Oregon Coast Road Trip on a Budget: 5 Days, Under $1,200
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The Oregon Coast is one of the best-value family road trips in America: the beaches are free, the views are constant, and Highway 101 does most of the entertaining for you. We spent five days driving from Astoria to Brookings and came home under budget.
The route at a glance
- Day 1: Astoria → Cannon Beach (short drive, big payoff)
- Day 2: Cannon Beach → Tillamook → Pacific City
- Day 3: Pacific City → Newport (aquarium day)
- Day 4: Newport → Florence → Coos Bay (dunes!)
- Day 5: Coos Bay → Brookings and home
Where the money went
Lodging was the biggest line item, so we mixed one splurge night with budget motels and one yurt at a state park. Oregon’s state park yurts are the single best budget-lodging trick on the coast — around $60 a night, and the kids talk about it more than any hotel.
Food stayed cheap because we packed a cooler and treated restaurant meals as events, not defaults. The Tillamook Creamery tour is free, and the samples are real.
What we’d skip next time
The touristy seafood place in Newport (long line, fine chowder) and one souvenir stop that cost more than dinner. The free tide pools at Yaquina Head beat both.
