In fair Ashland, where we lay our scene...
Best known for its world-class Shakespeare festival, this welcoming city has a super-arty college vibe, and feels smaller than it is, in a good way. An Ashland vacation rental gives you the kind of high culture that leaves the other theatrical hotspots sulking into their interval drinks, but it also does a fine line in brewpubs, quirky eateries, lively nightspots, and intrepid outdoor adventure. Not only that, but folks here are so friendly that you can understand why the thru-hikers from the Pacific Crest Trail are so reluctant to leave. After all, "what is the city but the people?"
Is this a Shakespeare festival I see before me?
In Ashland, "the play's the thing," and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is an Ashland institution. For the last 80 years, it's been staging the best of the Bard along with up-to-the-minute works from more modern writers. It runs between February and November, putting on a heap of plays across several venues. Less famous, but just as good, is the Ashland Independent Film Festival. And if all that sounds like a bit too much sitting down for you, how about taking a stroll in the city's pride and joy, Lithia Park, or getting hands-on at ScienceWorks museum?
To Ashland or not to Ashland, there is no question
Though a good chunk of vacationers are in town for the theater, Ashland offers plenty of outdoor activities too. It's a much-loved R&R pit-stop on the Pacific Crest Trail, which accounts for the more extreme examples of beards and boots mixed up among the thespians. Water activities feature almost as prominently, especially rafting, kayaking, and fishing on the Rogue River. And when the snow comes, you can be sure that it won't be a winter of discontent for the daring souls shooting down the slopes at Mount Ashland Ski Area.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day, O Ashland?
A "more lovely and more temperate" choice than an Ashland vacation rental is going to be a tall order. Sure, the odd dump of snow in the winter will leave those mountain tops "whiter than new snow upon a raven's back," and there's the occasional summer day when "too hot the eye of heaven shines," but generally the weather in Ashland is as refined as the city itself. Ashland tends to escape the worst of the North West's famous rain, but as the man himself said, "sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud." So bring a raincoat.
A vacation! A vacation! My kingdom for a vacation!
Thanks to its location in the foothills of the Siskiyou and Cascades mountains, the landscapes round Ashland are nothing short of spectacular. Rushing rivers, vast forests, and snow-capped peaks are the order of the day. To the south, you've got Siskiyou Mountain Park, with Mount Ashland an obvious point. Closer in to Ashland, it's more about the fields and orchards, and after all that nature, you might decide to sample the produce of one of the local vineyards. For as we all know, "good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used."
Transportation to and around Ashland
The nearest airport is in Rogue Valley Intl. Airport (MFR), located 14.4 mi (23.3 km) from the city center. If you can't find a flight that works for your travel itinerary, you could also fly into Klamath Falls, OR (LMT-Klamath Falls Intl.), which is 49.7 mi (79.9 km) away.