Home to Oregon State University, Corvallis is in many ways an archetypal college town, boasting abundant coffeehouses, pizza places and bookstores around the green, ivy-bedecked campus at its heart. But the city is just as green and vibrant outside the vicinity of the 500-acre campus, where the area maintains a small-town, country feel.

Eugene is a south Willamette Valley haven nestled between the Cascade and Coast ranges. The blue-green Willamette River and surrounding Douglas fir forests have lent Eugene the nickname of "The Emerald City." Rated as one of the top 10 cycling cities in the U.S., Eugene is perhaps more famous for its eccentric residents and progressive initiatives.

Visitors to Lincoln City in summer are spoiled for choice. Spread out along seven miles of scenic sandy beaches, the town itself gives way to sandy beaches, inland hiking, fishing and windsurfing, and more.

Sprawled out around scenic Newport Bay, the city of Newport is all about the sea. The Bayfront, a street of quaint pubs, restaurants and shops backing Newport Bay, is a pleasant way to take in the sights and smells of the sea. Aquariums, surf shops, lighthouses, and great clamming spots can all be found here.

The largest urban area in Oregon, Portland is renowned as a clean, green and friendly city. Radiating around the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, the Portland area's lush green cityscape and inviting, walkable neighborhoods are the result of its mild temperate rainforest climate combined with progressive urban planning.

World-famous for their butter and ice-cream, Tillamook has more to offer the guest. Just over an hour's drive from Portland, visitors are also drawn to the area by picturesque beaches, lush and green countryside, fertile farmland and estuaries well-watered and teeming with life.

The Willamette Valley is the name of the broad, fertile swath of land—Oregon's "fertile crescent"—swooping from Portland south to past the city of Eugene, to the Rogue and Umpqua valleys. I-5 is the backbone of this beautiful, bountiful region, home to wineries, flower fields, covered bridges, and farmland.