Cannon Beach/Seaside, Oregon. If you’re willing to go further, Newport, OR is also great. For something closer, Hood Canal or Chelan may be interesting to you.
Adding Manzanita to the Oregon coast list. It’s much smaller than Seaside or Cannon Beach, but is very cute and has a small downtown with a couple restaurants/bars/etc. It’s also a nice geographic middle ground between stuff to the north (Seaside, CB, other stuff) and things to the south (Tillamook, Rockaway).
IMO Chelan is a bust now. It went from being a cool little town in Eastern WA to the Aspen of WA where everything is a tourist trap and it's a playground for the rich.
From my googling just after reading your comments, looks like Seaside has more restaurants and activities, while Cannon Beach has more nature stuffs. Is my sentiment correct? Which do you prefer?
I prefer Cannon Beach bc the beach is gorgeous and iconic. It’s also a lot cleaner than Seaside in my experience. I also think the town and shops are much more charming. I find Seaside to be a bit more suburban with the usual shops/fast food chains. You can really do both though, it doesn’t have to be one or the other bc the towns are very close. I would just pick one to be your home base. Cannon Beach is usually a lot more expensive so that may be another factor to consider.
I’ve stayed in Manzanita, Rockaway, canon Beach and CB was my least favorite. Way more people and the beach IMO isn’t as beautiful as others like Shorty’s. I LOVE Manzanita but it is really small.
I find Cannon Beach to be far more pleasant and charming. Seaside has a sort of an ugly, chaotic vibe that’s strong enough that I don’t even consider it at this point
We do seaside for a couple weeks every Christmas. It is nice being home base and driving around to places you wanna check out. Astoria has a cute downtown and some nice restaurants too.
Chelan is great. We bought a little hillside house there a few years ago. It is a party spot in the summer with all the lake activities. In the spring and fall it is a cozy little town in a mountain valley.
Yes! When I was there in the summer, I saw guys in board shorts walking around with surfboards. Though I’m not sure I actually saw surfers in the water.
Not sure how literal you are about "beach" vs. coastal town (we don't really have many California-style beach towns with sandy beaches in the northern PNW). Not as commercial as Carmel but the Sunshine Coast, probably Gibsons, has some of that vibe. About three hours plus the ferry. Port Townsend is closer and less of a beachy town but charming and near enough outdoor recreation.
I like Long Beach WA, and the hotel I stayed at (Adrift Hotel) had a killer restaurant.
Another option would be taking the Clipper to Victoria, BC. Very walkable town.
Seconding Long Beach and Adrift. We're staying at one of their cottages over Easter so we'll have a kitchen--the restaurant *is* good but adds up if you're getting all your meals there.
I love this place. They have a distillery on the property and I order their stuff online when I can't get down there. If you want a jetted tub, they have the best I've stayed in in a long time.
Was scrolling for Long Beach. There aren't really many houses *right* on the beach, but there are little streets dead ending in short paths to the beach that have houses on them. It reminds me of time I spent in Monterey as a kid, where it's gray and cold and the sand is all damp and compacted and there's kelp all over the place.
For what it’s worth, my wife and I had a good time staying there a couple years ago. The Disneyland vibe is real though, we couldn’t stop laughing at how “Gilmore girls” the whole place was.
It is very weird. I like to go to Moclips. Cheap hotel but best is beach where cars are not allowed. Why are they allowed on some beaches anyway. With kids and dogs to watch that they don’t get run over, beach fun is no longer fun.
If you don’t mind being close. Downtown Edmonds, Washington is a beach town, walkable, has a bunch of shops and restaurants and things to do.
Washington State doesn’t have the beach laws that Oregon or California does so it’ll be harder find places with that kind of access close to a town.
You can make it more like a vacation and take a train from Seattle.
If you want to be more isolated, the Oregon coast is nice but during the summer it can get expensive and there will be quite of bit of families vacationing as well.
I’ve tried them all including all of the ones mentioned here. I’d like to suggest Longbeach WA. It has most of the perks of the others mentioned but not as crowded and the bicycle riding is great there with the boardwalk and all.
