We’ve been to the Oregon Coast more times than we can count. Cycled the entire length of the Oregon coast from north to south (more on that here), and have now driven the whole length of the Oregon section of the Pacific Coast Highway. Every time we go to the Oregon Coast, we fall more and more in love, and I reckon it’s about time we share some of the cutest coastal towns of Oregon with you!
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy through one of our links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read our full disclosure policy.
Coastal Towns of Oregon | Quick List
You can click on each of the following Oregon Coast towns to jump to more details and photos of them. The ones that have an asterisk (*) are the best coastal towns of Oregon.. you know, in our humble opinion. Each number corresponds to the pin on the map!
- Astoria*
- Seaside
- Cannon Beach*
- Rockaway Beach*
- Pacific City
- Lincoln City
- Depoe Bay
- Otter Rock
- Newport*
- Yachats
- Florence
- Winchester Bay
- Charleston
- Bandon*
- Port Orford
- Gold Beach
- Brookings
Oregon Coastal Towns Map
If this map doesn’t work on your device, head to this link here.
Coastal Towns of Oregon | Northern Oregon Coast
1. Astoria*
Astoria, Oregon is the very first town when crossing the highway into Oregon from Portland. In fact, the 4.1 mile long bridge that spans the Columbia River from Washington to Oregon takes you right into Astoria.
Don’t miss The Wreck of Peter Iredale, remnants of an actual boat wreck right on the beach at Fort Stevens State Park. The car park is free, there are toilets open until around 4 pm, and there’s a great state park campground right near the wreck as well!
If you’re a movie buff, don’t miss touring the different filming locations of the Goonies! And if you’ve got an all-wheel-drive vehicle, at the Wreck of Peter Iredale parking lot, there is beach access to drive right up on the sand!
2. Seaside
Home to an absolutely massive annual beach volleyball tournament, Seaside is definitely a touristy beach town, but it’s cute! There are loads of restaurants, gimmicky tourist shops, and beachfront hotels. Except for when the beach is set up for the beach volleyball tournament, the sandy area is huge and has loads of space for all kinds of beach activities.
3. Cannon Beach*
Cannon Beach is literally the iconic beach of the Northern Oregon Coast. There’s a huge haystack rock, miles and miles of sandy beaches, and literally the cutest coffee shop around. If you’re looking for a great nature escape with epic ocean views, head to Ecola State Park just north of Cannon Beach.
4. Rockaway Beach*
A total surprise in the sweetest of ways! We stopped at Rockaway Beach because we read there was an old shipwreck there… come to find out, the shipwreck is only visible in the most perfect conditions. However, the beach is fantastic!
There’s a steam train stop right in the center of Rockaway Beach, a great calm beach to hang with the kids, and again just loads of sand to play in — for miles and miles!
Cute restaurants line the PCH (the main street of Rockaway Beach), so be sure to grab some grub before hitting the sand! Rockaway Beach is way less crowded than its neighboring Oregon Coastal towns, making it a great escape to the Oregon Coast.
5. Pacific City
Pacific City is the perfect place for a family to go and relax. There are plenty of great restaurants and cafes, a fantastic beach that you can camp on for free, sand dunes, and Cape Lookout State Park is just to the north offering amazing views of the Oregon Coast! When we drove through Pacific City in July, there was a huge festival going on and masses of people all over town!
Coastal Towns of Oregon | Central Oregon Coast
6. Lincoln City
Outlet malls, beach access, spas, casinos, and more can be found in Lincoln City. It’s your typical Oregon beach town for the central Oregon coast. It doesn’t have the small coastal town in Oregon feel, totally more for shoppers and beachgoers, but we thought we’d include it in the list! Lincoln City is a crowd favorite for those looking for more than just a day to play in the sand.
save this post for later here…
7. Depoe Bay
Blink and you’ll drive right past it. Depoe Bay is home to the world’s smallest harbor, and I reckon it’s about the world’s smallest coastal town too! — Just joking, Scotland’s got to take the trophy for that! 😉 Anywho… Depoe Bay is well known for whale watching, meant to be great each year from March to December.
The downtown area of Depoe Bay is right off the water’s edge, created by a wall that’s the length of the town with the ocean waters crashing right below it.
Stop in at The Horn Public House and Brewery for a pint at one of Oregon’s Coastal Breweries (post coming soon).
8. Otter Rock
I’m not so sure you can classify Otter Rock as a town, but it’s cute nonetheless. The famous Devil’s Punch Bowl is located in Otter Rock. It’s a 1.8 mile out and back hike that can only be completed during low tide.
The “town” of Otter Rock consists of Devil’s Punch Bowl State Natural Area — basically a really pretty viewing area of the ocean with great surfing, a large parking lot (with bathrooms) for all the tourists looking to find Oregon’s Devil’s Punch Bowl, a surf shop, winery, and coffee house.
9. Newport*
Not going to lie here, I had major hesitation including Newport in this coastal towns of Oregon list. And even greater hesitation putting the asterisk by it. But after much debate between Jay and I, it’s included, and with the asterisk. Let me explain..
Newport, Oregon is a super cute coastal town. It has the waterfront coastal vibe with taffy shops, an Oregon coast aquarium, seafood joints, and even sea lions on docks in the bay. However, with the cutest of Newport, there are also major downsides. It smells like bad seafood, the past couple of times we’ve visited there’s been trash littered all over the street, and there’s a rise in homeless people hanging around the historic downtown area.
The trash and smell alone were enough to cut our time in Newport short the last time we visited. However, if you can get past both those things — the aquarium, Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum, and the cute coastal shops on the Newport Historic Bayfront paired with multiple breweries all make Newport worth a visit! Not to mention the really pretty backdrop of the Yaquina Bay Bridge and the state recreational areas around too! If you’ve never been, Newport is a site to see!
