One day only to see coast

I have one day to visit coast from Portland%26gt;

Arrive around noon from east coast, would I have enough time to see Chinese and/or Japanese gardens and make it to coast for night in daylight?

If only take a day trip (early start), what is top places I should see?

Like areas with crafts and artisans as well, Where should I go? Stop for lunch?

Thanks, pat

One day only to see coast

You don%26#39;t say when you are arriving, but if it is anytime soon, by the time you visit the Chinese and/or Japanese Gardens it will be dark.

Plan a day trip to the coast. You have a couple of options from Portland--Hwy 26 will get you to the Cannon Beach area which has many little shops and a number of fairly good places to eat. We like Doogers for clam chowder.

Your other choice is to take Hwy 18 which brings you to Lincoln City and the famous 20 Miracle Miles to Newport. If you opt for the Hwy 18 route you can also stop at McMinnville and see the %26#39;Spruce Goose';--Howard Hughes famous airplane.

I%26#39;m sure the other regular Oregon Coast posters will have you nearly %26#39;dizzy%26#39; with suggestions.

One day only to see coast

Cannon Beach, for sure. If you are really into crafts/artisans, some very good galleries are further south and spread out - Gleneden Beach/Salishan, Lincoln City, Newport etc. However, given your limited time, here is a gallery website for the Cannon Beach area: cannon-beach.net/galleries/cbgalleries.html

Wish I could recall the name, but a better gallery, and certainly more avant garde, is or was located on the main drag, Hemlock, southbound, on left, two story building, just before end of the main shopping area. White Bird Gallery is, IMHO, vastly overrated as to artists and presentations.

Try to see also Ecola State Park or Arcadia SP, just north and south, respectively, from Cannon Beach. Beautiful...

Wish you had more time. Hope you have good weather. Have fun.

And following Kitters%26#39; idea, if you take Hwy. 18, see the Lawrence Gallery, have a (hearty) lunch in the adjoining restaurant, part of the the Gallery. Here you go:

www.yamhillvalley.org/news/story.cfm鈥?/a>

One day to visit coast?? How long are you here?. A one day trip to coast to see aritsans seems low priority to me. 4 hour trip to coast and back. may be better sepnt lookig for aryisans in Portland

You arrive at noon in Portland? figure half an hour to an hour to get out of the airport, it is closer to 1:00.

The Coast is a 90 minute drive from Portland. 90 minutes back..that makes it about 4 o%26#39;clock and you have not gotten out of the car yet.

It still gets dark here early..

Arrive around noon , come into Portland from the airport, drive/take Streetcar to the Pearl District, the Chinese Gardens are on NW 2nd..

You need a car to get to the Japanese Gardens or take the train to the zoo, get the shuttle bus to the Japanese Gardens.

This should take you a few hours to see and enjoy the Gardens..both of them.

The Pearl District is full of galleries .. and places that are great for lunch.

tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i966-Gardens_in鈥?/a>

Hi, you will love the Chinese Classical Gardens, the exhibit is rather small, you could go through this rather quickly if you want to. I have not been to the Japanese Gardens yet, but son and his friends really enjoyed the place last summer. When are you visiting? In May-October there is a really cool Sunday Market in Astoria that features local artists and there are ltos of arts and crafts there that you would enjoy. Astoria is about 30 minutes from Cannon Beach,if you could fit it in this would be a a lot of fun for you.

If time does not permit for Astoria, Cannon Beach would be the place you should visit on the coast. Have lunch at Mo%26#39;s and stroll downtown Cannon Beach. There are several nice art galleries there and the downtown area is very pretty dotted with fresh flowers everywhere. I have a review with some photos of downtown Cannon Beach, see if it looks interesting to you. Have fun! :)

I disagree about the Chinese Gardens being ';rather small';...they are an entire city block , within the city of Portland.

They are every stick, and stone, authentic from China..Here is their website, you can see how beautiful they are, regardless of time of year.

http://www.portlandchinesegarden.org/

Looks like there%26#39;s some confusion about the amount of time you have Pat. Help us about a bit.

I too like the idea of hwy 18, but it%26#39;s at least a two hour drive to the coast along that route, so the roundtrip cuts out a big chunk of a day. I%26#39;d suggest staying on the north coast, heading first out hwy 26 directly to Cannon Beach. As others have said, there are lots of nice galleries there. One of my favorites is the glass blowers shop across the street from the Cannon Beach Hotel %26amp; Gower St. Bistro, a few blocks south of the town center. Beautiful stuff: http://www.cbgallerygroup.com/icefire.htm. And with Ecola State Park a few miles north, and Oswald West 10 miles south, I think you%26#39;ll find plenty to fill a day.

If you do find yourself with time to spare, you could head south and return to Portland via hwy 6 from Tillamook. Or go north to hwy 30 from Astoria along the Columbia River. Personally, I think hwy 6 is more scenic, but there are a few things in Astoria you might enjoy.

When I travel from east to west or vice versa I always find my day of arrival to be a little rocky with the time difference and plan for a light itinerary on that first day. That said if you are suggesting you have a second day to drive down to the coast and back, that should work nicely. An early start, breakfast in Portland, lunch in Cannon Beach would make for a nice visit. Then back to Portland in late afternoon for dinner and maybe even a play!

Thanks for all the input.

I arrive around noon on Wednesday at end of this month. I do not have to be back in Portland until the next night around 6 or 7 pm,

Thought about 1 day trip but after reading posts, think will go out and get a cozy hotel room on beach for night. Probably near Cannon beach .

Any suggestions for Inns?

Then will head south on 101 and then come back via Hwy 5

Looks like some great artscrafts areas in Portland as well. Found Mother Goose at airport on last trip through and looking forward to main store this time.