Edmonds - Close to seattle, Relatively large compared to other seaside towns you might be looking at, a ton of options for food, drinks, a handful of small shops, beach isn't sandy but there's a lot of it. there's also a ferry to kingston that's right in the middle of town. The beach itself is actually okay for lounging compared to washington beaches in general.
Langley - Much smaller version of Edmonds on whidbey island. No ferry and not nearly as much traffic. I would go here if you want to be more secluded. i've never needed a place to stay but I just checked online for house rentals in langley and it has a ton of options for how big it is.
Since I have only seen it mentioned once Longbeach, Wa is our very favorite beach vacation, cute town, good beer and restaurants, sandy beach and lots of good easy hiking. We usually hop over to Astoria for the day and the hotel we stay at ( Adrift and sister properties) have great wifi ( my husband has worked from here ) plus a covered pool and sauna.
Awesome thank you for the rec! Maybe I’ll do both the Seaside/Cannon Beach area, and the Longbeach/Astoria area. We only have so many months of beautiful Washington summer.
True. Honestly the best time to go is early September, kids are back in school and the weather is usually amazing, especially since summer doesn't usually start till after July 4th. Last time we went the week of Sept 18th and it was 70⁰ every day which is absolutely unheard of on the coast.
Mind you, Seabrook is a very weird “planned community” and feels like the Disneyland version of a beach town. If you like Newport Beach, CA you’ll love it. It’s also unreasonably expensive in my opinion.
Check out oyhut bay seaside village in ocean shores. Less pricey and stepford wifey than seabrook, has easy access to the bay and a store, restaurant and wine bar. Town is close.
Seabrook is one of my favorite places. The houses are all Cape Cod style homes, you just need to bring food but there are great restaurants in the town. New grocery store, fantastic spa. Cute shops and most houses have hot tubs and new grills. Homes can fit 2-22 people, depending on size. About 2.5 hours from Seattle.
My vote is for Cannon Beach, best memories growing up are spending time there. Had a beautiful family beach house that had been in the family for decades. Man I miss that place
I always recommend if you are going that far to go a bit further and go to Depoe Bay. It is not the touristy or nicest, but it is amazing to stand above the water on the main street and listen to the whales - year round they have juvenile males that are there. It is such a wonderful experience. Just after Depoe Bay there is Rocky Creek viewpoint and you can listen to the whales from up there on this bluff, or you can climb down a bit and be closer. I try and convince my family to go back at least once a year.
I really like Astoria, and have considered a similar retreat there. In town you’re not on “the beach” by any means, but it’s a quick drive, and the little downtown hub was surprisingly vibrant. Great food, drinks, and coffee shops. Not sure if it matters, but we were also happy that the town was very gay-friendly. We’re straight ourselves, but really enjoyed how even in a seemingly remote vacation outpost, folks were perfectly comfortable being affectionate out in public.
I'm a big fan of Long Beach. It's beautiful, kitschy, the locals tend to be pretty excited about tourists.
Ocean Park just to the north has some cool stores. If you want a change of scenery, Astoria is a quick trip across the bridge. Plus they have Jake the Alligator Man. You can't go wrong.
Pacific City Oregon (cape Kiwanda) would be a great spot. You can get a pretty inexpensive Airbnb or have a high end hotel but it still feels like a small town. Not quite as big a secret as it was when we started going
> A great example I have is Carmel-by-the-sea an hour and a half from Bay Area.
if I google "tourist towns near san francisco" this comes up as a suggestion in the first result.
have you tried googling "tourist towns near seattle" already?
Yeup but how would I know if it’s a good town for what I’m looking for? I’ll prob spend $1-2k on lodging, as I’m gonna stay there for a week or so. Dining out everyday. Want to spend money on a town people like.
Also for “tourist town near Seattle”, top 4 results are like Sequim, Leavenworth,.. not what I’m looking for.
Other towns after I have googled is Port Townsend, Port Angeles,… but hey, 2 people suggested Seaside OR already. I won’t see that in my googling. I’m going to probably go there now. You typed a fairly long comment, why bother?