10. Yachats
Yachats Brewing and Farmstore takes the cake in Yachats! The brewery is so freaking cute and literally perfect for a coastal town of Oregon! Just south of Yachats, you’ll find the very famous Thor’s Well and Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. You won’t find the typical Oregon beach here.. instead, you’ll find great wild camping around Yachats, gorgeous coastal views of rocks, and unique natural wonders like Devil’s Churn, spouting horns, and Thor’s Well.
11. Florence
A pretty bridge, casino, and home to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Florence is a popular place for those looking to take out ATVs and play in the sand. The town itself isn’t really a “cute coastal town”, but it’s one of the bigger towns on the Oregon Coast offering much to do in the area.
12. Winchester Bay
My mom’s favorite place on the Oregon Coast. I couldn’t resist adding Winchester Bay to this post! Winchester Bay is an RV lover’s paradise. It has an RV park right in the harbor, a small easy walk around Lake Marie, a great pizza parlor, and a bakery known for its sourdough bread.
13. Charleston
When we visit Sunset Bay State Park, we always go into Charleston for a night out to eat. Charleston has a simple and cute downtown area with hole-in-the-wall restaurants, fancy restaurants, charter boat tours (we recommend going sea fishing from here), and even bakeries and cafes!
Be sure to visit Sunset Beach State Park if you’re in the area, and even head all the way down to Cape Arago State Park.. the views from here are great and you can see sea lions in the area as well. Shore Acres State Park is a great hike from Sunset Beach. The trail from Sunset Beach to Shore Acres follows the coast the entire way, ending in a lovely botanical garden to walk through!
Coastal Towns Oregon | Southern Oregon Coast
14. Bandon*
Quite possibly the cutest coastal town on the entire Oregon Coast.. like by a long shot, Bandon is the place to go if you’re looking for all the Oregon coastal town feels! The buildings, the waterfront, the local artwork… The cute coast shops with kites and beach goodies. The candy and fudge store. Oh my, everything about Bandon is just adorable… even the trash cans! haha!
For real… don’t miss this place!
15. Port Orford
Ever since cycling through Port Orford, I’ve had a love for the place. There’s the simplest beach lookout with bathrooms right on the corner going through the town, that just brings in the Oregon Coast charm.
Like most other small coastal towns in Oregon, there are multiple fish shops and even a small art gallery. The last time we were there, we stopped at the Crazy Norwegians Fish and Chips and they’re the closest we’ve had to fish and chips from across the pond!
16. Gold Beach
Boasting about their year-round Christmas Shop, the harbor of Gold Beach is home to a cute ice cream shop, a coastal trinket shop, and of course their Christmas store. Gold Beach is where the Rogue River joins the Pacific Ocean, and is home to Jerry’s Rogue Jets, a jet boat company doing tours up the Rogue River.
Don’t miss Turtle Rock just south of Gold Beach. The rock really does look like a turtle, the sandy area of the beach is huge, and the creek water is great for swimming!
17. Brookings
Brookings is the furthest town south on the Oregon Coast. It’s a rather large Oregon Coast town with over 6,000 people living there. Yes, we know — that’s not a bit number, but for the Oregon Coast it is!
Harris Beach is the beach to go to in Brookings with tide pools, loads of sand, and tons of people! The main street in Brookings is Highway 101, making it not really throwing out that cute coastal town feels, but it’s still got a few cute shops, restaurants, and breweries.
Where to Stay When Visiting The Coastal Towns of Oregon
AirBnB Oregon Coast | AirBnB is a great option for finding a place to stay all up and down the Oregon Coast. With many people offering entire homes for rent on AirBnB, you could have a whole home to yourself. This is a great option for saving money on food and being able to spend more on adventures!
If you’re hoping to stay with a local, don’t worry, AirBnB offers local stays too! What a great way to find out even more about the local area and even other places you may be traveling to!
We recommend using the map version of the search tool. That way you can see where the homes are in relation to where you plan on visiting. The AirBnB Oregon Coast offers many tiny home / cabin-like stays! Perfect for a beach getaway!
Hotel Stays | If staying in someone else’s home doesn’t tickle your fancy, search for hotels on the Oregon Coast here. Obviously, the bigger cities are going to have more hotel stay options, but again, using the map version of booking, you can really visualize where you want to stay!
Camping | Camping is a great money saver and memory maker! And the Oregon Coast offers so many fantastic campgrounds, it’s unreal. Most of them are state campgrounds, offering rates right around 20 USD a night. You do have to make reservations for most places, which can be found by searching for the state park/campground here.
Learn more about free camping in the United States here. And join the ArboursAbroad family to receive an email when we publish our complete list of Oregon Coast campgrounds!
How to Get to Towns on the Oregon Coast
Flying | Luckily, Portland brings in one of the biggest airports on the west coast of the United States. Look for flights from your location to PDX (or Portland, Oregon). This is the search engine we use when booking flights.
Learn how to get the best prices on flights to Oregon here.
Rental Cars | If you’re not from the area or don’t have your own car, you’ll want to rent a car to get you up and down the Oregon Coast, maybe even plan a proper Oregon road trip! There’s not much public transportation in Oregon, and it’s always nicer to have your own car when visiting the Oregon Coast as you’ll be able to pull off at all the viewpoints!!
Training | Amtrak trains offer trains right into Downtown Portland. They connect larger cities all over the United States. However, fair warning — training in the United States is NOTHING like training in Europe!
More on the Oregon Coast
Things to Do on the Oregon Coast | more than just cute coastal towns
15 Things to do in Bandon, Oregon | learn why we love this town so much
11 Things to do in Brookings, Oregon | beaches, tide pools, parks, concerts
Cycling the Oregon Coast | our trip from Seattle to San Francisco
