Where to stay with kids in one of our family’s favorite destinations on the Southern Oregon Coast
With state parks and some of the world’s best sea stack rocks, the coastal town of Bandon is one of our family’s favorite family getaway destinations on the Oregon Coast. For your own trip to the western edge of the USA, here are some road-tested picks for Bandon, Oregon hotels, campgrounds, and more, from our family to yours.
What is (and where is) Bandon, Oregon?
Bandon, or Bandon-by-the-Sea, is a small seaside town on the Southern Oregon Coast. It’s also home to long, driftwood-backed beaches, a small and lively downtown, the Coquille River where it meets the sea, a stunning bridge crossing, a world-class golf course, clifftop views, free public beaches, and lots of incredible sea stacks.
Bandon is 101 miles north of the Oregon–California state line. From Portland, you can drive to Bandon in about 4.5 hours, if you take a combination of I-5 and coastal Highway 101. If you just want the scenic route, you can, of course, head to Highway 101 earlier in your Bandon journey. The drive will take longer, but it will also be beautiful.
Why you should trust us
Travel is our family’s school sport. Besides our family of four’s month+ road trips and full-time globetrotting, we’ve traveled extensively around our home state of Oregon. We’ve visited the Oregon Coast and the Bandon area multiple times as parents traveling with our kids.
The Southern Oregon Coast is one of our family’s favorite places to visit. From camping to hotels, horse rides on the beach to sampling chocolate and cheese, Bandon is our go-to family getaway destination for the Southern Oregon Coast. Here are family travel guides and more we’ve written about previous trips to the Bandon area and beyond:
Accessible Oregon Coast travel: An amputee mama’s family road trip from Reedsport to Brookings
7 can’t-miss sea stacks you can see only on the Southern Oregon Coast
The magic of canceled plans: Early spring coastal camping in Bandon, Oregon
Brookings family travel: Why we say yes to our kids’ ideas, even on the stormy Southern Oregon Coast
9+ reasons a Southern Oregon Coast vacation should be your next family road trip
Family friendly things to do with kids in Bandon
The Bandon area also abounds with family friendly activities, many of which are free or low cost. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Hang out on the dock while people go crabbing (folks love chatting with families)
- Rent crab pots and try a little crabbing yourselves, right from the dock
- Seafood! Great seafood restaurants, from upscale spots to fry joints, are all over the downtown Bandon area and right along the dockside. We love chowder and fish-n-chips at Bandon Fish Market’s Fish & Chips Chowder House
- Understand the impact of trash on our beaches and oceans: Washed Ashore turns ocean trash into art to raise public awareness
- While wandering downtown, pick up a sweet treat from Coastal Mist
- Great playgrounds, right in town, such as Russ Sommers Memorial Playground at Bandon City Park and Ocean Crest Elementary School (open to the public outside of school hours)
- Get fresh-made cheese (and lunch from the deli) at Face Rock Creamery
- Speaking of Face Rock, the Oregon State Park Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint has one of the best kid friendly cliff top views on the entire US Pacific Coast
For more ideas on what to do with kids in Bandon, check out Bandon.com or our article on a family vacation to the Southern Oregon Coast.
Our family’s favorite Bandon, Oregon hotel
Jodie and Anthony first came to Bandon when we were dating for a spring break getaway. Our clifftop room gave us sweeping views of the Oregon Coast, and the incredible sea stacks right in front of us. We were also close to everything from fine dining to casual cafes. Over the years, we’ve also returned to Bandon as parents, and stayed on the same property.
Okay, so you know what to do, but where should your family stay in a Bandon, Oregon hotel? With a great selection of rooms, a clifftop location that provides amazing views, access to nearby beaches, and easy proximity to downtown Bandon, here is where we love to come back to:
The original motel is set back a little from the top of the cliff, but the views are marvelous. However, newer cliff-side rooms have you pretty much right over the beach. Plus, it’s all the easier to walk down to the shore—and the stack rocks are often accessible at low tide (and with the right weather).
Check dates and availability at Sunset Oceanfront Lodging, Bandon, Oregon
Other Bandon, Oregon hotels and motels
When we travel to Bandon, we’ve stayed at the Sunset or we’ve camped (more on that below). But here are other Bandon, Oregon hotels we’ve considered and that might be a fit for you:
Our family’s favorite Bandon, Oregon campground
As much as we enjoy hotels and motels, we also love visiting the Oregon Coast for camping. Just a few miles north of Bandon, Bullards Beach State Park has an extensive campground, with tent sites, RV sites (with varying hookups available), and quick access to a lighthouse and a beach.
Since the campground is so close to Bandon, it’s easy not only to enjoy the beach and the campground. In just minutes, you can be in downtown Bandon.
Learn more about Bullards Beach State Park
More camping and other types of accommodation in the Bandon area
Along with Bullards Beach, there are other camping spots available in the Bandon area, such as
HipCamp: Camping near Bandon, Oregon
The Bandon Guide also makes note of some camping farther afield than the Bandon area itself.
Book your family vacation or getaway to Bandon, Oregon
Anthony is writing this from a warm beach in Hua Hin, Thailand. However much we love traveling the world, returning to Bandon on the Oregon Coast is something we always look forward to.
The kid-friendly town, easy access to ocean, beach, and other nature, plus all those sea stacks, has made Bandon one of our favorite family vacation spots on the Oregon Coast. We hope it becomes one of yours too.