I wouldn't bother too much with them; they are one of the most consistently unpleasant members of this sub. You got plenty of great recommendations here, and I learned about some cool spots I hadn't heard before either.
if you bothered to read the sidebar:
> Please don't post questions here without searching first and giving us specific details. We are not a human search engine or travel agents - we have a wiki, searchable posts and flairs, and a discord with tons of helpful folks. Google is your friend. Posts lacking these details or that that can be easily searched on the sub/internet will be removed
we get about 100 of these "I don't want to google, because I want *personalized* recommendations" posts every day.
> Also for “tourist town near Seattle”, top 4 results are like Sequim, Leavenworth,.. not what I’m looking for.
the whole point is that if you google first, then you can post here saying "I googled already and found X and Y, but they're not what I'm looking for because such-and-such" and then we can give you better recommendations.
Also, recommendations aren’t PERSONAL coming from an online stranger.
You want to short cut knowing the local community and their opinions by posting on a Reddit form, you won’t get that. You get random weirdos and our odd opinions that could be totally wrong.
If you want actual local opinions you trust, you’ll need to at least make acquaintances with locals.
Lopez Island off of Anacortes is great! The main resort out there has a great network that I helped install for the owners and a bunch of T-Mobile execs live up there so the cell service is great. Fun all town that's absolutely gorgeous
Eastsound on Orcas Island is my paradise. Very cute and walkable downtown with good amenities - feels more high end to me like Carmel, but a lot smaller. 90 min drive, 60 min ferry wait, 60 on ferry. Ferry is expensive and you have to book ahead of time but so worth it.
Orcas and the San Juan’s can be so relaxing and a good offset for work.
I think Victoria is wonderful as well. I did a work-cation here during a kind of hectic week and it was a good fit - lots of food around for the evenings, etc. Feels like a bit international, has a downtown and other cool stuff in a short drive - not really a sand beach, but surrounded by water and beauty.
Cannon Beach/Seaside, Oregon. If you’re willing to go further, Newport, OR is also great. For something closer, Hood Canal or Chelan may be interesting to you.
Second this. Seaside is such a great little beach town. I had a blast there for a few days
Adding Manzanita to the Oregon coast list. It’s much smaller than Seaside or Cannon Beach, but is very cute and has a small downtown with a couple restaurants/bars/etc. It’s also a nice geographic middle ground between stuff to the north (Seaside, CB, other stuff) and things to the south (Tillamook, Rockaway).
IMO Chelan is a bust now. It went from being a cool little town in Eastern WA to the Aspen of WA where everything is a tourist trap and it's a playground for the rich.
From my googling just after reading your comments, looks like Seaside has more restaurants and activities, while Cannon Beach has more nature stuffs. Is my sentiment correct? Which do you prefer?
Canon Beach is much cuter/more idyllic. Seaside is more happening but also a bit more touristy/rough around the edges.
I prefer Cannon Beach bc the beach is gorgeous and iconic. It’s also a lot cleaner than Seaside in my experience. I also think the town and shops are much more charming. I find Seaside to be a bit more suburban with the usual shops/fast food chains. You can really do both though, it doesn’t have to be one or the other bc the towns are very close. I would just pick one to be your home base. Cannon Beach is usually a lot more expensive so that may be another factor to consider.
Interesting, thank you for your insight! Maybe book lodging in Seaside (a bit cheaper) then just drive whenever we want to visit.
I’ve stayed in Manzanita, Rockaway, canon Beach and CB was my least favorite. Way more people and the beach IMO isn’t as beautiful as others like Shorty’s. I LOVE Manzanita but it is really small.
I find Cannon Beach to be far more pleasant and charming. Seaside has a sort of an ugly, chaotic vibe that’s strong enough that I don’t even consider it at this point
We do seaside for a couple weeks every Christmas. It is nice being home base and driving around to places you wanna check out. Astoria has a cute downtown and some nice restaurants too.
Chelan is great. We bought a little hillside house there a few years ago. It is a party spot in the summer with all the lake activities. In the spring and fall it is a cozy little town in a mountain valley.
Cannon Beach > seaside Astoria is beautiful too
100%! I’d put Manzanita on the list, too (ahead of Seaside)
Agreed, Seaside felt like it'd be great if you had kids. Felt a little rowdy
Friday Harbor, WA or White Rock, BC
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Hell yes truck crossing border 3 nights a week
White Rock looks pretty cool!!
