I’ve only been to Oregon once, but that was enough for me to explain why you need to add these 11 places to your bucket list.

I should also inform you that I will be returning to Oregon because there is SO much more to explore.

And for my own sake, this is my first travel-related blog (and I like to make note of these things so that I can look back on it down the road.)

If you’ve never been to Oregon before, this will be a perfect place for you to start. 

Or maybe you have traveled to the PNW but haven’t been to these places.

But for now, I’m going to focus specifically on the Oregon coast…and a little bit of Portland.

Portland

Portland was our first destination during our trip – we flew on Alaska Air from Los Angeles to Portland. Upon arrival, we picked up our rental car and drove to the hotel.

The hotel we stayed in was called The Nines Luxury Collection by Marriott. It was a gorgeous hotel tucked in the city, and had an amazing view of Portland from the rooftop bar!

Sadly we were only there for one night as we had to leave for the coast, but we stayed in their Superior Room that happened to be on the corner, so we had lots of windows with sprawling views of the city.

We had a very nice breakfast in the exclusive club lounge that is available for ambassador elite members.

While we were in Portland, I was told that I had to visit Powell’s Books. It is the world’s largest independent bookstore and has 9 color-coded rooms to help you find what you’re looking for. 

I haven’t been much of a reader in recent years, but being in this bookstore sparked so much curiosity and inspiration!

I ended up grabbing a few books as gifts for family members and we walked around for a while just exploring. It would probably take me weeks to make it around to every section of the store – that’s how large it is.

After all that exploring, it was time to grab some dinner.

One thing I’ve heard about is the increasing popularity of food halls. And no, I’m not talking about the cafeteria at summer camp. I’m talking about a building filled with 8 different mini restaurants inside. 

Kind of like a food court at a mall, but more intimate and better food.

This was my first time experiencing Pine Street Market, and I have to say it was a cool experience. Since we were meeting up with other people, it really made it easy for everyone to settle on this.

Traveling in large-ish groups of people can be stressful especially when trying to decide what everyone wants for dinner, so having multiple options that everyone can choose from really takes the stress out of planning.

This is also great if you’re just looking for some great comfort food with a couple of friends.

In case you are wondering, I decided to go with ramen while everyone else chose burgers and pizza and such. Even though we all chose something different, we were all able to sit around the table together.

After dinner, our group decided to go to a barcade (bar & arcade) called Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade. It was within walking distance of our hotel and it had kind of a techy vibe to it. It was also 21+ and ID required after 5PM.

The following day we met up with some family members and went to Zell’s Cafe for brunch. It was actually pretty crowded there so we had to wait a little bit, but the wait was worth it.

During our wait, we walked over to check out a gay bar called Crush. While it was still early on in the day and there wasn’t anyone else there, they were open and we decided to sit down and have a drink.

By the time we were done, it was time for brunch!

Driving To The Coast

Our drive from Portland to the coast was only about 2 hours and it wasn’t too bad. Although I’m pretty sure I slept for most of it!

Let me start by saying that there is SO much to see on the Oregon coast! We only discovered such a small fraction, which I’ll be sharing with you here. 

Also, having a rental car is definitely convenient…normally I would try to avoid having to deal with a car, but it’s so nice to be able to drive along the coast or go wherever you want to go. 

Depoe Bay, Oregon

Upon our arrival to Depoe Bay (which is apparently the world’s smallest harbor!), it was such a cute little town with lots of local shops and restaurants. We told ourselves we had to visit one of the local restaurants, and I’ll share more on that later.

We stayed at a very small but beautiful hotel called Whale Cove Inn. There are only about 15 rooms, but they’re very large suites with an amazing view of the cove!

When we first arrived at the hotel, the concierge showed us around the hotel as well as the amenities in our suite. All the staff we encountered during our stay was truly exceptional!

Our suite was on the third floor which is the top floor and had stunning 180 degree views of whale cove. 

In fact, we were even greeted by a pair of whales! 

The suite included a great sized seating area with a dining table, bar, gas fireplace, TV, King size bed, and a huge shower.

But the greatest part was the deck with the giant jacuzzi tub.

Our trip was taken in October which truly felt like the best time to go. During the day the temperature would average 60 degrees, and the air felt so cool and refreshing.

At night, it would get cold – probably in the low 40’s. But that’s what made the tub so amazing!

It was great to lay there and look at the stars and just enjoy the view. Normally I would only be able to sit in a hot tub for 15 minutes or less, but it ended up being a solid hour before I got out. That’s how enjoyable it was.

Since we arrived in the evening, it was time to get dinner.

We visited one of the local bar/restaurants called Gracie’s Sea Hag. It was a small but warm and inviting place to enjoy some good food and drinks. One of the nights we were there they had live music as well.

While our trip was only a few days long, we actually ended up going to this place for dinner twice.

But anyways, so the next day we made several stops along our drive down the coast. One of the first stops was actually just around the corner from the hotel.

Rocky Creek State Park was the name of the first scenic viewpoint. 

The next stop we made was to Otter Rock, which features the widely known Devil’s Punchbowl. 

It’s basically a natural rock formation that fills with water as the ocean tides rise and lower. Definitely a great spot to take photos!

While it’s a cool spot to explore, it can also be very dangerous due to the tide rising. Be very careful when exploring this area.

There are a couple of cute little shops and cafe’s here, as well as a winery called Flying Dutchman that we popped into. They were offering a tasting and we ended up leaving with a bottle of wine local to Oregon. Yay for supporting small business!

By this time, it was time for some lunch. We made our way down to Newport, OR which is also along the coast. We stopped for lunch at a place called Clearwater Restaurant. 

We sat outside, and to our surprise, there were a bunch of sunbathing seals! 

I decided to go for the lobster mac & cheese appetizer and fish tacos – which were both an excellent choice.

After lunch, we ventured back up toward Depoe Bay. We made another stop along the way at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. 

This spot was also an amazing place to walk around and take pictures. There was even a hiking trail up through a hill if you wanted to do that, or there were lots of steps down to cobble beach.

This beach was so awesome as there was no sand, but little stones. The water sifting through the stones was such a unique sound, and even just walking across the stones sounded funny.

One thing we didn’t make it around to was hiking trails/mountains. If our trip were longer, we would have visited some of the most iconic hiking trails and national parks. 

Oh well, we’ll just have to come back and go hiking next time!

Wrapping Up

I’m hoping that this can serve as a way of sharing my experience in addition to being a guide for others to check out. 

If you have the Oregon coast on your bucket list, all of these places are a must-see. 

And if you have more time on your trip, venture out and explore more!

This is the perfect place for landscape photographers to get amazing photos of the coastline with the cliffs and trees as well.

Oregon is actually still on my bucket list since I’ve only scratched the surface.

I will absolutely be returning for more exploring, great food, amazing views, and a chance to take my DSLR camera up to the PNW!

Share in the comments below – Have you been to Oregon? What are some of your favorite spots to visit?