Honeymooned in Portland and loved it...what's next?
February 15, 2016 7:04 PM Subscribe
My wife and I honeymooned in Portland, OR in 2012 and loved it. We just did the city. We are looking at planning another PNW getaway this year (up to a week) and are wondering what to do/where to go next? We like city stuff (restaurants, culture, walking, breweries, wineries) as well as being in the outdoors and hiking. What would you recommend for us? There are so many good options, we are having a hard time deciding!
Bend, OR has you covered for great beer, food, culture and the outdoors. It's also a thousand times sunnier than Portland.
posted by monotreme at 7:14 PM on February 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by monotreme at 7:14 PM on February 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
It's gotta be PNW? Because that sounds like Portland, Maine too!
posted by ReluctantViking at 7:27 PM on February 15, 2016
posted by ReluctantViking at 7:27 PM on February 15, 2016
Bellingham, Washington. A small university town, with many many restaurants, breweries (including a kambucha brewery and restaurant), coffee roasters/coffee houses, book stores, art movie houses, small edgy theaters, little shops full of Art Stuff everywhere. Hiking up mountains or along the shore, mountain biking or road biking through some of the most gorgeous scenery in the world, skiing and boarding on Mt. Baker. Allow at least one day to walk on a ferry and ride it through the San Juan Islands and back. And allow one other day to drive 20 minutes to the Canadian border and drive into Vancouver, B.C. one of the most sophisticated cities in the world. And also most gorgeous scenery, etc....
Sometimes I miss a Big City, but for a week -- paradise!
posted by kestralwing at 7:34 PM on February 15, 2016
Sometimes I miss a Big City, but for a week -- paradise!
posted by kestralwing at 7:34 PM on February 15, 2016
Astoria, Oregon and the nearby state parks. McMenamins has a hotel in nearby Gearhart.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:41 PM on February 15, 2016
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:41 PM on February 15, 2016
My cousin and his bride went to Hood River for their honeymoon in October and loved it.
posted by infinitewindow at 9:07 PM on February 15, 2016
posted by infinitewindow at 9:07 PM on February 15, 2016
Vancouver, BC has everything you're looking for, plus now is the time to visit with the current exchange rate being so good for Americans.
posted by carolr at 9:24 PM on February 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by carolr at 9:24 PM on February 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
Seconding Bend and Hood River. Bend has a greater variety of things to do, but Hood River is great for a weekend outing.
posted by Giailh at 10:49 PM on February 15, 2016
posted by Giailh at 10:49 PM on February 15, 2016
We've had a great trips where we start and end in Seattle, but in between we hit up Mt. St. Helens, Olympic National Park, Mt. Rainer, Kalaloch Lodge, etc.
posted by Ostara at 11:04 PM on February 15, 2016
posted by Ostara at 11:04 PM on February 15, 2016
Hood River in the Gorge.
posted by stormyteal at 12:18 AM on February 16, 2016
posted by stormyteal at 12:18 AM on February 16, 2016
Any of the San Juan islands would be a great place. Orcas is great for hiking.
posted by OkTwigs at 7:15 AM on February 16, 2016
posted by OkTwigs at 7:15 AM on February 16, 2016
Response by poster: To answer the question, it doesn't have to be PNW!
posted by sgo at 8:12 AM on February 16, 2016
posted by sgo at 8:12 AM on February 16, 2016
We like city stuff (restaurants, culture, walking, breweries, wineries) as well as being in the outdoors and hiking. What would you recommend for us?
I'd recommend that you stop thinking of breweries and the like as being exclusive to cities, and be open to how you could combine outdoors/hiking trips with breweries and wineries. Getting away from a city to the outdoors doesn't mean you can't go to a brewery. And I've never seen a vineyard in a city -- there are some that take visitors.
There are also many good restaurants to be found in smaller places, but you'll have to do more research and plan ahead than you would in a city where you could just walk until you find something interesting.
"Culture" is pretty general, if you want to see opera or something it would be rare to find that outside of a city, but if you like museums you could check out some about the history of the areas you are hiking in.
You could drive the Oregon coast, visit different breweries, and hike.
You could look for hiking near some of these 563 wineries in Oregon or 708 wineries in Washington.
For a week long trip, you can check out more than one place. Bend is nice but personally I wouldn't spend an entire vacation week there unless I wanted to spend most of my time doing summer or winter outdoor activities -- there are plenty of those though.
posted by yohko at 9:16 AM on February 16, 2016
I'd recommend that you stop thinking of breweries and the like as being exclusive to cities, and be open to how you could combine outdoors/hiking trips with breweries and wineries. Getting away from a city to the outdoors doesn't mean you can't go to a brewery. And I've never seen a vineyard in a city -- there are some that take visitors.
There are also many good restaurants to be found in smaller places, but you'll have to do more research and plan ahead than you would in a city where you could just walk until you find something interesting.
"Culture" is pretty general, if you want to see opera or something it would be rare to find that outside of a city, but if you like museums you could check out some about the history of the areas you are hiking in.
You could drive the Oregon coast, visit different breweries, and hike.
You could look for hiking near some of these 563 wineries in Oregon or 708 wineries in Washington.
For a week long trip, you can check out more than one place. Bend is nice but personally I wouldn't spend an entire vacation week there unless I wanted to spend most of my time doing summer or winter outdoor activities -- there are plenty of those though.
posted by yohko at 9:16 AM on February 16, 2016
Used to live in Portland for 6 years and some of the best nature-y memories I've done in/around:
Rent a Yurt outside of Bandon, OR. As it happened, the weekend we did it the town was having it's annual cranberry festival
Rent a Cabin outside of Bend, OR.
Crater Lake is really nice.
Canoeing around Mt. Hood. Also mushroom picking too.
Swimming at Dougan Falls on the Washougal River. There are a lot of other swimming holes along the river. Perfect on 90F+ days.
posted by wcfields at 11:41 AM on February 16, 2016
Rent a Yurt outside of Bandon, OR. As it happened, the weekend we did it the town was having it's annual cranberry festival
Rent a Cabin outside of Bend, OR.
Crater Lake is really nice.
Canoeing around Mt. Hood. Also mushroom picking too.
Swimming at Dougan Falls on the Washougal River. There are a lot of other swimming holes along the river. Perfect on 90F+ days.
posted by wcfields at 11:41 AM on February 16, 2016
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posted by Zedcaster at 7:08 PM on February 15, 2016 [1 favorite]