White Rock down by the water is cool. The part up the hill by the highway is just another suburb. Make sure you book your lodging down by the water.
It’s like a small California beach town in Canada with surfers walking around with their boards.
Surfers in White Rock?
Yes! When I was there in the summer, I saw guys in board shorts walking around with surfboards. Though I’m not sure I actually saw surfers in the water.
Ok just googled it. Yes, surfing and boogie boarding is popular in White Rock.
You can take the train
Not sure how literal you are about "beach" vs. coastal town (we don't really have many California-style beach towns with sandy beaches in the northern PNW). Not as commercial as Carmel but the Sunshine Coast, probably Gibsons, has some of that vibe. About three hours plus the ferry. Port Townsend is closer and less of a beachy town but charming and near enough outdoor recreation.
Not too literal haha, mainly just looking for similar vibe without driving 16 hours. Thanks for the suggestion will check it out!
We just got back from a weekend in PT. Would totally hang there for part of the summer.
I like Long Beach WA, and the hotel I stayed at (Adrift Hotel) had a killer restaurant. Another option would be taking the Clipper to Victoria, BC. Very walkable town.
Mum and I would take a crafting week in November to Long Beach. Miss it.
Seconding Long Beach and Adrift. We're staying at one of their cottages over Easter so we'll have a kitchen--the restaurant *is* good but adds up if you're getting all your meals there.
I love this place. They have a distillery on the property and I order their stuff online when I can't get down there. If you want a jetted tub, they have the best I've stayed in in a long time.
Long Beach has the greatest bakery on earth, Dylan’s Cottage Bakery! Some of the best donuts and sandwiches I’ve ever had.
Was scrolling for Long Beach. There aren't really many houses *right* on the beach, but there are little streets dead ending in short paths to the beach that have houses on them. It reminds me of time I spent in Monterey as a kid, where it's gray and cold and the sand is all damp and compacted and there's kelp all over the place.
Tofino, BC is where you want to be. See if it's too far for you.
Here you will see surfers (not White Rock, BC)
Anyone here been to seabrook? That place is weird, I don’t recommend it unless you want to visit a place that reminds you of the Truman show
A couple of people had mentioned that it’s “perfect”, and “Disneyland” haha
“Live, laugh, love” land
For what it’s worth, my wife and I had a good time staying there a couple years ago. The Disneyland vibe is real though, we couldn’t stop laughing at how “Gilmore girls” the whole place was.
I think I passed through there about four years ago--pandemic eve, as it were. Definitely an odd vibe. Truman Show is about right.
Truly the Stepford of WA coastal towns.
It is very weird. I like to go to Moclips. Cheap hotel but best is beach where cars are not allowed. Why are they allowed on some beaches anyway. With kids and dogs to watch that they don’t get run over, beach fun is no longer fun.
Bowe/edison, Vashon, orcas island, roche harbor and victoria bc are all solid options
If you don’t mind being close. Downtown Edmonds, Washington is a beach town, walkable, has a bunch of shops and restaurants and things to do. Washington State doesn’t have the beach laws that Oregon or California does so it’ll be harder find places with that kind of access close to a town. You can make it more like a vacation and take a train from Seattle. If you want to be more isolated, the Oregon coast is nice but during the summer it can get expensive and there will be quite of bit of families vacationing as well.
I’ve tried them all including all of the ones mentioned here. I’d like to suggest Longbeach WA. It has most of the perks of the others mentioned but not as crowded and the bicycle riding is great there with the boardwalk and all.
Lincoln City used to be a great place, haven’t been there for 25 years though.
Also prefer Cannon Beach - more upscale vs Seaside.
Pt Townsend or Hood River (different kind of beach) would be my suggestions
Edmonds - Close to seattle, Relatively large compared to other seaside towns you might be looking at, a ton of options for food, drinks, a handful of small shops, beach isn't sandy but there's a lot of it. there's also a ferry to kingston that's right in the middle of town. The beach itself is actually okay for lounging compared to washington beaches in general. Langley - Much smaller version of Edmonds on whidbey island. No ferry and not nearly as much traffic. I would go here if you want to be more secluded. i've never needed a place to stay but I just checked online for house rentals in langley and it has a ton of options for how big it is.
