gangway, there is the open road. Coast Road Trips is our growing library of Pacific Coast travel guides — where to stop, what to see, where to eat and stay, and how to build a coastal itinerary the whole family will remember. Browse by what you love below.
Coastal Activities
The best things to do along the coast — tide pools, trails, wildlife watching, and water adventures.
Plan Your Coastal Trip
Everything you need to map out the trip — itineraries, where to eat, and where to stay.
Coastal Living
Life by the water — coastal home style, local creativity, and the little things that make the coast home.
Want help planning your coastal road trip?
As a Cruise Brothers travel agent I help families plan Pacific Coast road trips and cruises alike — and my planning services cost you nothing extra.
Tours & Day Trips Along the Coast
Break up the drive with a guided tour or excursion — whale watching, lighthouses, dune rides, and coastal hikes.
Planning the Perfect Oregon Coast Road Trip
The classic Oregon Coast road trip follows Highway 101 for about 360 miles from Astoria in the north to Brookings near the California border. You can drive it in a long weekend, but three to five days lets you actually stop and enjoy it. Heading north to south keeps you in the lane closest to the ocean, with easier pull-offs at the viewpoints — though driving it either direction is worth every mile.
The northern coast is packed with icons. Astoria has its riverfront and the Astoria Column; Cannon Beach is home to the famous Haystack Rock and its tide pools; and the stretch through Oswald West State Park and Neahkahnie Mountain delivers dramatic ocean views. Tillamook is worth a stop for cheese and ice cream, and Pacific City’s Cape Kiwanda is a favorite for its towering dune and the dory fleet that launches right off the beach.
As you head south, the central coast around Newport, Yachats, and Florence mixes lighthouses, tide pools, and the tallest coastal sand dunes in North America. Don’t miss Cape Perpetua’s Thor’s Well and Devil’s Churn, the Heceta Head Lighthouse, and the Oregon Dunes. The southern coast — Bandon, Port Orford, and the Samuel H. Boardman corridor near Brookings — is quieter, wilder, and arguably the most beautiful, with sea stacks and hidden beaches around nearly every bend.
For weather, summer and early fall bring the clearest skies, but the coast is beautiful year-round if you pack layers and a rain jacket. Book lodging ahead for summer weekends, fill up on gas in the larger towns, and build in extra time — the best moments on an Oregon Coast road trip are usually the unplanned pull-offs. Traveling with kids or want a slower pace? Focus on one or two regions rather than the whole coast. As an Oregon Coast local, I’m happy to help you map out an itinerary that fits your interests — just reach out and we’ll plan it together.
Whether you’re planning your first Oregon Coast road trip or your tenth, a little local insight goes a long way — knowing which viewpoints are worth the stop, where to eat, and how to time the tides for the best beach walks. If you’d like a hand shaping your route, book a free planning call and we’ll build an itinerary around what you love most about the coast.
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