Booking Astoria shore excursions is your ticket to full appreciation of the beauty and historic significance of this Pacific Coast port city where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. On Astoria cruise tours, you can discover a piece of America’s great Pacific Northwest region in walks – around the town; in the footsteps of intrepid explorers Lewis and Clark on their Corp of Discovery Expedition; and at Mount St. Helens; or on bus tours – down the Pacific Coast Highway; around the Willamette Valley wine country; and over to the art colony at Cannon Beach.
For the best of town sightseeing, schedule guided Astoria shore excursions that take you past Victorian houses and historic monuments. Travel back in time to the early 19th century as your guide tells you tales of the town’s roots. Gaze at the beautifully decorated Astoria Column and climb the cast iron stairs (all 164 of them) if you dare.
Afternoon tea and scones with a tour of a sumptuously decorated Victorian mansion and museum, is one of the just-for-fun Astoria shore excursions that let you see what life was like for the first millionaire in Astoria, Captain George Flavel, at the turn of the 20th century when the house was built.
Cinema buffs will thrill to see the locations where major films such as “Kindergarten Cop,” “Free Willy,” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” were shot on an impressive tour that links the town of Astoria with Hollywood. Visit the Clatsop County Jail, the longest freestanding jail in Oregon that has been a movie set since the 1980s.
Nature lovers, birders, and shoppers, too, are invited to board a tour bus bound for Seaside at Cannon Beach, where the Pacific Coast’s wildlife, including Great Blue Herons and American Bald Eagles can be seen. The resort town’s reputation as an artist colony means you’ll have plenty of works of local photographers, painters, and craftsmen to admire and purchase. A guided excursion to Mount St. Helens is an awe-inspiring way to take in the full measure of Mother Nature’s fury. Tour the Mount St. Helens National Monument and see up close the aftermath of a volcanic eruption that happened close to 40 years ago.
Wine lovers will be enchanted by a trip to the Willamette Valley to sip and sample wines, savor a picnic lunch, and enjoy the unrivaled scenery of the Columbia River and the Pacific Northwest.