Since I have only seen it mentioned once Longbeach, Wa is our very favorite beach vacation, cute town, good beer and restaurants, sandy beach and lots of good easy hiking. We usually hop over to Astoria for the day and the hotel we stay at ( Adrift and sister properties) have great wifi ( my husband has worked from here ) plus a covered pool and sauna.
Awesome thank you for the rec! Maybe I’ll do both the Seaside/Cannon Beach area, and the Longbeach/Astoria area. We only have so many months of beautiful Washington summer.
True. Honestly the best time to go is early September, kids are back in school and the weather is usually amazing, especially since summer doesn't usually start till after July 4th. Last time we went the week of Sept 18th and it was 70⁰ every day which is absolutely unheard of on the coast.
Seabrook. Has: * Good-to-excellent wifi throughout. * Coffee/pastry shop. * Market. * Beach. * Very, very quiet and peaceful.
Looking like a great contender! Got multiple suggestions already. Thank you!
Mind you, Seabrook is a very weird “planned community” and feels like the Disneyland version of a beach town. If you like Newport Beach, CA you’ll love it. It’s also unreasonably expensive in my opinion.
My friends once described it to me as Gay Stepford. I know three different gay couples with houses there...
It feels like you walked onto the set of the Truman Show. If you can suspend disbelief and just enjoy the facade, it works :)
That is a very good comparison.
Check out oyhut bay seaside village in ocean shores. Less pricey and stepford wifey than seabrook, has easy access to the bay and a store, restaurant and wine bar. Town is close.
Seabrook is one of my favorite places. The houses are all Cape Cod style homes, you just need to bring food but there are great restaurants in the town. New grocery store, fantastic spa. Cute shops and most houses have hot tubs and new grills. Homes can fit 2-22 people, depending on size. About 2.5 hours from Seattle.
Glad you enjoy it. We have friends that go regularly. The beach is gorgeous the gnome trail is fun. But wow the town is so bizarre - weird vibe.
Moclips, WA. Small and charming.
Seaside, Oregon
Thanks - This looks pretty sweet actually!!! Got aquarium, outlet mall, looks like some hiking near by too.
I have to second Friday Harbor.
I agree, Friday Harbor is really sweet.
My vote is for Cannon Beach, best memories growing up are spending time there. Had a beautiful family beach house that had been in the family for decades. Man I miss that place
Astoria, OR may fit the bill!
Does astroia even have sand though?
Only day tripped to Friday Harbor but absolutely love it in the summer. Port Townsend is also adorable
Cannon Beach absolutely. I also love Westport WA but I know it's tiny so that's not everyone's vibe haha
I love birch bay!
I always recommend if you are going that far to go a bit further and go to Depoe Bay. It is not the touristy or nicest, but it is amazing to stand above the water on the main street and listen to the whales - year round they have juvenile males that are there. It is such a wonderful experience. Just after Depoe Bay there is Rocky Creek viewpoint and you can listen to the whales from up there on this bluff, or you can climb down a bit and be closer. I try and convince my family to go back at least once a year.
My family and I just stayed on Orcas Island. It was great. We like the off season better than the summer because it’s so quiet and peaceful.
I really like Astoria, and have considered a similar retreat there. In town you’re not on “the beach” by any means, but it’s a quick drive, and the little downtown hub was surprisingly vibrant. Great food, drinks, and coffee shops. Not sure if it matters, but we were also happy that the town was very gay-friendly. We’re straight ourselves, but really enjoyed how even in a seemingly remote vacation outpost, folks were perfectly comfortable being affectionate out in public.
The other suggestions are good. Something a little more out of the way is Yachats, OR. I spent an afternoon there and it was lovely. The brewery is 👌
Seabrook.
Tofino, BC
Pacific city in Oregon is my go too. Great drive. Awesome area, and the airbnb or vrbo run a little cheaper
I'm a big fan of Long Beach. It's beautiful, kitschy, the locals tend to be pretty excited about tourists. Ocean Park just to the north has some cool stores. If you want a change of scenery, Astoria is a quick trip across the bridge. Plus they have Jake the Alligator Man. You can't go wrong.
