The Best Places to Visit in Oregon
A food-loving city, a waterfall gorge, a public coastline, high desert and a volcano lake.
See things to do »Oregon in Six Regions
Ask people for the best places to visit in Oregon and you will hear about very different landscapes. Portland is a city of bridges, gardens, bookshops and food carts on the Willamette River. A half hour east, the Columbia River Gorge cuts through the Cascade Range with dozens of waterfalls pouring off its cliffs. The coast runs for 363 miles of headlands, sea stacks and fishing towns, and since a 1967 law its beaches have been open to everyone. Over the mountains, Bend and Central Oregon sit in sunny high desert country, and in the south, Crater Lake fills the collapsed top of an ancient volcano.
The Willamette Valley, between Portland and Eugene, is the heart of Oregon wine country and best known for pinot noir, with tasting rooms in the Dundee Hills and around McMinnville. It also has farms, covered bridges, the state capital in Salem and Silver Falls State Park, where a single trail passes ten waterfalls. Southern Oregon adds the Rogue River, the theater town of Ashland and the marble passages of the Oregon Caves.
Oregon rewards a road trip. Interstate 5 runs up the valley from California to Portland, Highway 101 follows the whole coast, and Highway 97 links Bend with Crater Lake on the east side of the Cascades. A loop from Portland through the Gorge and Mount Hood to Bend, south to Crater Lake, and back up the coast covers the state's greatest hits in about ten days. Summer is the dry, warm season almost everywhere; the coast is cool year round, and the mountains get heavy snow in winter, when some roads, including most of the Crater Lake rim, close.
If you are wondering what makes the best places to visit in Oregon so appealing, it is partly that they are uncrowded by West Coast standards. You can stand on a beach or a waterfall trail on a weekday and have it nearly to yourself, then eat very well in a small town that night. This guide breaks the state into six regions, each with its own page of highlights and top-rated tours and tickets, plus pages for dining and annual festivals.
Neighbors are close: Seattle is three hours north of Portland, covered by our sister guide Best of Seattle-Tacoma, and Northern California is a day's drive south on Best of NoCal. When you are ready to plan, ask for free trip quotes, or join our free travel newsletter for deals and ideas.
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Top-Rated Things to Do in Oregon
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Where to Eat in Oregon
Oregon eats well and casually. Portland is known for food carts, coffee, doughnuts and some of the country's most original restaurants, the coast serves chowder and fish and chips by the harbor, Hood River and Bend are brewery towns, and Willamette Valley wine country pairs pinot noir with farm cooking.
Festivals and Events in Oregon
Oregon's festival year runs from the Portland Winter Light Festival and Newport's Seafood and Wine Festival in February to tulip season in spring, the Portland Rose Festival in June, the Waterfront Blues Festival and the International Pinot Noir Celebration in July, the Oregon State Fair and the Pendleton Round-Up in late summer, and the Christmas Ships on Portland's rivers in December. Ashland's Shakespeare Festival runs through much of the year.
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Oregon — FAQ
What are the best places to visit in Oregon for a first trip?
Portland, the Columbia River Gorge and Multnomah Falls, Cannon Beach and the north coast, Bend and Smith Rock, the Willamette Valley wine country and Crater Lake National Park. With a week you can see four or five of them.
When is the best time to visit Oregon?
July through September is the driest and warmest time across the state and the only reliable season for Crater Lake's rim road. Spring is the best season for waterfalls, and fall brings harvest in wine country. Winter is rainy west of the Cascades and snowy in the mountains.
Are Oregon beaches public?
Yes. Oregon's 1967 Beach Bill keeps the dry sand and wet sand open to the public along the whole coast, so you can walk the beaches freely, though access across private land above the beach is not guaranteed.
How many days do you need in Oregon?
A long weekend covers Portland and the Gorge. A week adds the coast or Bend, and ten days to two weeks lets you make a full loop that includes Crater Lake and the Willamette Valley.
Can I take a river cruise in Oregon?
Yes. Riverboat cruises sail the Columbia and Snake rivers from Portland and Astoria through the Gorge into eastern Oregon and Washington. Our Columbia River cruise sites, linked on the Gorge page, explain the routes and lines.