Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I took a trip with my family to Oregon a few months ago and we used this book as our guide, and it ended up becoming our Oregon Bible. We stayed for about a week and stopped in many locations: Portland, the Columbia River Gorge, Mt. Hood, Bend, Eugene, and all the way up the coast from Florence to Cannon Beach (and we still barely scratched the surface, it seems).
We did the recommended restaurants, attractions, parks, hikes, and lodgings and found the descriptions for each were spot-on and detailed. We mostly ate and stayed at the no-star/one-star places and even those were excellent. Of course, the 3-star system that Frommer's Guides use is subjective but we ended up mostly agreeing with them (one exception was the Oregon Aquarium - it was good, but I'd say 2 stars rather than 3).
We're first-timers and our trip was a bit of a whirlwind driving tour, so we learned a few things about Oregon and road-tripping in general:
- Driving, especially in vast places like Oregon, can take a lot out of you. By the time you get to your next location, you may be too tired to do much or it may be too late, etc. To fully appreciate a given locale, try to spend at least one FULL day in the same spot. We wanted to do a lot of hiking throughout the trip, but only ended up doing one excursion (although it was mind blowing!) due to time constraints/exhaustedness.
- Although Frommer's is good about giving you hours of operation and such for various locations, you should still call ahead to make sure it's open. And be careful - not all locations in the guide have the hours listed, especially if it's only mentioned in the middle of a paragraph (as opposed to having it's own separate entry). The Newberry Volcanic Monument south of Bend is an example... it ended up being closed on the day we were there. You never know when something will be closed for unforeseen reasons, out-of-order (ie. the elevator to Sea Lion Caves, rendering it inaccessible), or booked-up early (ie. Columbia River Gorge riverboat cruise). Also, when visiting any mountainous region, make sure the roads aren't closed due to snow (even in May or June!).
- And a short mention about the Portland Metro Tram: it's a good way to see some of the city and is cheap, but it takes a _long_ time to get where you're going, especially if it's somewhere outside of Downtown (like, say, Forest Park). A trip can take an hour on the tram as opposed to 15 minutes or less by car. We don't have public transportation like that where we live, so we were not aware of this fact.
- Don't rely on this guide (or any guide) to be your sole road map. I highly recommend buying a large, detailed map separately.
All in all, we found this guide to be enormously informative, accurate, and indispensable, really. The author really knows his stuff.
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Written by a longtime resident, Frommer's Oregon is a highly personal guide, full of the author's favorite finds and off-the-beaten-track discoveries. We'll show you the best of Portland, and then take you along the coast to explore the most charming resort towns and hike past otherworldly rock formations on the beach. It's all here: the unbelievably blue waters of Crater Lake; the world-class Oregon Shakespeare Festival at Ashland; hiking, mountain-biking, and skiing at Bend; art galleries and craft shops; microbreweries and fabulous seafood; and a host of incresingly renowned wineries. You'll find a wide choice of accommodations, from romantic inns on the coast to wilderness lodges in the pristine forest. With Frommer's in hand, it's easy to design the Oregon adventure that's right for you.
Click here for more information about Frommer's Oregon (Frommer's Complete)
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