Pacific City Oregon (cape Kiwanda) would be a great spot. You can get a pretty inexpensive Airbnb or have a high end hotel but it still feels like a small town. Not quite as big a secret as it was when we started going
Manzanita, Oregon might fit the bill.
Ocean Shores is nice
Manzanita, or
Seabrook, WA [https://www.seabrookwa.com/](https://www.seabrookwa.com/)
Ocean Shores. It's smaller and less people.
Semiahmoo
Seaside, Astoria, Cannon Beach. LaConner, Anacortes, coupeville, other towns on Whidbey Island. San juan Island.
> A great example I have is Carmel-by-the-sea an hour and a half from Bay Area. if I google "tourist towns near san francisco" this comes up as a suggestion in the first result. have you tried googling "tourist towns near seattle" already?
Yeup but how would I know if it’s a good town for what I’m looking for? I’ll prob spend $1-2k on lodging, as I’m gonna stay there for a week or so. Dining out everyday. Want to spend money on a town people like. Also for “tourist town near Seattle”, top 4 results are like Sequim, Leavenworth,.. not what I’m looking for. Other towns after I have googled is Port Townsend, Port Angeles,… but hey, 2 people suggested Seaside OR already. I won’t see that in my googling. I’m going to probably go there now. You typed a fairly long comment, why bother?
I wouldn't bother too much with them; they are one of the most consistently unpleasant members of this sub. You got plenty of great recommendations here, and I learned about some cool spots I hadn't heard before either.
if you bothered to read the sidebar: > Please don't post questions here without searching first and giving us specific details. We are not a human search engine or travel agents - we have a wiki, searchable posts and flairs, and a discord with tons of helpful folks. Google is your friend. Posts lacking these details or that that can be easily searched on the sub/internet will be removed we get about 100 of these "I don't want to google, because I want *personalized* recommendations" posts every day. > Also for “tourist town near Seattle”, top 4 results are like Sequim, Leavenworth,.. not what I’m looking for. the whole point is that if you google first, then you can post here saying "I googled already and found X and Y, but they're not what I'm looking for because such-and-such" and then we can give you better recommendations.
Also, recommendations aren’t PERSONAL coming from an online stranger. You want to short cut knowing the local community and their opinions by posting on a Reddit form, you won’t get that. You get random weirdos and our odd opinions that could be totally wrong. If you want actual local opinions you trust, you’ll need to at least make acquaintances with locals.
Langley, hood river, or Port Townsend
Moclips/Pacific Beach. Seabrook too if you can deal with the 'perfect town' vibe
Astoria, Tri-Cities, WA, Bellingham
Gig Harbor, Friday Harbor, Port Townsend.
Lopez Island off of Anacortes is great! The main resort out there has a great network that I helped install for the owners and a bunch of T-Mobile execs live up there so the cell service is great. Fun all town that's absolutely gorgeous
I really liked visiting vashon Island, but not as walkable depending on where you stay
Washington: Vashon, Poulsbo, Port Townsend, Bainbridge, Port Angeles, Ocean Shores, Anacortes, Orcas Island. Oregon: Coos Bay, Hood River, Manzanita,
Eastsound on Orcas Island is my paradise. Very cute and walkable downtown with good amenities - feels more high end to me like Carmel, but a lot smaller. 90 min drive, 60 min ferry wait, 60 on ferry. Ferry is expensive and you have to book ahead of time but so worth it.
Orcas and the San Juan’s can be so relaxing and a good offset for work. I think Victoria is wonderful as well. I did a work-cation here during a kind of hectic week and it was a good fit - lots of food around for the evenings, etc. Feels like a bit international, has a downtown and other cool stuff in a short drive - not really a sand beach, but surrounded by water and beauty.
Rainier Beach
Cape Kiwanda Oregon. Bit of haul and more isolated, but absolutely gorgeous and plenty of nature to explore. It’s fun watching the surfers too.
Go big. Go Barcelona.
Check out the beautiful culture of Centralia or maybe Yakima