Honeymoon Help

d_smith79

My FI are paying for our wedding ourselves which means we cannot afford a "real" honeymoon. We have decided to take a few days (3 or 4) and go away someplace local that we can drive to. We are willing to go out of state, we've kicked around the idea of Portland.Does anyone have any good suggestions for a local getaway? I'm totally clueless on where to begin. The wedding is in February and we have to consider snow so staying on this side of the mountain passes is probably a good idea. We are both pretty open to what we want to do. We would be happy in a city like Portland or a quiet hideaway. We just want to be "away" together. TIA!

jostina2010

What type of getaway are you looking for?  I lovelovelove Leavenworth in the winter but if neither of you are outdoorsy/snow people that would be a definite no.  Portland would be fun - especially if you stayed in one of the little B&B or boutique hotels.

d_smith79

We are really open to anything. We are both outdoors people so Leavenworth may be a good option. Neither one of us has had an opportunity to travel Washington much (even though we are both WA natives, sad I know) so we are not sure what some good spots would be. There are so many cute towns and beautiful places we don't know where to begin narrowing it down.

MrsH8172010

I really enjoyed Kalaloch the beaches are really pretty and it was nice even though it was cold to just sit on the log and watch the sunset on the beach! It's beautiful though. Also the other resorts like Sol Duc which has hot springs and sol duc falls you can hike to which is beautiful. There's also lake quinault which is really pretty as well. You may be familiar with them all and want to go farther away but if you like outdoors and want and peacful and quiet place I would reccomend those for local! HTH.

Nikkers11

A few years back FI and I took a trip to Cannon Beach, OR.  We left on Thursday and stopped in Portland and played and stayed there.  Then we headed to Cannon beach, this was in January, it was chilly but beautiful, we stayed at a hotel called Schooners Cove Inn, right on the ocean, beautiful 1 bedroom and we just tooled around town ate at some amazing places and then left on a Sunday and drove up the coast, stop in Tillamuck and did the cheese factory, stopped at Seaside and saw the ship wreck.  I would definelty recomend if you are willing to go out of state.

Tygirljojo

FI and I LOVE Hood River. It's about an hour from Portland. We've only been during the summer, but there are rental condos/homes around there and if you both ski/snowboard Mt Hood is right there. We're planning on going sometime during winter to check it out again. Oh yeah, and if you both like beer, Full Sail brewery is based out of there as well.

jostina2010

When I've had family come into town I've used this trip planner to figure out what would be a good fit - http://www.northwesttraveladvisor.com/gmq.php?gt=Shopping_and_DiningOther ideas:Water - San Juans (Friday Harbor has cute hotels and you could maybe take a seaplane up), Ocean Shores, Seaside (OR), Port TownsendMountains - Leavenworth, the lodges at Crystal, Mt Baker (although anywhere north will be expensive/booked due to the Olympics)Good luck!!  There are tons of cute towns in WA and OR!

jesgreg

I live in Portland, so I could help if you need any advice on the area.  This might be the one thing I'm actually good at on here!  Cannon Beach is gorgeous and they have winter rates at most places.  You could also go to the Oregon version of Napa Valley too (right outside of Portland).  They have little bed and breakfasts there and you could do wine tours.  PS- I love this site, but don't know if you would find anything on here or not, www.luxurylink.com. They auction stays at nice places and special packages and have a few in Washington, but may not be in your budget.  Just make sure they aren't "blacked out" during your anticpated honeymoon!

d_smith79

Oh my gosh, thank you all so much! I have lots of researching to do! You have all given me a great start. I feel much better, I was a little overwhelmed so I didn't even want to start looking.

karebear219

I also like the idea of maybe staying a night in Portland and doing the city thing and then drive to the Oregon coast and staying somewhere on the water. There are some condos you can rent with a hottube on the balcony right on the water. With the winter storms it would be sooo pretty. I am a big fan of AAA if you are members. They can give you free guide books on what there is to do in town.

gakester8

we went to vancouver bc for our 2 yr anv and looooooved it! we stayed on robson st. there are some ideas of things to do there in the seattle day trip list in my nestie bio. HTH

sarack

I love Seaside and Cannon Beach Oregon. It is so fun and romantic. AND beautiful!