Planning a Van to Portland Area Road Trip

My Mom %26amp; I are planning a 3-4 day road trip in early May, starting in Vancouver, BC. We would like to see the city of Portland %26amp; the coast but would this be too much for such a short trip? Is the driving as treacherous as we%26#39;ve heard? What would be the safest/shortest loop back to Vancouver without missing out on too much? Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Planning a Van to Portland Area Road Trip

Seems to me you%26#39;d be burning up almost two days in driving and customs, RT, and have two days to sight see, and that would involve more driving if you go to the coast.

Treacherous? In what way?

Odd way to use this term unless one is talking about, say, certain mountain roads.

However, if you don%26#39;t mind a very early start toward Portland, I%26#39;d do your trip as planned, with Cannon Beach and environs as a coastal target. For this, you%26#39;d need to make reservations soon.

Planning a Van to Portland Area Road Trip

Well, I%26#39;m used to the drive from here to Seattle. I do it all the time for one-day shopping trips. Even with customs, etc. I figure if I leave early, I can make it to Portland by mid-afternoon? Then we%26#39;d probably like to spend 3 nights in total.

I%26#39;ve heard of the coast my whole life %26amp; thought I%26#39;d try %26amp; see it during this trip. I did want to include Portland because I%26#39;ve never been %26amp; I hear the outlet shopping is worth the trip. Maybe it%26#39;s better to just pick either city or the coast and forget about doing both?

Treacherous is how my gf described driving the coast highway (she doesn%26#39;t have as much driving experience as me though) and my Mom came across a website that scared her away from driving in Portland. (I%26#39;m sure the same could be said for Vancouver driving but I am used to it)

A toss-up. I%26#39;d say, if the weather were good, I%26#39;d head for the coast. It is absolutely beautiful.

Otherwise, I%26#39;d start (or end) your trip with Portland. But once on the coast, you probably won%26#39;t want to leave. A dilemma. :)

Yes, I agree that you can make it to Portland by mid-afternoon. I%26#39;d plan your trip to leave quite early from Vancouver so you could miss both the Seattle and Portland rush hour traffic. Now THAT is treacherous!

The coast road is quite good, nothing treacherous about it. Just common sense driving what is, for the most part, a two lane, but very good, road.

A road with many pull-outs for viewpoints and state parks, and for good reason, as the scenery is terrific and you won%26#39;t be disappointed.

If you go to and focus on CB, you won%26#39;t be on it very much, anyway, unless you head south, which I would recommend, at least as far as you are comfortable - see website, following.

The road from Portland to Seaside/Cannon Beach is quite good, and at the end you bear left to CB. There, good restaurants, galleries, a very nice walking village... Haystack Rock in front of you. Do go to Ecola State Park, evocative of a coastline that you will only taste, a good taste, however, in CB.

You might want to visit Seaside, a few miles north of CB.

Oregon Coast

www.visittheoregoncoast.com

Someday, you%26#39;ll have the time to drive that road all the way to northern CA and the Redwoods.

But that%26#39;s for another time.

Thanks for your help=)

So, it could be possible to do both in one trip?

Treacherous? No. If you have managed to drive around Seattle, you%26#39;ll do fine in Portland. It is not that big a city. Do bring a map! Same for the coastal roads.

If you really want shopping in Oregon, there are outlets in Woodburn south of Portland on I-5 and in Lincoln City. If you like to shop in little shops, Astoria is fun.

With three days, you will need to have a definite itinerary as you don%26#39;t have long. You can do a straight shot back to BC in about 6 hours from Portland, if it isn%26#39;t rush hour. At Seattle, you might consider going on I-405 around the city as there are some construction delays going northbound on I-5 in Northgate mall area.

You could go to Astoria on day one, from Longview WA (look on the map), then travel down the coast to Lincoln City in 1 or 2 days, then cross back to I-5 at Salem and north to Portland for a day.

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