Where to Stay & Play when traveling from Seattle, Eugene & Portland
With air travel limited and gas prices low, vacations you can drive to are more enticing than ever. For Pacific Northwest residents living in places like Portland, Eugene and Seattle, a drive to Willamette Valley just makes sense.
Here’s five reasons why:
One tank travel.
Escape the busy streets of Portland and drive 20 miles out of town to the doorstep of a beautiful, tranquil Willamette Valley bed & breakfast overlooking wine country. Eugene residents, known for their love of outdoor adventure, can drive 90 minutes north to Silver Falls State Park with its 10 cascading waterfalls and 7 miles of hiking trails and then top the day off with fine dining near Chehalem Ridge B&B. For those Seattle wine-lovers who have already visited the wine regions in Washington but who don’t want to fly to Napa, can pack their bags and make the 4 hour drive to one of the fastest growing wine regions in the world.
So. Many. Wineries.
Oregon ranks higher than California for wineries per capita. Yes, it’s true! That statistic is in large part to the Willamette Valley’s Wine Country which boasts nearly 600 wineries and 8 distinct American Viticulture Areas (AVA’s). Why fly to California when you can drive to a region with so much diversity and so little crowds? Vacation is closer than you think!
World Class Pinot Noir… and More!
Willamette Valley wineries are known for producing Pinot Noirs that rival authentic Burgundian wines.
But that’s not all they have! Their winemakers also grow Pinot Gris and Chardonnay and more and more are sourcing grapes from up and down the Pacific Northwest. K&M Wines has everything from Viognier to Cab Franc and Grenache to Syrah. On your next vacation, visit their tasting room in Carlton – a teeny-tiny town in the Willamette Valley with the most wineries per capita in America: 22!
Instagram-worthy Photo Ops
Vineyards as far as the eye can see in the Dundee Hills AVA
Road-trips were created to explore land like this. With the Oregon Coast Mountain Range to the west, the Cascade Range to the east and the Willamette River running through the wide plains of farmland in the middle, a drive through the Willamette Valley is an absolute joy with non-stop beauty out your window.
Stay Safe, Stay Small.
You won’t find sky-scraper hotels with expensive parking on this vacation. Country landscapes in 
Willamette Valley, Oregon lend themselves to smaller, boutique inns and bed & breakfasts instead. In addition to multi-generational, critically lauded wineries and family-owned fine dining restaurants, you can also expect to find independently owned modern, upscale accommodation like our own Chehalem Ridge Bed and Breakfast.
Chehalem Ridge Bed & Breakfast, a Willamette Valley mountain retreat, offers exemplary hospitality, extraordinary views and an exceptionally Oregon experience. Perched at 1000 feet atop Chehalem Mountain in Newberg, Oregon, the B&B offers five private guest rooms with attached bathrooms and are outfitted in modern luxuries like memory foam mattresses, jetted tubs and fireplaces. Guests also enjoy 3-course gourmet breakfasts, private balconies, and the perks of staying in a centrally-located B&B just 20 minutes from over a hundred wineries. Begin your vacation with us.
In a time when folks are ready to take a vacation from their homes, we invite you to ours. And rest assured, keeping our guests safe is our number 1 priority. With the cleaning & social distancing practices we’ve put in place at the B&B, we seek to give our guests the peace of mind they deserve when investing in a relaxing vacation. Come stay with us. You are in good hands.
By Liz Bethell, Assistant Innkeeper
