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Day 1 – Portland (Powell’s City of Books/Pearl District)
Drop off your luggage at your downtown hotel and go for a walk. Discover how easy Portland is to navigate, whether by walking and taking advantage of the city’s “Fareless Square,” a downtown ride-for-free zone in which all public transportation – buses, MAX light rail trains and the Portland Streetcar – is always free.
Visit Powell’s City of Books, a Portland icon and the nation’s largest independently owned bookstore. Powell’s, which is within easy walking distance of most downtown hotels, sits on the southern edge of the Pearl District neighborhood, another popular stop for visitors. While you’re in the store, pick up one of Powell’s great Walking Maps of Downtown Portland and then explore the nearby Pearl District.
Check out the recently relocated Museum of Contemporary Craft, which presents a mix of local and national arts and crafts exhibitions.
Enjoy dinner at one of the Pearl’s many restaurants or sample a craft beer. Portland currently has more breweries and brewpubs than any other city in the world.
Day 2 – Portland (Walking Tour/Portland Classical Chinese Garden/Portland Art Museum)
Get your bearings with a Portland Walking Tour. Portland Walking Tours offers several different tours that cover such themes as Portland’s history, highlights, quirks, even its food scene.
Stop by the Portland Visitor information Center in Pioneer Courthouse Square for maps and other information. You can also purchase a Portland Attractions Pass here for discounted admission to the city’s most popular attractions. Find out which festivals and farmers markets might be occurring while you’re in town, or check out the schedule for such performing arts groups as the Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Artists Repertory Theatre and Portland Center Stage. Public transit information and tickets are also available here at the TriMet counter.
Enjoy lunch from one of the street vendors or restaurants near Pioneer Courthouse Square. (If you’re lucky enough to visit the square on a Tuesday or Thursday during July and August, you’ll be treated to a free noontime concert.) Or, if you prefer to pair lunch with some shopping, head for the food court inside the nearby Pioneer Place mall.
After lunch, hop on a MAX light rail train (MAX trains stop at both Pioneer Courthouse Square and Pioneer Place) and ride to Old Town, where you can check out the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. One stop before the garden is the MAX stop for the Portland Saturday Market, an open-air arts-and-crafts market that operates Saturdays and Sundays, March-December 24.
MAX can return you to downtown, where you can visit the Portland Art Museum. This recently renovated and enlarged museum showcases impressive national touring exhibitions, as well as permanent collections of American, European, Asian, Native American and contemporary art.
Dine at one of Portland’s many restaurants or take a dinner cruise on the Portland Spirit, a 150-foot (46m) yacht with three levels.
Day 3 – Portland (Washington Park/International Rose Test and Japanese gardens/Nob Hill)
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel or check out Voodoo Doughnut, a Voodoo-themed doughnut shop with a most unusual pastry selection. (Budget travel tip: One of Voodoo’s huge apple fritters will easily feed two people.)
Take bus #63 (runs hourly; tickets required, this time, as you’ll be traveling outside the “Fareless Square” zone) from downtown Portland to Washington Park. Overlooking downtown Portland, Washington Park is home to several of the city’s top attractions.
Follow your nose – and your eyes – to the International Rose Test Garden, whose 6,800 rose bushes represent 557 different varieties. Because this is a test garden, you’ll also get to see some new varieties that aren’t available anywhere else. (Bus #63 stops at the International Rose Test Garden.)
Just above the rose garden is the Portland Japanese Garden, a hillside oasis that encompasses five different Japanese gardening styles. The garden also has one of the best views of downtown Portland.
Catch bus #63 again – or the free Washington Park shuttle bus, which also stops at the Japanese Garden. The bus/shuttle will take you to upper Washington Park. Here you’ll find the Oregon Zoo, known internationally for its conservation efforts and elephant breeding program. The zoo’s Great Northwest exhibit features mammals and marine life from the Pacific Northwest.
Just across the street from the zoo are the Portland Children’s Museum and the World Forestry Center Discovery Museum, where interactive exhibits introduce visitors to the forests of the world. Garden lovers and hikers will also enjoy the Hoyt Arboretum, a 232-acre area with more than 1,100 species of plants and 12 miles (19km) of trails.
Bus #63 can return you to lower Washington Park.
Just after the bus leaves the park, disembark at the corner of Northwest Vista Street and Park Avenue. Walk down the hill (on Vista) a few blocks, crossing Burnside Street. On the other side of Burnside, Vista’s name changes to Northwest 23rd Avenue. You’re now in a neighborhood known affectionately as Northwest Portland/Nob Hill. Although this is a residential neighborhood, Northwest 23rd and 21st avenues are packed with sidewalk cafés and restaurants, shops and boutiques. (Navigation tip: The streets in this part of town are in alphabetical order: Burnside, Couch, Davis, Everett, Flanders, etc.)
Wine lovers will enjoy a visit to Urban Wineworks, located on Northwest 16th Avenue between Everett and Glisan streets. Not only can you sample wines in the tasting room, you can blend your own custom wine from three different varietals supplied by Urban Wineworks (advance notice recommended for blending classes).
Dinner options include the many restaurants along Northwest 23rd. Or, walk two blocks east to Northwest 21st. Between Everett and Overton streets are the restaurants of several award-winning chefs, including Paley’s Place (corner of 21st and Northrup) and Wildwood (corner of 21st and Overton). Reservations are recommended.
Day 4 – Portland (OMSI/ Willamette Jetboat Excursions/Hawthorne District)
A 20-minute walk from downtown (and across the Hawthorne Bridge) takes you to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). This hands-on science center offers a variety of fascinating sensory exhibits and visiting shows that make science fun. OMSI is also home to the USS Blueback submarine (used in the film The Hunt for Red October and moored in the Willamette River behind the museum); an OMNIMAX theater with a five-story domed screen and digital surround sound; and the Kendall Planetarium, the largest and most technologically advanced planetarium in the Pacific Northwest.
Just behind OMSI (at the same dock used by the USS Blueback), you’ll discover Willamette Jetboat Excursions (May-September). Experience the meaning of the word exciting on this two-hour ride up the Willamette River to the falls at Oregon City. Plan to get a little damp; the boats travel fast and take a few thrilling 360-degree turns that create spray. After your boat trip, you’ll be ready for a bit of refreshment.
Walk towards the nearby Hawthorne Bridge and take bus #14 about 30 blocks east to the Hawthorne District. This lively bohemian district is lined with cafés, boutiques, restaurants and antique/vintage stores. One of Portland’s most unique shops, The Perfume House, is also here. The Perfume House is one of the world’s truly great purveyors of both rare and popular essences. When you’re ready to return to your hotel, simply take bus #14 west, back to downtown.
Day 5 – Departure
Depending on your flight’s departure time, you may be able to squeeze in some last-minute shopping before heading to the airport. But in case you need more shopping time, Portland International Airport features great shops – with the same prices as their counterparts downtown – including Powell’s Books, the Real Mother Goose, Norm Thompson and others.
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