Highway 101 hugs almost the entire 360-mile length of the Oregon coastline, and a self-drive north to south turns up a different kind of scenery every hour: a Columbia River bar town, a sea stack mobbed with puffins and tide-pool anemones, a working cheese factory, and a headland where sea lions haul out below the road. This 4-day route runs from Astoria to Bandon with three overnight stops, real motels and diners along the way, and no ferry or tour operator required — just a rental car and Highway 101.
Day 1Astoria — Arrival & the Column
Fly into Portland and drive out to the mouth of the Columbia River, where Oregon’s oldest American settlement sits on a hillside of Victorian houses looking out at the bar where the river meets the Pacific.
🚗 Self-Drive: Portland to Astoria
~2 hours, 96 miles via US-30 W
The drive follows the Columbia River nearly the whole way, past Scappoose and Clatskanie, before the highway crosses into Astoria beneath the Astoria-Megler Bridge.
🗽 The Astoria Column
~1 hour · $5 suggested parking donation
A 125-foot column built in 1926 to mark the centennial of the Astor Expedition, with a spiral staircase of 164 steps to an observation deck looking out over the Columbia River mouth, Astoria’s rooftops and the Coast Range.
Astoria Column · astoriacolumn.org
🍻 Dinner: Fort George Brewery + Public House
~1.5 hours · dinner ~$18–$28 USD / person
A brewpub in a converted 1920s garage on Duane Street, brewing since 2007 on the site of Oregon’s first fur-trading post, with a downstairs pub menu of burgers and fish and chips and a wood-fired pizza counter upstairs.
Fort George Brewery · 503-325-7468 · fortgeorgebrewery.com
🛎️ Check-In: Hotel Elliott
From $199 USD / night, for 2 people
A restored 1924 downtown hotel two blocks from the river, with a rooftop terrace, a wine cellar bar and rooms furnished with gas fireplaces and heated bathroom floors.
Hotel Elliott · 503-325-2222 · hotelelliott.com
Day 2Cannon Beach — Haystack Rock & Tide Pools
Drive south to Cannon Beach, Oregon’s most photographed stretch of sand, timed around low tide for the tide pools at the base of Haystack Rock.
🚘 Self-Drive: Astoria to Cannon Beach
~40 minutes, 26 miles via US-101 S
A short run down Highway 101 through Warrenton and Fort Stevens State Park, with the highway cutting inland through Coast Range forest before dropping back to the shore at Cannon Beach.
🐙 Haystack Rock Tide Pools
~2 hours · free — check the tide table for a low tide of 1.5 ft or lower
A 235-foot sea stack just offshore, ringed at low tide by tide pools crowded with purple sea stars, green anemones and hermit crabs; volunteer ‘Rock Guardians’ from the Haystack Rock Awareness Program are usually on the sand to point out what’s visible and keep visitors off the nesting tufted puffins above.
Haystack Rock Awareness Program · haystackrockawareness.com
🍽️ Dinner on Your Own in Cannon Beach
~1.5 hours · dinner ~$25–$40 USD / person
Downtown Cannon Beach’s few walkable blocks hold most of the town’s restaurants and seafood counters within sight of the beach access — easy to pick on the spot depending on the wait.
🏨 Check-In: The Ocean Lodge
From $339 USD / night, for 2 people
A beachfront lodge built in an early-1900s cottage style at the south end of town, with gas fireplaces, ocean-view balconies and a free breakfast spread — booked out for weekends well in advance.
The Ocean Lodge · 503-436-2241 · theoceanlodge.com
Day 3Tillamook & Newport — Cheese to Coast Aquarium
Head south with a stop at Oregon’s best-known cheese factory before pulling into Newport for the Oregon Coast Aquarium and a working fishing-boat harbor.
🧀 Tillamook Creamery
~1 hour · self-guided tour is free
A working cheese factory on Highway 101 that’s made Tillamook cheddar since 1909, with a self-guided viewing gallery over the production floor, free samples and an ice cream counter for the road.
Tillamook Creamery · 503-815-1300 · tillamook.com/visit-us
🚗 Self-Drive: Tillamook to Newport
~1.5 hours, 70 miles via US-101 S
The highway threads between the coast and the Coast Range through Pacific City and Lincoln City, with a string of viewpoint pull-offs above the surf on the final approach to Newport’s Yaquina Bay.
🐟 Oregon Coast Aquarium
~2.5 hours · $29.95 USD / adult weekdays, $34.95 weekends
A 23-acre aquarium built around Yaquina Bay’s tidal marsh, with a walk-through underwater tunnel, a sea otter habitat and the octopus and rockfish tanks that once housed Keiko the orca before his return to the wild.
Oregon Coast Aquarium · aquarium.org
🍽️ Dinner: Local Ocean Seafoods
~1.5 hours · dinner ~$22–$38 USD / person
A fish market and dining room on Newport’s historic Bayfront that fillets the day’s catch on-site — order at the counter for fish tacos and chowder, or sit down for the full menu looking out over the working fishing fleet.
Local Ocean Seafoods · 541-574-7959 · localocean.net
Day 4Bandon — Sea Lion Caves & Face Rock
The longest driving day of the trip, with a stop at America’s largest sea cave before the road ends at Bandon’s cheese shop and its own sea stack, Face Rock.
🦍 Sea Lion Caves
~1 hour · $18 USD / adult
A privately run elevator drops 208 feet through basalt to a sea-level cavern north of Florence where wild Steller sea lions and California sea lions haul out and breed — the only mainland rookery of its kind in the continental US.
Sea Lion Caves · sealioncaves.com
🚗 Self-Drive: Newport to Bandon
~2.5 hours, 115 miles via US-101 S
The longest single leg of the trip, running south past Florence’s dunes and through Coos Bay before the highway narrows into Bandon’s Old Town on the Coquille River.
🧀 Face Rock Creamery Tasting
~45 minutes · tasting flights from ~$8 USD / person
A small-batch creamery on Highway 101 known for cheddar curds and a clothbound cheddar aged in an underground cave, with a tasting counter and viewing window onto the cheese-making floor.
Face Rock Creamery · 541-347-3223 · facerockcreamery.com
🏨 Check-In: Best Western Inn at Face Rock
From $179 USD / night, for 2 people
A beach-loop hotel a short walk from Face Rock itself, Bandon’s namesake sea stack, with an indoor pool and rooms that make a base for a last sunset walk on Face Rock Beach before flying home from North Bend or driving back north.
Best Western Inn at Face Rock · 800-780-7234 · bestwestern.com
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